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Scanners [DVD] [1981]
 
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Scanners [DVD] [1981]

DVD ~ Jennifer O'Neill
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £15.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Scanners [DVD] [1981] + The Brood [1979] [DVD] + Dead Ringers [DVD] [1989]
Total RRP: £42.97
Price For All Three: £23.75

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Product details

  • Actors: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, Michael Ironside
  • Directors: David Cronenberg
  • Writers: David Cronenberg
  • Producers: Claude Héroux, Pierre David, Victor Solnicki
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: Arrow Films
  • DVD Release Date: 20 Sep 1999
  • Run Time: 103 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004CZO7
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 70,036 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

David Cronenberg's 1981 horror film Scanners is a darkly paranoid story of a homeless man (Stephen Lack) mistakenly believed to be insane, when in fact he can't turn off the sound of other people's thoughts in his telepathic mind. Helped by a doctor (Patrick McGoohan) and enlisted in a programme of "scanners"--telepaths who also can will heads to explode--he becomes involved in a battle against nefarious forces. A number of critics consider this to be Cronenberg's first great film, and indeed it has a serious vision of destiny that rivals some of the important German expressionist works from the silent cinema. Lack is very good as the odd hero, and McGoohan is effectively eccentric and chilly as the scientist who saves him from the street, only to thrust him into a terrible struggle. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

Special Features

English
Region 2

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A splatter movie for the discerning viewer, 23 Oct 2000
This review is from: Scanners [VHS] [1981] (VHS Tape)
I have watched this film at least 50 times and I never tire of seeing it. It's proof that Cronenberg was, even nearly 20 years ago, a visionary with a strong stomach. The exploding head, the ruptured veins, nosebleeds and spontaneous combustion should have produced a film whose violence is completely tasteless, but it didn't. Instead, the director uses strong photography, an interesting notion for a plot (Cronenberge studied as a biochemist, and many of his films deal with the concepts of disease and infection) and a gripping soundtrack by his long-time collaborator Howard Shore, to build a film which is truly enjoyable. Despite the uniformly wooden acting and appallingly weak dialogue, the 'kinda' happy ending and a rather obvious 'right versus wrong' storyline, the overall effect is still gripping and - somehow - great fun. Great.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Blow Your Mind, 28 Nov 2008
By G. R. Donaldson (Great Britain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Scanners [1981] [DVD] (DVD)
Scanners was notorious at its time of release for the exploding head sequence. A scene the late great Kenny Everett spoofed on his television show.This film along with Rabid, The Brood and Dead Ringers cemented David Cronenbergs name as a master of urban horror.Any film that can get a restrained performance from the normally vigorous Michael Ironside has to be worth checking out. He is actually rather good in this. For me the excellent Patrick McGoohan is what lifts this very original film above the rank of a mere gorefest. If your a thinking mans horror fan add this to your stash. Its excellent.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark Imagination, 24 Sep 2008
By Mike Cormack (Aberdeen UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Scanners [1981] [DVD] (DVD)
This is a superb film. Directed by Canadian director David Cronenburg in 1981, it is the story of Cameron Vale, a "scanner" - a man with telepathic powers - and his efforts to uncover the truth of his background, while being hunted himself. Typically for Cronenburg, the film features a great deal of sinister characters, malevolent inscrutable corporations and no little double-crossing, as well as a hearty dose of body horror. If you have never seen this film before, it features one of the most famous special effects in cinema history - if you have seen it before, rest assured that for a film approaching thirty years old, it has aged well and remains a viscerally shocking moment. Probably only the climax isn't as effective, in special effects terms, but emotionally it still packs a huge wallop.

Probably the only flaw of the film is that to convey the use of scanning, there is a dark synthesised sound, as you can't of course "see" it happening. This works fine to begin with but on repeated viewing does pall a little. But that's perhaps my own fault for watching this film too often!

This is an excellent film, testament to the dark macabre imagination of Cronenburg, who wrote and directed it. One of the finest films of the 1980s
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars I bought this film because I remember it scaring the hell out of me..
..unfortunately it just hasn't dated at all. It's awful and once you've seen on ehead explode, there's not much more to see.
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Rob Bassett

5.0 out of 5 stars Scanners
What a brill film, this was and still is one of my faves.....hand on my head is about to explode.
Published 5 months ago by Ma Weaver

5.0 out of 5 stars Scanners - Exploration of gifts as a curse
Scanners are humans who can interact with another nervous system, in the film principally human beings. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2006 by M. J. Siddiq

4.0 out of 5 stars What if Abel could win over Cain?
We have only one choice in this world : to escape into a virtual reality or to accept paranormal human capabilities. Cronenberg takes the second road. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2005 by Jacques COULARDEAU

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