This 1991 sequel to David Cronenberg's 1981 horror hit Scanners went straight to video in the UK, so I was fully expecting the film to be a cheap and cheesy cash-in with few redeeming features. But while Scanners II: The New Order isn't quite on a par with the original, it's still a very serviceable movie, a respectful follow-up with a decent plot, fine performances, and just enough splatter to satisfy those who, like me, regard the exploding head in the first film to be one of the best make-up effects ever committed to film.
David Hewlett stars as 'scanner' David Kellum, whose extraordinary psychic powers enable him to control people's minds and inflict pain/damage on those who threaten him. With such a special gift, he is quickly recruited by power hungry Commander John Forrester (Yvan Ponton), who wants to use David as a tool in the building of a totalitarian 'new order'. However, when David realises that Forrester is a fascist dictator in the making, he rebels, pitting him in a desperate battle against Forrester's less idealistic scanners, of which Peter Drak (Raoul Max Trujillo) is the most powerful.
Horrible saxophone score aside, there isn't really much to dislike about The New Order: director Christian Duguay keeps things moving along at a reasonable pace, the cinematography is good, there are two juicy exploding noggins (although neither are as shocking as FX genius Dick Smith's handiwork in Cronenberg's movie), and rounding out the cast are Deborah Raffin as David's babelicious older sister Julie, Tom Butler as nasty Doctor Morse, and Isabelle Mejias as David's girlfriend Alice Leonardo.
6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
David Hewlett stars as 'scanner' David Kellum, whose extraordinary psychic powers enable him to control people's minds and inflict pain/damage on those who threaten him. With such a special gift, he is quickly recruited by power hungry Commander John Forrester (Yvan Ponton), who wants to use David as a tool in the building of a totalitarian 'new order'. However, when David realises that Forrester is a fascist dictator in the making, he rebels, pitting him in a desperate battle against Forrester's less idealistic scanners, of which Peter Drak (Raoul Max Trujillo) is the most powerful.
Horrible saxophone score aside, there isn't really much to dislike about The New Order: director Christian Duguay keeps things moving along at a reasonable pace, the cinematography is good, there are two juicy exploding noggins (although neither are as shocking as FX genius Dick Smith's handiwork in Cronenberg's movie), and rounding out the cast are Deborah Raffin as David's babelicious older sister Julie, Tom Butler as nasty Doctor Morse, and Isabelle Mejias as David's girlfriend Alice Leonardo.
6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.