When they came to the third entry in the Scanners franchise – based on David Croenenberg’s original film where a strain of people in Canada are born with psychic powers due to government experimentation in drugs given to expectant mothers – they were really having fun with the possibilities here: What if a pigeon annoyed you? Could you have a psychic battle underwater? Can you record your scanning ability on video tape? These questions will be answered in Scanners III: The Takedown (1991), which has the same director as Scanners II, Christian Duguay, and was released the same year direct-to-video.
The actors took a different approach when it came to conveying “scanning”. Still plenty of facial contortions and head shaking. But in this one, the cast curve their necks and raise their eyebrows when they exert their mental powers. Resembling broadway dancers performing Cats on stage. For this and a lot of other reasons, Scanners III is completely over-the-top with goofy comedy bits and violent comicbook scenarios. Without any relation to the first two movies, we focus on another brother and sister pair who have scanning abilities. After a scanning demonstration results in tragedy, our hunky hero Alex (Steve Parish) undergoes a meditation training retreat with some monks in Thailand straight out of a Jean Claude Van Damme movie produced by Cannon Pictures. Meanwhile back in Canada, his sister Helena (Liliana Komorowska, giving the wildest performance of the movie) experiments with a new drug intending to heal scanners but instead suffers the unexpected side effects, namely turning into a complete sociopath climbing the corporate ladder in powersuits, like a Special Guest Star on Melrose Place but with head-melting abilities.
When Alex returns to stop Helena’s nefarious plans, other scanners are conscripted into action and dress up like old-timey gangsters to chase our motorcycle-riding meditating hunk hero across rooftops and abandoned docks through action sequences that reminded me of Darkman. Though I weirdly preferred Scanners II more, Scanners III is still nutty fun with grotesque special effects, campy dialogue and heightened performances. Worth it just to see Komorowska’s delirious turn as the bitchy and glamorous head-exploder. Supreme proof that auteurless direct-to-video sequels can sometimes deliver the goods. Streamed on Shudder in Australia. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 