Scanner Cop

"Imagine a cop who can read your mind... then blow it away."

1994 1h 34m EN

😐

5.7

MID

★5.7TMDB · 86

Science FictionHorrorAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Rookie cop Sam Staziak has a unique gift: he is a Scanner, which gives him the power to read the thoughts of others, and also to inflict great bodily harm. When a mad scientist begins using mind control to murder police officers, Sam realizes that only he and his unique gift can put an end to the mayhem.

“Imagine a cop who can read your mind... then blow it away.”

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Cast

Daniel Quinn
Samuel Staziak
Darlanne Fluegel
Dr. Joan Alden
Richard Grove
Commander Peter Harrigan
Mark Rolston
Lieutenant Harry Brown
Richard Lynch
Karl Glock
Hilary Shepard
Zena
James Horan
Melvin
Gary Hudson
Damon Pratt

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Pierre David
Writers: John Bryant Hedberg, Pierre David, George Saunders
Languages: English
Countries: Canada, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Scanner Cop Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Pierre David, shot by Jacques Haitkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Louis Febre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Julian Semilian shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Daniel Quinn and Darlanne Fluegel and Richard Grove carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Imagine a cop who can read your mind... then blow it away.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Pierre David directs. Jacques Haitkin behind the camera. Louis Febre scores. Julian Semilian cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Canada, Germany. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

132 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 2 countries: Canada, Germany.
3Part of the "Scanner Cop Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Pierre David, shot by Jacques Haitkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Louis Febre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Julian Semilian shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Daniel Quinn and Darlanne Fluegel and Richard Grove carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Imagine a cop who can read your mind... then blow it away.".
9IMDB entry: tt0111082 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 86 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jacques Haitkin
Original score: Louis Febre
Editing: Julian Semilian
Makeup / hair: David Barrett
Stunt coordinator: Jeff Pruitt
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Scanner Cop (1994)

Part of

Scanner Cop Collection

Series of police-based sequels to David Cronenberg's 'Scanners', about Samuel Staziak, a rookie cop with the LAPD who has a telepathic ability.

Also by

Pierre David

Serial Killer
1995 · ★ 4.7

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb766221952023-07-15
★ 6/10
The producers of the "Scanners" series decided to take this in a whole new direction. This time out, we meet young scanner Samuel whose birth father goes insane. He is adopted by an understanding cop. Years later, his adopted dad is police commander and Samuel Staziak (Daniel Quinn) is a rookie cop. He is on drugs to keep his scanning under control, but helps out his dad after a bunch of cops are shot by usually normal people. It seems Karl Glock (perennial villain Richard Lynch) is programming people to kill cops as revenge for his being shot by the commander. The whole plot is just fine and dandy, but this film feels like one of those old syndicated TV action shows like "VIP" or "Silk Stalkings." Better action has been witnessed on "T.J. Hooker." It seems all the budget was spent on the special effects by John Carl Buechler, which are fine except for a hilarious finale involving a defibrillator. The film makers also do not remember their own mythology, as we see the scanner cop chase someone in an elevator by taking the next elevator that comes along. As we know, and the film shows us, scanners can "control" machines, so why doesn't he just scan and tell the elevator with the criminal in it to stop? In the finale, as the scanner cop is running all over a hospital looking for his injured dad, he scans everyone he comes in contact with. The facial contortions and scanning take longer than just using his mouth and asking where his father is. I had the same reaction to this that I did with "Scanners" I and II. Fine, I have now seen them, time to go outside. This is average in the purest sense of the word, and I wish the film makers had taken more chances with this by-the-numbers production.

Production companies