The story goes that Director David Cronenberg had to make this one in a hurry. The Script was written on the fly (no pun intended) and it was a gitty-up from the get go. It shows, somewhat, but it did not stop the Creative and Controversial Bad Boy Auteur from making an above Average Horror/Sci-Fi Flick. Ironically it was a big money maker and for the Low-Budget Filmmaker that proved to be a very good thing.
It is early Cronenberg and has all the elements that made Him a Fan Favorite. Magazines like Fangoria and Gore Zone seem to have been a by-product of His most singular Vision. But this is not a Schlockmeister at work here. He is a talented, thinking, and always interesting Writer/Director who has become in recent Years a Top-Rated, Academy Award Nominee that may be surprising considering His early work, since it was anything but Mainstream.
Scanners may be the most Popular of the initial output but it is more stilted and stiff than the others and has a very cold and shallow feel. A unique Story with some unforgettable Scenes, it is pocked with some rather routine Action Movie conventions like pump shotgun slaughters and car chases and crashes. This is below the Directors usual against the grain sensibilities.
But in the End it is way above standard Stuff and still delivers a rather different Movie even when viewed Today after all the Rip-Offs that have come and gone since.
It is early Cronenberg and has all the elements that made Him a Fan Favorite. Magazines like Fangoria and Gore Zone seem to have been a by-product of His most singular Vision. But this is not a Schlockmeister at work here. He is a talented, thinking, and always interesting Writer/Director who has become in recent Years a Top-Rated, Academy Award Nominee that may be surprising considering His early work, since it was anything but Mainstream.
Scanners may be the most Popular of the initial output but it is more stilted and stiff than the others and has a very cold and shallow feel. A unique Story with some unforgettable Scenes, it is pocked with some rather routine Action Movie conventions like pump shotgun slaughters and car chases and crashes. This is below the Directors usual against the grain sensibilities.
But in the End it is way above standard Stuff and still delivers a rather different Movie even when viewed Today after all the Rip-Offs that have come and gone since.