Scanner Cop II (1995)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Steve Barnett

Writers:

David Cronenberg (characters)
Mark Sevi (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A demonic 'scanner' terrorizes Los Angeles and the only person who can stop him may not have the neurons for the job.

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Independent Film

Cast

Daniel Quinn	...	Detective Samuel Staziak
Patrick Kilpatrick	...	Karl Volkin
Khrystyne Haje	...	Carrie Goodart
Stephen Mendel	...	Detective Jim Mullins
Robert Forster	...	Captain Jack Bitters
Brenda Swanson	...	Glory Avionis
Jerry Potter	...	Sheriff Jake
Jewel Shepard	...	Nurse
Tony Fasce	...	Pickpocket Jones
Terrie Snell	...	Washer Woman
Jim Blumetti	...	Old Cop
Eric Chambers	...	Young Cop
Evan MacKenzie	...	J.J.
Barbara Tarbuck	...	Rachel Staziak
Eugene Robert Glazer	...	Institute Director

Also Known As:

Scanner Cop 2: Volkin's Revenge (Philippines: English title)
Scanner Cop II: Volkin's Revenge (USA) (closing credits title)
Scanners IV: Scanner Cop (USA)
Scanners: The Showdown (Canada: English title) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sci-fi violence and gore.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:18 | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R | Philippines:R-18

Company:

Showdown Productions

Movie Connections:

Spin off from Scanners (1981)

Only One Good Thing About This Movie...

I am a HUGE Robert Forster fan ever since renting Alligator as an 11 year old a decade ago. I picked up this film both because I am a fan of his and I loved David Cronenburg's works, especially the classic Scanners. Well in Scanners: The Showdown, Robert Forster makes a small appearance as a police captain and, other than the creepy lead villain Volkin, this film had little else.

The story of a cop with "scanner" abilities, which in short means he can stare at you and make funny music come out of his eyeballs which gives you a bloody nose. He is searching for his long lost mother when a crazed scanner breaks out of a mental institution. This crazed scanner, Volkin, goes around killing scanners to "steal their essence" and add to their power, including some incredibly lame scanner-melting scenes, and it's up to our hero, Staziak, to save the day.

Let me say that I loved David Cronenburg's original Scanners both because of the effects and the original story line, but in Scanners: The Showdown, the story is old and tired. Meanwhile, we the viewer are treated to annoying "scanning" music throughout the entire movie along with close-ups of our actors concentrating very hard to "scan." It wouldn't be that bad if it only happened a few times during the course of the film but they scan EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON SCREEN at a rate of once every minute!!! And on top of all that, there is VERY LITTLE GORE!!! With the exception of a nice homage to Cronenberg at the end of the film, it was VERY TAME.

In other words, don't be fooled by it's title, if you want to watch a real film go out and find the original. Even if you are a big Robert Forster fan (like I am) the short 2 minutes he is on film is not enough to justify recommending this movie unless you are a big fan of the genre and have an hour and a half to kill.

4 / 10