I am a huge Cronenberg fan, and none of his movies are as recognizable as Scanners (maybe Videodrome). More science-gone- wrong fiction than pure horror, like almost all of his other films, this one plays exactly like James Bond with psychic powers. Don't believe me? Well, if you so choose to accept this mission then read further.

A homeless guy named Cameron Vale (played by monotone, and nearly lifeless Stephen Lack...lack of charisma anyone?) is abducted in a mini-mall by two men with dart guns. He is brought to ConSec, a private company that has been working with telepathic curiosities called Scanners. He meets Patrick McGoohan (from TV's excellent The Prisoner series) who plays Dr. Ruth (really) and is let in on the fact that he is actually a super-Scanner. Scanners are people with incredible telepathic powers that can make anyone do anything from kill themselves to making their heads explode. He has been brought in to be studied and cared for. He is given Ephemeral, a drug used as a Scan-suppressant, to help him cope with his overwhelming mental powers. Meanwhile, badass Michael Ironside shows up as a rogue Scanner (our Bond villain, if you will) and he is using his gift to blow people's heads up. His name is Darryl Revok, and the men at ConSec believe he is starting a Scanner Underground to possibly take over the world. Cameron (or agent 007), the only surviving Scanner in the ConSec lab, is drafted by Dr. Ruth (he is like M, you see) to infiltrate the alleged Scanner underground and destroy it and Revok as well.

His first lead is to find an artist who has a link to Revok. He attends an art show featuring his bizarre sculptures and Scans the owner of the gallery to find out where he is hiding. He gets to a barn and finds the artist guy only seconds before four people show up and shotgun the hell out of him. Cameron stops them with his mind but not before they fatally wound the guy. He gives Cam a new lead before he dies and he heads to Kim Oberst's place. She had been working with the artist guy to find and stop Revok. Cam is accepted as one of the fold and during a Scanner brain-sharing session encouraging peace and harmony, two guys with shotguns show up and kill most of the members. The killers are set on fire with some of the old pyrokenisis and the surviving members escape, only to have their van gunned down by more guys with shotguns (shotguns are apparently the only gun that can kill a Scanner...either that or Cronenberg got a great deal on a crate of shotguns because everyone, even the guards at ConSec, use them). The van crashes through a record store, but Cam and Kim survive. One of the killers shows up and he scans him to find his next lead. He discovers a link between Ephemeral and a company called Biocarbon Amalgamate (BA for short). They are all somehow connected to Revok.

Cameron infiltrates the plant (ala James Bond) and discovers that Revok works there. BA turns out to be a plant that is manufacturing Ephemeral on a large scale and shipping it all over the country. But to what end? He also discovers a hidden program known as RIPE, but no information on it. Cam and Kim return to ConSec with the information and Dr. Ruth tells him that he is not aware that BA had any connection to Revok. Keller, the head of security at ConSec, turns out to be on Revok's side and tries to kill Kim, but she escapes. Dr. Ruth tells Cam that he can Scan the BA computer and interface with it like a brain, and then he is killed by Keller. He and Kim meet up again and escape, then he plugs into the BA system through a pay phone. The baddies at ConSec find out and try to self-destruct the system, but the plan backfires when Cam gets angry and the system explodes, killing everyone in the control room including Keller. Armed with the list of doctors worldwide, Kim and Cam head to their first stop, Dr. Frane's office. While in the waiting room, Kim is scanned by an unborn baby and gets a nose bleed. Cam finds out from Dr. Frane that the doctors on the list he got are giving Ephemeral to pregnant patients. That is what the RIPE program is all about! The goal is to create an army of new Scanners to take over the world (ala Bond Villain MO). Revok arrives, however, and darts them. Cam wakes up in Revok's living room and finds out that Revok was always looking for him because they are brothers, and Dr. Ruth was their father! He wants his brother to join him on his quest to rule the world with Scanners, but Cam is the proverbial hero and turns him down. The only way to settle it is with a gory, vein-bursting, eye-popping Scan fight. In the end, Cameron wins, but I won't tell you how he wins.

If you haven't seen this film, please do so. It's a horror film, it’s science fiction, and it is a compelling spy thriller rolled into one! The only low point is Stephen Lack's sleepy performance as Cameron. He appears to be reading his lines slowly off camera most of the time. But that doesn't really affect the action or the plot. The film explores Cronenberg's distaste or appreciation of fringe sciences, but manages to set the story in a very real world with very believable circumstances. Sure, we never find out how Ephemeral works, but would we really understand it if we got an explanation? All I know is that this is a solid piece of sci-fi horror with a great, splatterific ending and that awesome head-explosion (see pic below). This is a massively satisfying beginning to what would become a fractured franchise. Highly recommended viewing!

- Jose Prendes