Scanners
A telepathic operative must hunt down a rogue psychic bent on unleashing a mind‑controlled war, while battling a shadowy corporation that wants to weaponize his kind.
“10 Seconds: The Pain Begins. 15 Seconds: You Can’t Breathe. 20 Seconds: You Explode.”
Synopsis
A man with extraordinary and frighteningly destructive telepathic abilities is captured by agents from a mysterious rogue corporation. He soon discovers he is not the only individual with such unusual powers. Among the other "scanners," some seek world domination, while others aim to prevent it.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 54+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Ronald SandersShot by Mark IrwinScored by Howard Shore
Box Office
1981 · Box office
✅ Made its money back — grossed 3.5× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$14.2M
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Cast & Crew
54 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Jennifer O Neill
as Kim Obrist
Stephen Lack
as Cameron Vale
Patrick Mcgoohan
as Dr. Paul Ruth
Michael Ironside
as Darryl Revok
Lawrence Dane
as Braedon Keller
Robert A Silverman
as Benjamin Pierce
Lee Broker
as Security One
Mavor Moore
as Trevellyan
Adam Ludwig
as Arno Crostic
Murray Cruchley
as Programmer 1
Fred Doderlein
as Dieter Tautz
Geza Kovacs
as Killer in Record Store
Supporting cast
37Sonny Forbes
as Killer in Attic
Jerome Tiberghien
as Killer in Attic
Denis Lacroix
as Killer in Barn
Elizabeth Mudry
as Killer in Barn
Victor Desy
as Dr. Gatineau
Louis Del Grande
as First Scanner
Anthony Sherwood
as Scanner in Attic
Ken Umland
as Scanner in Attic
Anne Anglin
as Scanner in Attic
Jock Brandis
as Scanner in Attic
Jack Messinger
as Scanner at Door
Victor Knight
as Dr. Frane
Karen Fullerton
as Pregnant Girl
Margaret Gadbois
as Woman in Mall
Terrance P Coady
as Security 1 Car Passenger
Steve Michaels
as Security 1 Car Driver
Malcolm Nelthorpe
as Security 2 Car Driver
Nicholas Kilbertus
as Security 2 Car Partner
Don Buchsbaum
as Large Man in Mall
Roland Nincheri
as Large Man in Mall
Kimberly Mckeever
as Hallucinating Guard
Robert Boyd
as Hallucinating Guard
Graham Batchelor
as Yoga Technician
Dean Hagopian
as Programmer 2
Alex Stevens
as Programmer 3
Neil Affleck
as Student
John Brasington
as Hazmat-Suit Worker (uncredited)
Chris Britton
as Hazmat-Suit Worker (uncredited)
Jack Canon
as Hazmat-Suit Worker (uncredited)
Richard Chapman Jr
as Hazmat-Suit Worker (uncredited)
Leon Herbert
as Hazmat-Suit Worker (uncredited)
William Hope
as Hazmat-Suit Worker (uncredited)
Thomas Kovacs
as Boyfriend (uncredited)
Michael Maloley
as Doctor in Hall (uncredited)
Ian Mcque
as Scanner / Security Guard (uncredited)
Chuck Shamata
as Tony (uncredited)
Sam Stone
as Security Guard (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
1Other crew
3Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Not currently streaming on any platform we track.
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for Scanners yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for Scanners yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on Scanners?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on Scanners.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for Scanners yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on ScannersNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…