Explode your head in the name of the law!
SCANNER COP 1 & 2
Deep from the bowels of straight-to-video hell, comes Scanner Cop 1 & 2, two loosely connected sequel/spin-offs to the Scanners franchise, famously born from body horror pioneer David Cronenberg.
SCANNER COP
After his father has a mental breakdown and is consequently killed after stopping his medication, Sam Staziazk (Daniel Quinn) is raised and adopted by the police officer tasked with taking down Sam's deranged father. As time passes, Sam's ever-growing knowledge of the abilities that he and his father possessed (being the abilities of a Scanner) have helped him in becoming a police officer. When suddenly, police officers are being murdered randomly, by seemingly brainwashed people of the city, Sam's desire for medicating his Scanner abilities dwindles while his powers are challenged in the search for a devious and sadistic serial killer (Richard Lynch), who's more than happy to play the game of cat and mouse.
Though Scanner Cop attempts to tackle the overly saturated Cat and Mouse / Cop and Killer genre in a new turn for the Scanner franchise, the film floats to the top of the muck puddle, partially thanks to Cronenberg's vision of a sanity derived world, thanks to the 'balls to the wall' idea of a species of human with unstable telekinetic abilities. The world is leaking with psychosis, as the presence of this so called Scanner race has always been interesting in a historical and social sense.
Scanner Cop may be somewhat tame on its Scanning, possibly due to the strange decision to not have a villain who is in fact a scanner like our hero Sam. But there is still a flavorsome menu of pulsating veins and exploding heads. Perhaps the decision for the villain was an attempt at something new in the Scanners franchise? Or perhaps a simple mistake, as proven by Scanner Cop's subsequent sequel having a far more prominent and deadly villain.
The acting is all over the place, and yes I think that's a compliment to the film, as Daniel Quinn's constipation face will always bring a smile to my face. There are times however when Quinn really gives it his all, and you can tell he put everything into the role. Mark Rolston and Richard Grove both delivered easily the best pieces of acting in the film. Rolston playing an always skeptic deputy and Grove as Quinn's adoptive father. One noticeably bad performance comes from Hilary Shepard as Zena, an awkward attempt at playing a 'bad ass' hellion sidekick to Richard Lynch's 'Karl Glock'. Though the character's redemption as being likable is brought upon by a wonderfully Cronenberg head explosion.
SPECIFICATIONS
Directed by: Pierre David
Starring: Daniel Quinn, Darlanne Fluegel, Richard Grove, Richard Lynch, Hilary Shepard, Mark Rolston
1993 / 94 min / 1.85:1 / English Stereo
Additional info:
• Region Free 4k Ultra HD / Blu-ray combo
• Newly scanned & restored in 4k from its 35mm original negative
• 4k UHD presented in High-Dynamic-Range
• “Outside the Law: The Scanner Cop Revolution - Part One” - extended making-of documentary featuring interviews with: producer/director Pierre David, actress Hilary Shepard, actor Mark Rolston, actor Richard Grove, special effects artist Ted Haines, special effects artist James Rohland, stunt coordinator Jeff Pruitt, director (Scanner Cop II) Steve Barnett and screenwriter (You’re Next) Simon Barrett
• Original promotional video
• Commentary track by the We Hate Movies Podcast
• Reversible cover artwork
• Newly translated English SDH subtitles
SCANNER COP 2
Following the events of Scanner Cop, Sam Stoziazk (Daniel Quinn) continues his non-stop onslaught on crime as a police officer with Scanner abilities, now with the help of a little upgrade in medication. But while one Scanner is in paradise, countless others are in hell. Karl Volkin (Patrick Kilpatrick), a fugitive Scanner, is on a relentless path of revenge after escaping the Scanner ward in an insane asylum. Killing and draining the life essence of other Scanners, he seeks to become more and more powerful in an attempt to slay Sam Stoziask after Sam fatally killed Volkin's brother in a standoff after a crime spree.
Scanner Cop 2 both fails and succeeds in various aspects when compared to the original, though notably leaning more to the latter. Released less than a year after the first film, the cat and mouse plot returns with a bang, and with it comes more gore, more villain, and a hell of a lot more Scanning. For a 90's direct to video cop/killer body horror thriller, The Showdown brings it all to the table.
Special effects and body horror were obviously a priority in the eyes of the film making crew, perhaps due to there being little to no original crew members partaking in the sequel's production. What's better than one head explosion? Two of course. Can Scanners drain people's life essence, turning them into a literal husk of a corpse? Sure thing. Praise may not be applicable without John Carl Buechler being the brains of the operation when it comes to the special effects, as each death sequence is more vibrant than the last.
Acting, again, is a noticeable charm *cough* *Daniel Quinn constipation face* *cough*. And this sequel noticeably exceeds in entertainment with the likes of Patrick Kilpatrick being the lovable maniac 'Karl Volkin' as the titular villain. And even a surprisingly pleasant cameo from Robert Forster, playing Stoziazk's loyal police captain.
One negative that can be distracting in the slightest, is the appearance of the production design and cinematography. The film tends to reek of being rushed in some aspects, and various shots, locations etc. appear cheap and flat to the point where it's as if they filmed some sequences on the Seinfeld set.
SPECIFICATIONS
Directed by: Steve Barnett
Starring: Daniel Quinn, Patrick Kilpatrick, Khrystyne Haje, Robert Forster, Stephen Mendel
1994 / 95 min / 1.85:1 / English Stereo
Additional info:
• Region Free 4k Ultra HD / Blu-ray combo
• Newly scanned & restored in 4k from its 35mm original negative
• 4k UHD presented in High-Dynamic-Range
• Commentary track with director Steve Barnett
• “Outside the Law: The Scanner Cop Revolution - Part Two” - extended making-of documentary featuring interviews with: director Steve Barnett, producer Pierre David, actor Patrick Kilpatrick, actress Khrystyne Haje, actor Stephen Mendel, composer Richard Bowers, special effects artist Jeff Farley, makeup effects artist Tom Irvin, special effects artist James Rohland and screenwriter (You’re Next) Simon Barrett
• Original trailer
• Reversible cover artwork
• Newly translated English SDH subtitles
RESTORATION
Brought to light thanks to the fine folks over at Vinegar Syndrome in a lavishly produced Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD / Blu-Ray Box Set including both films and a wealth of special features including a feature length documentary. Who knew said films would receive so much love and respect in the restoration aspect. Not only being upgraded into Blu-Ray, and shockingly 4K-UHD (we aren't complaining), but even beating the original Scanners to a 4K-UHD release. Who saw that coming?
SPECIAL FEATURES
But wait, there's more than just the usual top quality VS restoration. There's also the icing on the cake special features attached to both films. Most notably being parts one and two of “Outside the Law: The Scanner Cop Revolution", an extended making-of documentary featuring interviews with: director Steve Barnett, producer Pierre David, actor Patrick Kilpatrick, actress Khrystyne Haje, actor Stephen Mendel, composer Richard Bowers, special effects artist Jeff Farley, makeup effects artist Tom Irvin, special effects artist James Rohland and screenwriter (You’re Next) Simon Barrett. Part One being contained on the Scanner Cop disc, and Part Two being on the Scanner Cop II disc.
Reviewed and edited by Joel Brady