This surprisingly enjoyable B-movie is a cut above most efforts from the early 1990s, thanks to a plot which takes the series in a new, interesting direction, plenty of gore and violence, and some decent acting. It's a movie with no pretensions which really packs in the groceries when it comes to gory action - I've never seen so many policemen get violently murdered in a single film! You know exactly what you're going to get with a film like this and it doesn't disappoint.The opening is admittedly cheesy, with a scene where a hallucinating man sees lots of little screaming faces appear in his forehead (nice effects, but there's something just too rubbery about it). After this arresting sight, things slow down in pace as we are introduced to the film's main hero, played by Daniel Quinn. Quinn is very charismatic in his role of the cop, torn between wanting a normal life and using his special powers as a method to fight crime. In fact, I really liked his performance and most of the performances in this film - some, like Richard Lynch's, are deliberately over the top yet still highly amusing. Hilary Shepard is an alluring femme fatale, while Richard Grove provides solid support. Only the introduction of Darlanne Fluegel as an unnecessary love interest rings false - her character is completely worthless to this film's development.The film focuses on a series of violent murders committed by members of the public who have been "programmed" to kill officers on sight. The unwilling murderers hallucinate that their worst fears are in front of them (bugs, gang members, etc.) leading them to attack with extreme violence. Of course, this is just an excuse for the special effects guys to show as many different monstrous beasties as possible. All of the classic 'scanning' action is saved for the film's finale, where the grue really flies.One clever scene has our cop hero scanning a dead woman - and following her soul down into hell. This scene is actually pretty highbrow for a simple film like this. There's a grand total of one exploding head, which is nice and meaty, and lots of disturbing imagery of asylum patients abusing themselves. The build-up to the ending is rushed and full of plot holes (including one of those staple moments from the Bond films and many others, where the chief villain traps the hero and leaves them to a fate worse than death, only for the hero to escape in the nick of time). However the final hospital battle is an intense one, with full of gooey bits and even some brief, effective stop-motion thrown into the brew. It finishes with the baddie's metal head-plate blasting from his skull in a spectacular fashion. SCANNER COP may not be an epic, but it sure is a lot of fun.

A former neurosurgeon named Glock(great heavy Richard Lynch)was put away thanks to cop Harrigan(Richard Grove). Through manipulating a doctor at a psycho ward, Glock escapes, taking up with a "fortune-teller" named Zena(Hilary Shepard). He seeks revenge for Harrigan's putting him away(Glock was conducting "brain experiments" on a group of followers)and, through a series of brainwashing tactics, has civilians killing cops they thinks are various evil concoctions based on their worst fears.Years prior to this, Harrigan was working a beat where a father was going through madness thanks to his overwhelming scanner attacks..this mental throbbing which work as excessive migraines(we see these mini-heads bulge from the poor guy's forehead)as multiple voices from anyone in the general area chime in only adding to his misery. The father hadn't taken medication for his illness for days and his son Sam can only watch in horror as he almost kills not only Harrigan but throws another policeman through a wall. In an unfortunate turn of events, Sam's father is killed because of his attempts at killing those policemen. Without a home, Sam is raised by Harrigan. Sam(Daniel Quinn), now an adult rookie cop, will have to help Harrigan(now a Commander of the police force)stop Glock by temporarily stopping the routine of medication which kept the scanner abilities dormant and quiet. As Sam remains off of them, his mind is slowly coming apart..he must find Glock & Zena before a repeated case of what happened to his father occurs to him. Darlanne Fluegel(TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA)stars as Dr. Joan Alden, someone who will work closely on the case as the voice of reason who tries to keep Sam focused while assisting the police. If things get hairy or appear out of hand regarding Sam and his scanning, she'll try to be a guiding hand in him not taking things too far.Not a bad film, but nothing all that special or memorable. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but I wasn't that overwhelmed, either. Quinn is actually quite good in the lead and Lynch is at his usual slimy best. There are some okay make-up effects showing how scanning another's mind can lead to the exposing of brain hemorrhage is one keeps the meld on too long. There's a head-explosion which is almost expected in the series. The interesting little gimmick added to the film has Lynch's baddie plated with metal on one side of his brain making it hard for Sam to scan him.

Scanner Cop starts in a grotty Los Angeles apartment block in a flat where a scanner has gone several days without Ephemerol & is going crazy from the pain, his son Samuel (Elan Rothschild) watches on as he screams & hallucinates. The apartment manager has called the police & they burst into the flat, in the ensuing incident Sam's Father is shot dead. Officer Peter Harrigan (Richard Grove) feels sorry for Samuel & together with his wife Margaret (Savannah Smith Boucher) decides to adopt him. Jump '15 Yaers Later' & Samuel Staziak (Daniel Quinn) is following in his adopted Father's footsteps & is now a Los Angeles police officer. Harrigan is now a Commander & is dealing with a worrying case, it seems random totally unconnected civilians are killing police officers for no apparent reason. Hospital orderly Damon Pratt (Gary Hudson) has stabbed officer Dooley (Wayne Grace) to death but appears to be in a comatose state & psychiatrist Dr. Joan Alden (Darlanne Fluegel) can't get anything from him. Harrigan has no choice but to ask his boy Samuel to stop taking his Ephemerol & scan Damon in an attempt to try & give them some clues to go on & stop the senseless killing...Produced & directed by Pierre David this is technically the third sequel to David Cronenberg's original Scanners (1981), although this takes the the basic scanner element & tries to do something a little bit different. The script by John Bryant & George Saunders takes itself very seriously, moves along at a nice pace & is as much a thriller as it is horror. It's a surprisingly decent film with good character's, some nice scenes & overall the whole concept bizarrely works rather well. Samuel isn't presented as some sort of superhero & the film manages a nice balance between someone vulnerable with problems & someone with a unique gift which makes him powerful & frightening. On a disappointing note I didn't think there were enough exploding body parts, I mean the fabulous exploding head is the scene everyone remembers from the original (& the other two previous sequels as well I suppose but the original in particular) & it's equivalent here is very weak by comparison & seems to be there for the sake of it, blink & you'll miss it! I also didn't like the eventual reasoning behind the cop killings, just one single person out for revenge against one cop just felt far too small in scope & throughly routine.Director David does a fine job, Scanner Cop isn't going to win any awards for artistic merit or anything like that but it's competently made throughout. He keeps the story quite tight & he keeps it moving along. The special make-up effects are not too bad but sort of average as we get some bulging veins, a few creatures & a scene where little faces pop out of someones forehead. The obligatory exploding head is less than spectacular & overall the gore level isn't that high.Technically Scanner Cop is OK & it's generally well made. The acting was alright although Quinn looks a little nervous at times. There are a couple of familiar genre faces here, even though he is listed quite high in the opening credits Brion James appears for less than one minute, Aliens (1986) actor Mark Rolston is here, veteran Richard Lynch plays the villain & Hilary Shepard as his sidekick.Scanner Cop isn't a half bad film, it's certainly better than a lot of low budget horror/thriller's that clutter video shop shelves. I think it's well worth a watch if this is your type of film & I personally prefer it to Cronenberg's dull as dishwater original. A sequel Scanner Cop II (1995) was made the following year.

Scanner Cop (1994) was an interesting spin-off of the Scanners trilogy. This small budgeted film follows the remnents of the "scanner" underground. One of these is a young man who's a scanner and he tries to deal with his powers. Darlene Fluegal co-stars as a doctor who tries to help the "scanner". But somewhere in the big city there's an evil scanner hell bent on declaring war on the "normals". I saw this film nine years ago on cable t.v. I was impressed by it because it didn't try to hard. Just a movie about a couple of unaccounted rogue scanners roaming amongst the "normals". Not a masterpiece by any means. A nice little time killer that I wouldn't mind seeing again in the near future.Watchable, if on the idiot box.B-x