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Scanners

Play trailer Poster for Scanners R Released Jan 14, 1981 1h 42m Sci-Fi Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 43 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Scanners are men and women born with incredible telepathic and telekinetic powers. There are many who exercise the benefits of their special gifts in a safe and judicious manner. However, there is a group of renegade scanners who plan to create a race that will rule the world.
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Critics Consensus

Scanners is a dark sci-fi story with special effects that'll make your head explode.

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Critics Reviews

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Bruce McCabe Boston Globe Scanners, according to David Cronenberg's new film, are people who can control others with their thoughts...The idea has a certain cachet. But Scanners doesn't pay off on it. Apr 28, 2018 Full Review Keith Phipps The Dissolve The generous selection of bonus features includes vintage elements, like a trailer made up almost entirely of the exploding-head scene, a handful of radio spots, and a 1981 talk-show appearance in which Cronenberg discusses his work up to that point. Rated: 4/5 Jul 14, 2014 Full Review Nathan Lee Film Comment Magazine Scanners consolidates the ruling problematic of the Cronenberg project from the sex slugs of Shivers to the financial abstractions of Cosmopolis: what are the effects of signals on an organism? Jul 7, 2014 Full Review Alan Mount Starburst It’s a film that staggers the imagination as much today as it did four decades ago and it’s not difficult to understand why. Mar 20, 2025 Full Review Joe Lipsett Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network Obviously the exploding head is iconic, but the rest of the film is nearly as messy. An on-the-fly script and paper thing characters hint at more intriguing ideas than what is actually seen on screen. Rated: 3/5 Jul 21, 2023 Full Review Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Cronenberg does deliver the goods; it's an efficient, intelligent sf thriller with the usual surplus of paranoid ideas. Rated: B+ Dec 1, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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jabroKnee t Starts slow, but that's not entirely the fault of the actors (although Steven Lack can be wooden). The script doesn't present us with any strong characters to latch onto making the first forty minutes, which are laden with expository dialogue, feel very sluggish aside from one famous head explosion. From the art gallery scene and on things really start to pick up as Vale has finally been given a mission/purpose and I found myself engrossed for the remaining run time, all the way through to a truly spectacular ending. Loved the tone of this movie. It felt like an unpublished Philip K Dick novel with all the tropes: psychic corporate espionage, drugs as tools/weapons, meditation and transcendentalist themes, a scanner used to hunt scanners -- even the film's own title. Maybe it's just the direction SciFi was heading circa late '70s/early '80s. Many of the sequences are bolstered by great cinematography and a soundtrack with lots of lovely analogue synths. Just wish the first 3rd of the movie was a little tighter. 7/10 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/27/25 Full Review Madam D Nothing good about this movie except the scenes with the exploding heads. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/17/25 Full Review Keith N Weird ass movie, only watched it in my Film Story Analysis class Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/29/25 Full Review Daniel C. M Very nice effects, story, thrills, action and direction. Though, with the sole exception of Michael Ironside as the antagonist, everyone's acting is pretty bad and actively hurts the film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/22/24 Full Review D. Hunter P Decent thriller movie that really gets better in the final scene of the movie. It could have benefited from more of that throughout the rest of the movie. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/15/24 Full Review Mason M A classic Cronenberg film, he again gives us his signature grotesque body horror done amazingly well. This film is famous for it's great head explosion scene at the start, and memorable for it's shocking and grotesque ending. The sound design is also amazing. Scanners may not be the best film, but it's definitely worth a watch Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/09/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Scanners are men and women born with incredible telepathic and telekinetic powers. There are many who exercise the benefits of their special gifts in a safe and judicious manner. However, there is a group of renegade scanners who plan to create a race that will rule the world.
Director
David Cronenberg
Producer
Claude Héroux
Screenwriter
David Cronenberg
Distributor
AVCO Embassy Pictures
Production Co
Filmplan, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)
Rating
R
Genre
Sci-Fi, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 14, 1981, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 11, 2017
Runtime
1h 42m
Sound Mix
Stereo, Mono
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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