1981: Scanners

The scanners of the title are the few people on earth who can read and control minds and make your nose bleed in the process. Naturally, there are a few persons interested in using these people for their own means. So, what's not to like?

Set in the (early 1980s) present, David Cronenberg's first modest box-office success is filmed in large part in run-off-the-mill locations, but nevertheless manages to create a world of its own, the style of the film making it seem a little like mainstream cinema's reaction to Eraserhead (which was released four years before). On the downside, the plot is sometimes somewhat hard to follow - who's infiltrating whom right now? - but then, the plot is not really the film's point. (7.5)