No Surrender Cinema: Scanners III: The Takeover
No Surrender Cinema takes sibling rivalry to the next level this month, as brother and sister tangle in a telekinetic showdown for the ages! Heads will roll (or in this case, explode) as experimental drugs and mind control set the stage for one woman’s attempt at world domination in Scanners III: The Takeover!
Fear not, dear readers… you didn’t miss any previous Scanners reviews. Although I would suggest the original Scanners and Scanners II: The New Order as films that should be in your queue if you’ve never seen them, it’s not necessary to follow along with the third installment in the series. All you need to know is that the titular Scanners are people gifted with psychic abilities such as telepathy and telekinesis. We’re introduced to two of them as the movie begins, when Alex Monet (Steve Parrish) and his sister Helena (Liliana Komorowska) arrive at a Christmas party being thrown by Alex’s girlfriend Joyce (Valerie Valois). A few of the partygoers are engaged in conversation, and when Alex’s drunk buddy (showing his holiday spirit by dressing like Santa) overhears their doubts about the existence of Scanners, he eggs Alex on to shut them up. Alex is hesitant, but finally agrees, using his power to gently push his friend across the floor. Alex impresses the attendees, but when he’s startled by one of them, the party trick goes haywire and he sends his best friend flying over a balcony to his death… not to mention scarring the little kid who saw Santa go splat on the sidewalk for life!
Realizing that he did not abide by Spider-Man’s “great responsibility” motto in regards to usage of his power, Alex banishes himself to a monastery in Thailand, leaving Helena and Joyce behind. The two are still close, but it’s apparent that the more reserved Helena can’t get a grip on her power. She confides in Joyce that she’s struggling with constant migraines and is unable to hold down a job, but when the two women are attacked in an alley by a gang that look like they’re from Manny Fraker’s neck of the woods, Helena discovers the true potential of her suppressed powers. Joyce steps in before Helena winds up killing the three offenders, but the incident is a revelation to Helena. She pleads with her father, a doctor who adopted her and Alex in their youth, to allow her to be the test subject for an experimental drug called Eph3. According to Dr. Monet, the drug should help with the side effects of being a Scanner, but he’s not willing to let Helena be a part of the experiment. That doesn’t sit well with Helena, who steals from daddy’s stash and finds that Eph3 not only helps with the headaches, but morphs her into a power hungry vixen.
Once it’s discovered that Helena has started conducting her own trials of the drug on herself, Dr. Monet urges her to stop. Rather than heed his warnings, Helena uses her power to drown him in his hot tub (as she lays there naked, accusing dear old dad of being a dirty old man). She also ventures out to the Baumann Clinic. where she and Alex were subjected to abuse in their youth. Helena gains revenge on Dr. Baumann by making his finger, then his head explode, then recruits the current residents to be her personal Scanner Army by bribing them with samples of Eph3. Dr. Monet’s friend and attorney, Michael, realizes that something’s not quite right with Helena, and travels to Thailand to find Alex and fill him in on what’s been happening back home. This segues into one of the best scenes in the film, where one of Helena’s scanners (who was ordered to follow Michael) uses his powers to convince some local hoods (including two Muay Thai kickboxers) to kill Michael.
Back home, Helena is growing increasingly maniacal after discovering that her powers work even better than she could have hoped for. It turns out that she can effectively scan people through television screens. This only serves to accelerate her desire for control, but the return of Alex throws a monkey wrench into those plans. Helena dispatches her cronies (who are all dressed like the Blues Brothers for whatever reason) to eliminate her brother, but Alex fights them off. Convinced that his sister is the one trying to kill him, Alex reunites with Joyce, recovers from his battle with Helena’s henchmen long enough to have sex with her, and together they try to figure out a way to put an end to Helena’s drug fueled reign of terror.
Scanners III: The Takeover is a pretty wild movie. There’s plenty of action, elements of horror and sci-fi, martial artists, a few scenes with skin shown, and a slight bit of sleaze (although that’s more because of what’s implied by Helena at several points than anything shown). That might sound like a film with an identity crisis, but what’s been crafted here works for what it is. There are even a few humorous lines thrown in to break up the tension. The gore is not gratuitous, but it’s what you’d expect from a movie where our protagonist and antagonist both have the ability to make people’s heads explode. Alex’s encounters with Helena’s flunkies are extremely fun, especially the underwater scanning battle and the scene where he spins one of the henchmen around in a revolving door until all that’s left is a bloody mess. As far as the most memorable scene in the movie, that award goes to Helena’s television takeover, where the big football game broadcast becomes a crime scene after she makes a player’s head explode inside his helmet.
Although the ending would lead you to believe that we’d see some of these characters again, this was a one and done for all involved. The franchise would continue on with the release of Scanner Cop and Scanners: The Showdown (aka Scanner Cop 2), which were related and shared the same main character. Though some might say Scanners III can’t decide what type of film it wants to be, I would have to disagree; the appeal of Scanners III is thanks in part to the fact that it incorporated elements of nearly every genre that was popular in the DTV and cable world in the 90’s.
Scanners III: The Takeover can be viewed for free on Tubi right now, and there’s also a YouTube video that contains the movie in full. It’s also available on Blu-ray as part of a double disc set along with Scanners II: The New Order. If you’re having trouble deciding on what to watch this week, don’t think too hard… pop on Scanners III and leave the head explosions to the professionals.
