Scanners

David Cronenberg -- "Videodrome," "Naked Lunch," "Dead Ringers," "Eastern Promises" -- is one of our most immediately identifiable directors. There's a phrase reserved just for him: "body horror." When you see a frame of a Wes Anderson movie, you know he directed it. And when you see a head explode, you know who directed it -- it was either David Cronenberg, or anybody else. "Scanners" is one of his great early films. It's a bit more quote-unquote trashy than his later films, but it's not less intelligent. This sci-fi yarn - which details people with telekinetic power, which they can use to, you know, explode heads -- remains one of his most viscerally affecting pieces of work.

Lucky for Cronenberg fans -- and Scanner-ites -- this release should prevent the film from ever being called a B-side again. There's numerous extra features here testifying to Cronenberg's blood-and-guts artistry: a 20-minute feature on the special effects ("The Scanners Way,") a 20-minute interview with Michael Ironside ("Mental Saboteur,") another with fellow actor Stephen Lack ("The Ephemerol Diaries,") trailers, radio spots, and a TV interview with Cronenberg.

Then there's one of the best special features Criterion has ever put out: as they've previously done with "King of the Hill" (Soderbergh) and "Certified Copy" (Kiarostami,) they've taken the opportunity to package an early film by Cronenberg as an extra with their "Scanners" disc. The film is called "Stereo," and while it may be a black-and-white student effort, it's essential to anyone interested in studying this intensely visual artist. The 63-minute feature details a school dedicated to those with telekinetic abilities, and features many elements -- of both craft (those rigid compositions!) and narrative -- that would show up, fully developed, in Cronenberg's later works.

At this point I have some worthwhile context to impart, so please forgive my lapse into the first-person. Earlier this month, at Boston's Coolidge Corner Theatre, I saw what was purported to be the best remaining 35mm print of this film left in America. Colors were faded, the print was going pink, and while detail hadn't been lost, the imagery left something to be desired. This disc fulfills that desire. The colors here may not have a Technicolor pop, but even on the faded print I could tell they never did: here's a film defined by cold blues and darker, murky, hard-to-read reds. This Criterion disc gets all that perfectly right, with none of the artificial brightness and sheen you feel you sometimes see from other discs (from other distributors.) "Scanners" can be a nasty film to gaze at, but it's never looked better.

"Scanners"
Dual Format Release
Criterion.com
$39.95