October Horror Challenge 2017 #47: "Scanners (1981)"

Well as long as I'm getting movies I've always wanted to see out of the way, might as well watch "Scanners" today, too. This movie came out the year I was born, so I've never lived in a world without it, and I've wanted to see it practically since birth. My mom would never let me watch it, though. She said it was disgusting (my mom: not a big Cronenberg fan) and from the clips and add I've seen from the movie, I have to agree, it IS disgusting, but unlike my mom, I mean that as a compliment. I'm excited to finally check this movie out.

The movie is about certain people in the world who were born with terrifying psychic powers. These people are known as "scanners," and there's a secret government organization dedicated to tracking them down and stopping them. Right from the beginning of the movie, the head doctor guy is going on about how "disgusting" the scanners are (my mom would agree) but I think it's pretty disgusting kidnapping people and studying them like animals, so he doesn't have much room to talk as far as I'm concerned. Jerk.

This movie kind of reminds me of another movie I've seen called "The Fury." I haven't watched that one in awhile. Maybe I should break out the DVD. Anyway, that movie has some similarities to this one: people born with psychic abilities, creepy doctor guy who wants to control these people, the psychic abilities can be very dangerous when used on "normal" people.

The poster for this movie seems to paint the scanners as dangerous and evil, but like I said, the doctor guy seems pretty evil to me. At the very least he seems just as wrong as the people he's trying to fight (ah, conflicting philosophies, the center of so much human drama). I kinda wish I had psychic abilities that could blow people up, but I would 1000% use my power for evil instead of good, so it's probably a good thing that this movie is fiction (WE HOPE!) With all the philisophical issues addressed, this movie is pretty deep, and definitely interesting even today, just like it must have been in 1981 when it first raised these issues. I'm glad I finally got to see this, and that it's as good as I've heard.