Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Blistering performances.

People who haven't seen "Scanners" are only familiar with the scene where the one guy's head explodes. That's really it. Judging from that, you'd think it would be a movie with a lot of explosions and killing. Okay, there is some of that near the end. I admit some of the acting could be better. I still praise this film for being so real. Yeah, not easy for a film about psychic powers to be. I really appreciate the dialogue and how everyone works together. The best part is probably the main twist or twists near the end. We even get a nice credit sequence that represents the rest of the film. While not one of my favorites, it's certainly watchable. I had no idea this was Canadian. ***

Some amazing gore effects highlight this Canadian classic! Sure it's a tad slow moving and the lead actor is awful, but the movie has a dark charm and sinister underbelly that works well. Of course everyone knows about the head exploding scene, but don't stop watching when that comes about ten minutes in because there's lots of good stuff here! Cult classic that still holds up despite the low budget.

Wacky, campy mindf*ck from David Cronenberg about a race of people with telekinetic powers and the ominous powers that be that want to take advantage of them.Like a lot of Cronenberg's work, I couldn't always figure out when I was supposed to be laughing at or with this film. The premise isn't half bad, but the acting is atrocious, especially from Stephen Lack in the lead role. Jennifer O'Neill and Michael Ironside fare somewhat better, but not much. I can see why this film has a cult following, but it's also a reminder that cult films don't always achieve their cult status by being good.The gory makeup effects probably looked pretty state of the art in 1981.Grade: C

No one make like this as Cronenberg did,original at extreme where the subject is powered minds and go on,with a low budge make one's best Sci-fi in 80',the Canadian is a genius really,the plot is amazing the movie never disappoint the audience,special effects are daring for those days. One's my favorite from Cronenberg!!!