Scanners III: The Takeover (also known as Scanner Force in UK) is a 1992 Canadian science fiction horror film, the second sequel to the film Scanners. It was directed by Christian Duguay. The film received mixed reviews, and is the least successful Scanners film. This sequel has a different set of characters from either of the preceding films in the series.
In addition to having the same director and screenwriter, this film also features a few actors from Scanners II: The New Order. For instance, Jason Cavalier from Scanners II: The New Order (with the exploding tumor) plays a punk leader in Scanners III: The Takeover.
Plot
Alex Monet, a Scanner, accidentally kills his best friend whilst demonstrating his powers at a Christmas party. Devastated, he goes to a monastery in Thailand in order to learn how to control his powers.
Two years later, Alex's adoptive father, Elton, is developing an experimental drug patch named EPH-3 (a variant of Ephemerol), which he hopes can help Scanners repress their powers and live normal lives. His stepdaughter and Alex's sister Helena, who is also a Scanner, wishes to use the drug as a way to inhibit the migranes she suffers from her abilities creating voices in her head, but Elton says she cannot use it until he has researched the drug's side effects. Despite his warnings, however, Helena secretly puts on one of the patches in the middle of the night. The drug quickly drives Helena to becoming unhinged, and she ends up using her powers to commit a string of murders, starting with Baumann, a corrupt doctor who used to torture her with medical experiments when she was a little girl. She eventually kills Elton, and takes over his pharmaceutical company before using the Eph-3 to create her own army of Scanners from Baumann's patients.
Michael, a friend of Elton's, travels to Thailand and manages to track down Alex. After informing him of the situation, Michael gets killed by a group of villagers being mind-controlled by one of Helena's scanners. Alex receives one final training course from his monk mentor, before leaving Thailand to go deal with his sister. Meanwhile, Helena discovers that she can use her powers through television signals. Yearning for more power, she kills her boss Mark Dragon, the owner of a TV network she works at, and takes over his position.
Alex arrives back in the United States, where he meets up with his ex-girlfriend Joyce and informs her about Helena's descent into madness. The two rekindle their relationship as they work together to stop her, with Alex being able to dispatch each of Helena's scanners. However, Joyce ends up becoming mind-controlled by Helena, whom is preparing to spread out several boxes of EPH-3 in mass as she broadcasts herself on live TV, intending to use her powers to kill millions of viewers. However, Alex breaks into the TV station before she can do so, and rescues Joyce. In the ensuing battle, Alex is able to remove the EPH-3 patch from Helena's body. Helena reverts back to normal, and, overcome with guilt, commits suicide by electrocuting herself with a live wire. After Alex and Joyce leave, however, Helena's consciousness transfers itself into a video camera, as she smiles menacingly.
The film was released on VHS in the United States by Republic Pictures, in Canada by Malofilm Home Video and in the UK by First Independent Films. A DVD version of the film is included in the Scanners Trilogy box set released only in the EU by Starz Home Entertainment. This box also includes the first and second Scanner film. Shout! Factory's new horror label Scream Factory released a Region 1 DVD/Blu-ray edition on September 10, 2013.
Reception
In a review of the Scanners II / Scanners III double feature combo pack, Creative Loafing commented that the original Scanners was one of David Cronenberg's weaker films and that the sequels failed to effectively build on its premise. Concluding that "Scanners III contains an even worse script, even worse acting and even worse effects [than Scanners II]", the reviewer gave it one star.[3]
Conversely, in an article for Bloody Disgusting ranking all five of the Scanners films, Daniel Baldwin ranked Scanners III as the third-best in the series, calling it "absolutely bonkers" and saying "it’s kind of impossible to not beam with excitement when writing about this one. It simply has to be seen to be believed."[4]
References
^ abJohnston, Ian (October 1991). "Scanners 2". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
^Pike, David (2012-12-06). Canadian Cinema Since the 1980s: At the Heart of the World. University of Toronto Press. ISBN978-1442698321.
