Scanners (1981)

Country of Origin: Canada
Year of Production: 1979
Running Times: 103 mins
Format: Eastmancolor     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Canadian Film Development Corporation / Filmplan
Executive Producers: Pierre David, Victor Solnicki
Producer: Claude Héroux
Production Manager: Don Buchsbaum
Unit Manager: Jean Savard
Production Coordinator: Danièle Rohrbach

SCRIPT
Script: David Cronenberg

DIRECTION
Director: David Cronenberg
1st Assistant Director: Jim Kaufman
2nd Assistant Director: Mike Williams
3rd Assistant Director: Anne Murphy

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Mark Irwin
1st Assistant Camera: Robin Miller
2nd Assistant Camera: Gregory Villeneuve
Apprentice Assistant Camera: Lynn Rotin
Gaffer: Jock Brandis
Electrician: Arshad Shaw
Best Boy: Claude Langlois
Key Grip: François Dupéré
Grips: Maris H. Jansons, Michel Périard
Stills: Denis Fugere
Colour Timer: Thomas Metzger
Lab: Bellevue Pathé Québec Inc, Montreal, Canada

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Ronald Sanders
Assistant Editors: Chris Hutton, Robert Boyd
Post-Production Coordinator: Bill Wiggins

MUSIC
Music: Howard Shore

SOUND
Sound: Don Cohen
Boom Operator: Gabor Vadnay
Re-Recordist: Paul Coombe
Sound Editing Supervisor: Peter Burgess
Sound Editor: Charles Bowers, Peter Jermyn, Bruce Nyznik
Assistant Sound Editors: Terry Burke, Gary Daprato

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Brigitte McCaughry
Hair: Constant Natale
Costume Designer: Delphine White
Costumes Assistant: Blanche-Danielle Boileau

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Special Make Up Effects: Dick Smith, Stephan Dupuis, Chris Walas, Tom Schwartz

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Assistants: Don Berry, Louis Craig, Jacques Godbout

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Carol Spier
Assistant Art Director: Barbara Jones
Set Dresser: Peter Bray
Assistant Set Dressers: Melanie Johnson, Serge Bureau
Dresser: Renée April
Assistant Dresser: Fabienne April
Property Master: Jean Bourret
Assistant Propsmen: Ernie Tomlinson, Michel Comte
Construction Supervisor: Claude Simard
Sculptors: Peter Borowski, Peter Dowker, Tom Coulter
Draughtsman: Michael Joy

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: France Boudreau
Production Accountant: Serge Major
Production Assistants: Claire Veillet, Glendon Light, Guy Landry, Marilyn Majerczyk, Neil Bibby, Nerses Kolanian, Nick Rose, Patrick Ferrerro, Victor Blazevic
Assistant to Claude Héroux: Kim Obrist
Assistant to David Cronenberg: Robert Boyd
Driver Captain: Charles Toupin
Action Vehicles Driver: Armand Thomas
Unit Publicist: Kay Gray

LOCATIONS
Locations: Montréal, Québec, Canada
Studio: Panavision, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Location Manager: Christine Burt

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Alex Stevens

CASTING
Casting: Daniel Hausmann
Casting Assistants: Ginette D'Amico, Muriel Fournier

CAST
Jennifer O'Neill (Kim Obrist)
Stephen Lack (Cameron Vale)
Patrick McGoohan (Doctor Paul Ruth)
Lawrence Dane (Braedon Keller)
Michael Ironside (Darryl Revok)
Robert A. Silverman (Benjamin Pierce)
Lee Broker (Security One)
Mavor Moore (Trevellyan)
Adam Ludwig (Arno Crostic)
Murray Cruchley (programmer 1)
Fred Doederlein (Dieter Tautz)
Géza Kovács (killer in record store)
Sony Forbes, Jérôme Tiberghien (killers in attic)
Denis Lacroix, Elizabeth Mudry (killer in barn)
Victor Désy (Dr Gatineau)
Louis Del Grande (first Scanner)
Anthony Sherwood, Ken Umland, Anne Anglin, Jock Brandis (Scanners in attic)
Jack Messinger (Scanner at door)
Victor Knight (Dr Frane)
Karen Fullerton (pregnant girl)
Margaret Gadbois (woman in mall)
Terry Coady (Security 1 car passenger)
Steve Michaels (Security 1 car driver)
Malcolm Nelthorpe (Security 2 car driver)
Nicholas Kilbertus (Security 2 car partner)
Don Buchsbaum, Roland Nincheri (large men in mall)
Kimberly McKeever, Robert Boyd (hallucinating guards)
Graham Batchelor (yoga technician)
Dean Hagopian (programmer 2)
Alex Stevens (programmer 3)
Neil Affleck (medical student in mall)
Sam Stone (security guard - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

Ephemerol, an experimental drug used during pregnancy, has resulted in the creation of over 200 Scanners, psychics with tremendous mental powers. Some of these social misfits have grouped together under the leadership of the deranged Darryl Revok and are now out for world domination. The drug's creator, Dr Paul Ruth, recruits a young Scanner, Cameron Vale, to help him infiltrate the Scanner underground and expose Revok's plans.

Although the story often becomes rather confusing, this is another cracking piece from Cronenberg, one that sees him venturing into action movie territory, albeit with his own unique touch. Leading man Stephen Lack lets the side down a bit, but the tour-de-force performance from Michael Ironside more than compensates. The infamous exploding head scene remains one of the most memorable images in Cronenberg's canon and the film as a whole, though more mainstream than his previous works, is a satisfying and demanding thriller that grows even more in stature as time passes.

Finland
Theatrical Distributor: Future Film
Video Distributor: Future Film

Sweden
Theatrical Distributor: Transcontinental Film

UK
DVD Distributor: Arrow Films (FCD064)

USA
Theatrical Distributor: AVCO Embassy Pictures
Video Distributor: MGM

Australia
Rating: R

Finland
Rating: K-16

France
Rating: -12

Norway
Rating: 18

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 18

USA
Rating: R

1981
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA
Saturn Award Best Make-Up (Dick Smith) – winner (also for Altered States (1980))

1982
Genie Awards, Canada
Best Achievement in Art Direction (Carol Spier) - nominated
Best Achievement in Costume Design (Delphine White) - nominated
Best Achievement in Direction (David Cronenberg) - nominated
Best Achievement in Film Editing (Ronald Sanders) - nominated
Best Achievement in Overall Sound (Peter Burgess) - nominated
Best Motion Picture (Victor Solnicki, Pierre David, Claude Héroux) - nominated
Best Original Screenplay (David Cronenberg) - nominated
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Michael Ironside) - nominated

1983
Fantasporto, Portugal
International Fantasy Film Award Best Film (David Cronenberg) - winner

1979
October
30: Canada – filming begins

December
23: Canada – filming ends

1981
January
14: USA – theatrical release
16: Canada – theatrical release

April
8: – theatrical release

August
7: Finland – theatrical release

November
2: Sweden – theatrical release

1983
February
Day Unknown: Portugal - Fantasporto Film Festival

1999
October
11: UK - DVD release (Arrow Films (FCD064))

There are 4 billion people on earth. 237 are Scanners. They have the most terrifying powers ever created... and they are winning.

Their thoughts can kill!

10 seconds: The Pain Begins. 15 seconds: You Can't Breathe. 20 seconds: You Explode.

Scanners - dödande tanke - Finnish / Swedish title
Scanners - Ihre Gedanken können töten - German title
Scanners - tappava ajatus - Finnish title
Telepathy 2000

SEQUELS
Scanners II: The New Order (1991)
Scanners III: The Takeover (1992)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The American Nightmare (2000)
Long Live the New Flesh: The Films of David Cronenberg (1987)
Naked Making Lunch (1992)
Pin... (1988)
Terror in the Aisles (1984)

SEE ALSO
Scanner Cop (1994)
Scanner Cop II (1995)

NEWSPAPERS

Sydsvenska Dagbladet 27 December 1981 (Sweden)
review

duels, esp, exploding gas stations, exploding heads, human experiments, the paranormal, psychics, psychic powers, scientists, telekinesis, telepathy

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009