Scanners II: The New Order
Synopsis (From Scream Factory):
A Breed of humans with dangerously powerful telepathic abilities -the scanners- are being recruited by a corrupt police commander, John Forrester, in his crusade to take over the city. Forrester firsts enlists the help of an evil scientist, Dr. Morse, who wants to conduct mind-control experiments on the scanners with a new drug. When the side effects render the scanners incapable, Forrester then finds David Kellum, a rational scanner, who, unaware of his own powers, agrees to help him. Will Kellum discover Forrester's real motive and prevent the "New Order" from being established?
Scanners III: The Takeover
Synopsis (From Scream Factory):
A young scanner with extraordinary telepathic powers transforms into a lethal killing machine after taking one of her father's experimental drugs. After taking over his pharmaceutical company, the deranged scanner runs amok on a killing spree and takes over a television company in her quest for world dominance. As her thirst for power grows stronger, only one man -her scanner brother- might have the power to stop her.
Review:
While I like the first Scanners, it’s not a favorite of
mine, and nowhere near the best Cronenberg film. There’s never really a day where I
wake up and say “Man, I’d love to watch Scanners”, like I do with so many other films. I did re-visit it yesterday, however. The best things going for it are Howard Shore’s
whacked out score, Dick Smith’s insane SFX, and Cronenberg’s direction…
especially considering that the production of the film was anything but a good
time. I read that due to time restraints and budget and whatnot, he was writing
the script the same days he was filming; that has to be a nightmare. But, now it’s
time to talk about the sequels.
It had been at least twenty years since I had seen either
Scanners II or III (this goes back to my many nights of recording late night
horror films on Cinemax), and the only thing I remembered about them was that
they were sequels to Scanners. I had no idea if they continued the
story, and I had no idea if anyone from the original film was directly
involved. Now that I've taken a trip back down head explosion lane, the
consensus is that Scanners II & III are pretty entertaining sequels, and I
might even consider the 2nd an equal to the first movie.
Scanners II: The New Order
Scanners II: The New Order doesn't even have a
hint of the same style to that of Cronenberg’s film. What makes it work is better pacing
and the fact that it’s simpler minded. We've already been given the science
of the telepathic/telekinetic humans known as scanners -there’s no need to
retread on all that. So, let’s just have fun with this, okay? I feel like that’s
what B.J. Nelson had to have been thinking when he penned the movie... and
Scanners II is definitely a good time. The story is intriguing and
there’s a lot of neat ideas. Also noteworthy are the additional powers
that scanners have this time around. Additionally, it seems like director
Christian Duguay realized just how ridiculous the characters’ facial
expressions were while they’re in scan-battles, because this movie basks in the
greatness of that.
Scanners II is pretty basic in terms of visual presentation,
aside from the facial close-ups that I really don’t want to stop talking about.
One scene I particularly found enjoyable was right at the beginning in an
arcade. Mix that setting with a freaky scanner dude and you get some intense
craziness. Imagine the arcade scene in Maximum Overdrive had been concocted by
a telepath, and you get the gist of it.
I've been a fan of David Hewlett since Cube, and it’s
cool to go back to past movies like this one and PIN and see that he’s been
around for a good bit. Here, he plays David Kellum, an intern in the big city
who’s just now really discovering what his abilities are all about. Hewlett’s
sportin’ a Mel Gibson Lethal Weapon era mullet, and I gotta say he carries it
pretty well, launching his character into heartthrob status. Not a bad
performance, and he probably looks the least ridiculous when it comes to giving
a scanner face. The love interest for David is Alice, played by Isabelle
Mejias. What a hottie. She seems totally unbothered upon realizing that her
beau could spitball people down an alley with his mind if he wanted to. Raoul
Trujillo plays a total creep fest scanner named Peter Drak, who is maniacal and very rarely under control. Trujillo really hams it up, and the dude slays in the silly face department. Other notable
performances come from the late Deborah Raffin, Yvan Ponton, Tom Butler, and
Vlasta Vrana.
The special effects of Scanners II come close to retaining Dick
Smith’s work in the first film, and it’s actually a bit gorier in some
instances. Mike Smithson and Shadoworks Inc. are the crew behind the messiness.
Without giving too much away, this IS a Scanners film, so of course you see
some heads going bye-bye in an explosive manner, and fatty veins popping up all
over the body. Love it.
Marty Simon’s musical score for Scanners II is a polar opposite
of the first film. No inspiration seems to have been drawn from Howard Shore’s techno-esque
weirdness. Instead, Simon sexes up our ears with that late night Skinemax
porn-horn sound. I gotta admit that I enjoyed it and even felt a bit frisky afterward.
RAWR.
Final Word:
Not bad for a sequel without the heart of an iconic director, and sometimes it even manages to out-scan its predecessor.
Scanners III: The Takeover
This is where you call your friends up to come over. Tell them to bring some beers. Allow them to get rowdy and
provide commentary, because Scanners III is a super hoot. While The New Order had a small bit in
the story that connected it to the first film, The Takeover goes entirely in its own
direction. It is not a continuation. The only resemblance is that it's about scanners.
There’s a Van Damme Kickboxer vibe, too, which is amazing. Christian Duguay returns
as the director, and B.J. Nelson is once again writing, this time along with
Julie Richard and David Preston. Scanners III is similar in style to Part II,
and apparently Duguay and Nelson were even more comfortable this time around
with laying on the cheese.
The Takeover is straight up comedy in some instances. Scan-battle
DERP-faces LEVEL UP! The expressions are corny to the max, and the scanners give a swift head thrust towards whomever they are about
to send flying across the screen. There’s also a fantastic scan-dance scene, scanner-fu, and more. Aside from the comedy, once again there are some new scanner abilities not shown in either previous movies.
If you’re checking out Scanners III to see who has solid acting chops, then shame on you. Just watch it for the good times. Our two main
characters are brother and sister scanners, Alex and Helena, played by Steve
Parrish and Liliana Komorowska. Alex ditches town for a while, so the beef of
the story is all about Helena going absolutely batty. She’s incredibly hot (even
with the goofy scan faces), power hungry, and sickly homicidal, so fun times
are had by all. Valerie Valois and Harry Hill also star.
Michael Maddi with crew handle special effects. Maddi worked on the previous film, but this time things look a
bit hokier. Given that this film is pretty overboard, it fits the tone. I
feel like the carnage is in more abundance than both Scanners and Scanners II. And
yes, of course, things explode.
Marty Simon is back on music. Same type of vibe than in
the second film- porn-horn all up in here! However, Scanners III has a slight
Christmas backdrop, so he throws in a bit of yuletide flavor in some areas. My
favorite song goes on alongside the dance scene I mentioned earlier. Impossible
not to love!
Final Word:
Scanners III is a party movie, folks! Fantastic battles, fantastic faces, fantastic boobs, great head and neck maneuvering, a blast all around!
DVD/Blu-Ray:
Scream Factory's Double Feature release of Scanners II & III comes as a combo pack, featuring both films on standard disc, as well as Blu-ray. On the standard disc, both films are presented in Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Digital Stereo Audio. On the Blu-ray, both films are in 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1), DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo. While I can only compare this experience to long ago viewings of VHS recorded copies, the Scream Factory release definitely looks and sounds awesome. Better than you would ever probably expect to see or hear Scanners II & III, for sure.
As for special features, there are none. But really, who expected these films to ever see a Blu-ray release? Anyone? *Crickets* Scanners II & III on Blu-ray is really a special feature in and of itself. Thanks guys!
Available now from Scream Factory. Order HERE.
- Brobocop Entering Sleep Mode
