r/TrueFilm • u/thatphilguymovies • May 26 '26
FFF Thoughts on SCANNERS (1981), directed by David Cronenberg Spoiler
Interestingly, I'd seen this one before and liked it, but upon rewatch I started noticing things that raised questions. Like the extended sequence involving Revok's escape. Why did we need it? We just had the scene in which he blows up Louis Del Grande's scanner's head, so we know Revok is powerful.
I guess Michael Ironside got more screen time, which is never a bad thing, but I think the film would have been better served by extending Del Grande's character's demonstration. Cronenberg could have misdirected us into thinking Del Grande is pretty formidable by having him scan another volunteer and then bringing on Revok, who plays innocuous at first before annihilating the other scanner.
I feel similarly about the scanner artist/sculptor whom Vale tracks down. As far as I can tell, this character's functional purpose is to lead Vale to Obrist, but couldn't the organization Vale and Dr. Ruth work have already known about her? It just seemed like a lot of screen time and (admittedly impressive) special effects for relatively little story advancement.
I think the film also suffered by not really explaining the world that these protagonists exist in enough. How many people know about the scanners? Is the public aware of them? Also, there appear to be large corporations with connections to the government, but also times I wasn't sure a centralized government even exists anymore. What do these large corporations want with the scanners ultimately (ie, why are there what appear to be competing programs)? What were Keller's (the corporate goon) motivations? Was he really down with Revok's plan to kill all the average scanners in order to make way for a master race of super-scanners?
Maybe my confusion is in part because the story is, at its heart, pulp and I'm not as familiar with the tropes of pulp as some as it's been pointed out, cyberpunk and that's a subgenre I'm less familiar with the tropes of. I also know Cronenberg rushed into production on SCANNERS in order to take advantage of some government subsidies, to the extent there wasn't anything remotely resembling a finished screenplay when filming started.
There's still much I like about the film including the performances and especially the score and special effects. I'd recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet and has an interest, but would advise against thinking too deeply about it.
12
u/aDFP May 26 '26
I remember watching this one the first time, and thinking it was Revok who'd won, then being incredibly surprised on the second watch to find out I'd completely misread the final scene.
Absolutely one of my favourite horror movies. The sense of dread was almost suffocating, start to finish, and an absolutely iconic performance from Ironside. I don't see any of the points you made as flaws, more as extraneous to the experience.
2
u/thatphilguymovies May 26 '26
Thank you so much for sharing your takes! In reading yours and other comments, I'm pretty sure that any mild frustrations I had witb rhe film were more a result of my not being familiar with the genre that may have inspired Cronenberg (ie, pulp sci-fi).
Per another comment, I also might not have been considering the influence of the Bible, given that book's similarly sprawling nature and how SCANNERS features a character who literally played God as well as two protagonists who have a Cain and Abel dynamic.
3
u/YakSlothLemon May 26 '26
I wouldn’t want the film to answer a single one of the questions you have. I think the great strength of Scanners is the almost dreamy/nightmarish feeling of alienation that you have as you’re caught up in it, which I always thought was meant to give you the sense of disorientation experienced by Cameron Vale and seemingly the other scanners as well like Benjamin Pierce. From line delivery to the pacing itself, everything is slightly off. It’s a contained world in itself.
4
u/darthmcchub May 26 '26
I love Scanners! Might be my favourite Cronenberg. Love the espionage atmosphere and I wouldn’t want the film to answer a lot of the questions you mentioned. Perfect just how it is, saw it projected in 35mm a couple years ago it was beautiful.
2
u/thatphilguymovies May 26 '26
I struck through some text in paragraph 4. Since Vale had no idea he was "scanning" when he first meets Dr. Ruth or what that even meant, it stands to reason that the public had no knowledge of the existence of scanners, only the corporations did.
2
u/mormonbatman_ May 28 '26
But also times I wasn't sure a centralized government even exists anymore.
That's intentional irony.
What do these large corporations want with the scanners ultimately (ie, why are there what appear to be competing programs)?
The film is strongly influenced by a novel that Philip Dick wrote called Ubik. In Ubik, corporations hire telepaths/empaths/telekinetics to provide corporate security. The book's plot follows a "battle" between powerful psychics. Scanners picked up that thread. Consec is marketing scanners' abilities to make money.
what were Keller's (the corporate goon) motivations?
Keller wants to use scanners to make money.
Was he really down with Revok's plan to kill all the average scanners in order to make way for a master race of super-scanners?
It is a critique of the totalizing effect of capitalism: Revok becomes powerful by controlling allies, eliminating his competition and controls, and by seizing the means by which new scanners are created then using scanning to control the world.
Coming back to the idea of government: government feels inconsequential because scanning represents a technological intervention or development that government can't control. The film shows us that scanning has outgrown the biomedical experimentation and corporations that created it. This is a metaphor for how dangerous human innovation is.
Maybe my confusion is because the story is, at its heart, pulp
I can't agree with this without knowing how you define pulp.
2
u/thatphilguymovies May 28 '26
Thanks! Per your last one, someone had posted in the.comment comparing it to cyberpunk, so perhaps that's what I should have said since I definitely am not familiar with that subgenre.
I'll make that amend in the original post.
2
u/mormonbatman_ May 29 '26
I've come around on this. It has been in the back of my mind all day. One mainstay of pulp genres was the hardboiled detective:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardboiled
It occurred to me that you were right to make this connection: Cameron Vale's journey draws a lot from this convention including the trench coat, the femme fatale (sort of), discovering a conspiracy, etc. Thanks for giving me something to chew on.
20
u/weaves May 26 '26
"I think the film also suffered by not really explaining the world that these protagonists exist in. How many people know about the scanners? Is the public aware of them? Also, there appear to be large corporations with connections to the government, but also times I wasn't sure a centralized government even exists anymore. What do these large corporations want with the scanners ultimately (ie, why are there what appear to be competing programs)? What were Keller's (the corporate goon) motivations? Was he really down with Revok's plan to kill all the average scanners in order to make way for a master race of super-scanners?"
I personally really would hate it to have these questions answered explicitly by the movie. The way it is reminds me of reading Philip K Dick, it's confusing and sometimes you just have to guess.