David Cronenberg’s breakout leveled-up artistically as well as at the box office. Despite an inert lead performance from Stephen Lack, Scanners depicts a reality full of weaponized psychics at war but also disturbingly recognizable corporate conspiracies and house-of-mirrors paranoia. While the director’s work is best known for body horror, its social prescience is mind-blowing. -Lee Gardner
1981 Dir. David Cronenberg 1.85:1 Color DCP 103 min.
