Exploring the Sequels
#3 Scanner Cop
The best of the sequels so far!
Well loyal readers (okay, okay..reader), I started Scanner Cop expecting another drop in quality and was unsure if these last two were even really sequels outside of capitalizing on the “Scanners” name but was pleasantly, actually shockingly surprised. Scanner Cop, I’m happy to write, is the best in the series since Scanners 1 while also being vastly different in story and tone from Cronenberg’s cult hit. And it does actually tie into Cronenberg’s original world of scanners.
Our main protagonist is Sam Staziek (Daniel Quinn). As a young boy his dad is a scanner who has not had access to his prescription of the newest iteration of ephemerol. This is the drug originally given to pregnant mothers in the first film causing the births of scanners. In Scanner Cop, the newest version of the scanner suppressant can successfully dull a Scanner’s powers so they can live normally so long as they don’t go more than a few days without it.
Sam’s dad has a psychotic, hallucinatory episode due to running out of the drug. The police are called and his dad is killed but Sam saves the police officer’s life. The policeman’s name is Officer Harrigan (Richard Grove) and he and his wife adopt him after seeing that turning Sam over to a overzealous and openly dangerous doctor (Luca Bercovici) at a local institution will only lead to unethical experimentation of his scanning abilities. Sam is now able to live a safe and protected life and can consistently have his medication to suppress his scanning.
Flash forward and adult Sam is now a newly appointed rookie cop and Officer Harrigan is now Commander of the LA police department. Soon after Sam hits the street with his new partner so begins a string of cop killings by innocent citizens with no explanation as to why. Each killer is completely in shock after with no motive, and no prior records. They are being brainwashed by a serial killer and his personal psychic (yep, just go with it) who are seeking revenge on someone very close to Sam. To stop the real killer Sam will have to make the choice to not use ephemerol and allow his scanning abilities to help him solve the case. To win against the killer he risks losing his own mind.
Scanner Cop writer George Saunders (not that George Saunders) and director Pierre David (producer of the previous Scanner films, Videodrome) eliminate any connection to Scanners 2 and 3 and reboot the series into the police procedural popular in the the 1990’s. Scanners 1-3 were all shot and took place in Canada. Scanner Cop was shot and takes place in LA but weirdly feels like Canada.
The look and tone of Scanner Cop is more akin to a television pilot where a scanner cop might solve a crime of the week like Highlander the series, Renegade, Homicide, or Walker Texas Ranger. But mix in a little Forever Knight and The X Files for good measure. David takes this police procedural and infuses it with equal parts serial killer thriller, sci fi horror, and straight forward action movie beats. He also gets a lot of out of a very low budget with a solid stable of 90’s era character actors including Hillary Shepherd (Power Rangers, Private Resort), Richard Lynch (Scarecrow, Invasion USA), Richard Grove (Evil Dead 2), Mark Rolston (Aliens, The Shawshank Redemption), and Brion James (Blade Runner) with great looking gore effects by Ted Haines and James Rohland.
Daniel Quinn does a more than serviceable job as our lead and conveys an innocence and likability while also expressing a dense map of pain with his eyes and forehead. Every bulging vein a trail of extreme discomfort. He feels like he’s truly attempting to perform psychic powers more than any other actor in the series. As this is not a deeply character driven story so he does a lot with what little he’s given. There was more than one occasion I thought the man might lose control of his bowels on set. The man was ACTING. Daniel Quinn also resembles a young Brad Douriff and I always thought Mr. Douriff (my favorite actor) would have been a better choice as the hero Vale in Scanners 1. So Mr. Quinn was a much more inspired choice than the blander looking and acting leads in the previous sequels.
Scanner Cop has a tightly paced story that doesn’t linger enough to feel any drag and is just pure, brain in power down mode fun. You get mid 90’s cheesy CGI FX during the brainwash murder spree scenes where the killers hallucinate their greatest fears, an inspired and creepy opening where Sam’s Dad hallucinates gnarly looking tiny human like heads bursting from his forehead, and our protagonist having to descend corporally into a haunted house mental hospital that is also not just a nightmare but maybe the bowels of hell itself. Oh and there is an inspired spin on the requisite head explosion this time around.
Awesome stuff, and if you give into its charm Scanner Cop might just arrest you too!
Next time…Scanner Cop 2 aka Scanners: The Showdown
My 4K Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray’s of both Scanner Cop sequels arrived in the mail and I’ll be catching up asap with part 5.
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In the spirit of the newly released Nosferatu I’m listing my top 10 favorite vampire films. I’d like to hear your as well!
1.) Fright Night
2.) Let the Right One In
3.) The Lost Boys
4.) Near Dark
5.) Martin
6.) Interview with the Vampire
7.) Bram Stoker’s Dracula
8.) Fright Night 2
9.) Nosferatu (original)
10.) The Hunger