Click here to copy URL

Scanners

1981

David Cronenberg

Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane ...

6.3

7,926

Sci-Fi. Horror. Thriller A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him.

	Media	Author	Review
		Derek Adams Time Out	Part conspiracy thriller, part political tract, it is Cronenberg's most coherent movie to date (...) He punctuates it with spectacular set piece confrontations which really do dramatise the abstract, ingenious premise"
		Vincent Canby The New York Times	"The quality of the film's inventiveness is not always of the first order, which is too bad because Mr. Cronenberg does seem to be a director-writer of some style."
		Ryan Lambie Den of Geek	"An entertaining, satisfyingly nasty entry from an early part of the director's career (...) For all its faults, 'Scanners' still has those unforgettable images which are a Cronenberg trademark"
		Rob Vaux Collider	"Horror fans will likely find it irresistible (...) Cronenberg reminded us that even the grindhouse could aspire to art"
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"A new horror film made with enough craft and skill that it could have been very good, if it could find a way to make us care about it. I don't think it does (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Chuck Bowen Slant	"[It] ages well (…) 'Scanners' has a gratifyingly gnarly sense of punk cynicism, but it never entirely breaks free of its own containment, which is to say the obligations of genre (...) Rating: ★★★★½ (out of 5)"
		Lauren Taylor Bloody Disgusting	"'Scanners' has esthetic elements that definitely validate its place in the horror genre (...) A groundbreaking horror classic"
		A.A. Dowd AV Club	"A treat for fans of violently eccentric sci-fi. But it won’t blow your mind."
		TV Guide	"A nifty science fiction comic-book of a movie that makes excellent use of its low budget and hastily-written script (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.