Scanner Cop

Summary

“Kid, you picked one hell of a time to become a cop.”

Film distributor Vinegar Syndrome believes that all types of cinema should be celebrated. With their recent release of both Scanner Cop and Scanner Cop II, they focused on a couple mid-Nineties action/sci-fi films with brilliant 4K UHD transfers. The Scanner Cop films are very much representative of a certain time and place. The world has changed an incredible amount in the last quarter century, and these types of pictures work as a time capsule. I grew up reading comic books and watching the Science Fiction Channel, so whenever Vinegar Syndrome or other labels turn their attention to Nineties Sci-Fi, even of the straight-to-video kind, I find myself drawn towards checking out those releases. I was more than a little excited to indulge in some nostalgia. 

In Los Angeles within a seedy apartment, a scanner begins to suffer from sensory overload due to a lack of specialized pills. He begins to scream at his scanner son who has taken the last pill. The father scanner goes to the restroom where he hallucinates three tiny heads bursting out of his forehead. His son Sam is worried for him. The police arrive at the behest of the landlord. The scanner father begins to fend off the policemen using his telekinetic scanner abilities. When the son intervenes to save the life of officer Pete Harrigan (Richard Grove,) the father is killed by a shotgun blast from the landlord. Sam is taken from the scene by the police officer that he saved. Pete first takes Sam to Chatsworth Mental Institution where it is explained to him that Sam is a scanner and that the drug they were taking was called Ephemoral. Without the drug his brain can start to take in too much information and can then fall into sensory overload causing hallucinations and other issues. Pete takes Sam to his home instead of the mental institution and he and his wife raise him as their own son.

Fifteen years later – Sam Staziak (Daniel Quinn) becomes a police officer in Los Angeles. Pete has become a Commander on the force. At a diner, two officers are gunned down inexplicably by a restaurant employee before he is eventually killed. A newspaper salesman on a street corner is approached by officers and hallucinates that he is being attacked by a gang member. Wielding a crow bar at an officer, he is gunned down. A voluptuous fortune teller named Zena (Hilary Shepard) takes the newspaper featuring the killings down to the dwelling underneath her shop where a mysterious figure (Richard Lynch) seems pleased by the news. Staziak begins his shift as a rookie cop working with the more hard nosed and older Riley (Christopher Kriesa.) Pete Harrigan is called in to a crime scene  at a hospital when Doctor Pratt (Gary Hudson) kills an officer. He was suffering from a vision that looked similar to the tarot card in his pocket. Pete calls in Sam to ask him if he can help by taking some time off of his pills and scanning the doctor. Sam refuses. In the underground dwelling Zena and the villainous Karl Glock inject a janitor from the police station with a serum and program him to relive his fears from Vietnam when he sees officers. At the police station, Sam’s partner Riley is killed along with a couple other officers by the janitor. Sam decides to use all of his capabilities to help on the case and track down the cause of the killings.

Scanner Cop is an enjoyable piece of mid-Nineties straight-to-video science fiction that really scratched an itch for me. Judging a film like this is somewhat difficult, because people are likely to have feelings a certain way about the film, whether positive or negative, based on their own temperament towards films that were decidedly not made for the big screen. This film does not feel like it was made to be projected in theaters, but feels like it was made to entice a person walking through movie shelves to rent it based on the cover of the VHS that shows some cool key art and some exciting moments on the back of the tape. Like most of these straight-to-video films, it can never quite live up to what the imagination creates for the viewer based on the cover art. Unlike most of those straight-to-video films, Scanner Cop does for the most part deliver a really interesting premise and some fantastic practical effects from John Carl Buechler. I enjoyed the film enough to lend my copy to a friend, and he was impressed enough by the movie to tell me he plans to purchase it. We both agreed that the film is extremely entertaining and for the most part successful.

The acting in the film occasionally is a little hamfisted (Richard Lynch,) but the actors all seem to take the film seriously and were obviously committed to the roles. Daniel Quinn in particular seems to be working incredibly hard to nail his role. That was confirmed by the interviews featured in the special features on both films. His commitment to the role led to him literally passing out from the intensity of the blood flow to his head. That dedication flows through the film and can be seen in the other actors’ performances, even if the dialogue in the film is typically pretty clunky. While it is all a little hilarious at times, it never fails to be entertaining and enjoyable. That isn’t to say that the film’s acting becomes entirely convincing, but I am trying to say that a certain audience (including myself) should find themselves charmed. 

The film has a solid role for character actor Mark Rolston as the skeptical Lieutenant Harry Brown. Rolston is great at playing cops and this is no exception. Richard Lynch is enjoyable as the villainous turtleneck wearing Karl Glock thanks to a truly over-the-top aplomb for the role. Hilary Elisabeth is probably best known for her roles on Power Rangers shows and films, but she is fun to watch here as an evil psychic. Richard Grove rounds out the cast as the most soft-spoken police commander that I can recall from any film. The film also has a cameo by the late great Brion James, who I always enjoyed seeing in films even if he is only in them for about a minute of screen time.

There are numerous things that I enjoyed about a movie. It features a trippy death/dream sequence that is unnecessary and awesome. I enjoyed seeing cars with D.A.R.E. To Keep Your Kids Off Drugs stickers which were a fixture in my childhood. The presence of Scruff McGruff artwork in windows stood out to me. 

The practical effects by John Carl Buechler are not extremely gruesome but they are effective and fun to watch. The direction by Pierre David is effective and pretty concise. The film is easy on the eyes while never really showing off. I think it is also worth noting that out of the two films in the set, I did prefer Scanner Cop to the sequel, although I enjoyed both.

At the end of the day, if you are into this type of film you should not pass up a chance to check out Scanner Cop.

Video

Wow. Vinegar Syndrome has provided a truly remarkable transfer of Scanner Cop in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 in 2160p. Watching either the Blu-ray or the UHD, there is a lot to enjoy visually. Given that this film was a straight-to-video release originally, the visual impact of their upgrade is truly remarkable. The UHD has excellent fine detail for the most part. While the film does not have the visual impact of some of the higher budget films from that time, this is essentially a perfect presentation of what was filmed. Fans of the film will surely want to purchase the UHD for the uptick in detail, but the Blu-ray of the film also looks fantastic. VinSyn should feel great about what they have done here.

Audio

Similar to the video, the audio has been lovingly restored. Vinegar Syndrome has put a lot of care and attention to detail into the English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track included for the film. Clarity is excellent and the track is much more immersive than you would think. Fans will be amazed at just how good it sounds.

Supplements:

The 4K disc only offers the commentary track as a supplement. All of the other supplements are located on the included Blu-ray disc.

• Commentary – We Hate Movies lends a comedic take on the film in a sort of MST3K type dialogue. While it does not reach the MST3K level, I still had a few laughs.
• Outside the Law: The ‘Scanner Cop’ Revolution is a two-part making-of for Scanner Cop and Scanner Cop II. Presented with this film is “Part One.” Directed by Elijah Drenner, this piece looks at the creation of Scanner Cop by producer and director Pierre David who held the rights to the Scanners franchise. This excellent short documentary features interviews with Pierre David, Scanner Cop II director Steve Barnett, stunt coordinator Jeff Pruitt, special effects artists Ted Haines and James Rohland, and actors Richard Grove, Hilary Shepard, and Mark Rolston. This piece goes a long way towards describing the ways in which straight-to-video films were financed and distributed and the numerous directorial choices made by Pierre David. Despite its fairly brief length, this is an extremely informative and enjoyable look at how the film was created.
• Promotional Video

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Scanner Cop shows exactly how exceptional Vinegar Syndrome has become with their 4K UHD offerings. I had no idea how well a straight-to-video film would look in the 4K format, and I was pretty floored by their results. Fans of Nineties science fiction should really give Scanner Cop a chance. It is a little bit ridiculous, but it also never fails to entertain as it mixes ideas from Cronenberg’s classic film with the popular detective genre from that time. It made me incredibly nostalgic for that era. The effects work by John Carl Buechler elevates the film and has moments of absolute brilliance. There is a lot to enjoy about the film and, if you are a fan of these types of films, the 4K UHD should be a mandatory purchase. The documentary made by Elijah Drenner is excellent despite its brevity. I am glad that Vinegar Syndrome has been committed to bringing all sorts of films to the 4K format. This is definitely one of my favorite releases from the label so far. Highly recommended.

Note: This film is currently only for sale bundled with Scanner Cop II. I would encourage a blind buy of the set if you are on the fence.