Scanners: The Showdown

1995 "Nowhere to hide, not even in your head."
5.2| 1h35m| R| en| More Info
Released: 25 January 1995 Released
Producted By: Malofilm
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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When other Scanners in the Los Angeles area are left drained of life, Sam is forced back into action in a desperate attempt to stop Volkin, who is determined to become the most powerful - and ruthless - of his kind.

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Director

Steve Barnett

Production Companies

Malofilm

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Scanners: The Showdown Audience Reviews

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...
UnowPriceless hyped garbage
BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Comeuppance Reviews Det. Sam Staziak (Quinn) is not simply a Cop On the Edge, he's a scanner Cop On the Edge. As a member of the L.A.P.D., he's used his scanning abilities to thwart bad guys city-wide. His Captain, Jack Bitters (Forster), supports him, but Staziak is having some personal issues, as he's trying to find his mother. Towards this end, he's enlisted the help of fellow scanner Carrie Goodart, who runs the Trans-Neural Resource Center, sort of a non-profit group by and for scanners. But a new threat looms in the form of Karl Volkin, an evil, malevolent scanner who's going around the city killing other scanners in his quest to be the ultimate scanner. Like a vampire, he feeds off their power and is growing more and more strong by the day. Looks like it's time for the ultimate showdown: Staziak vs. Volkin in a mind-melting duel to the death. Who will prevail? We liked Scanner Cop II (or Scanners: The Showdown, as the VHS we viewed has it). As a sci-fi sequel, we went in expecting the worst. But it's really not bad. There are a lot of interesting scanner-based ideas, such as using scanning power for good or evil, the vampiric scanner, and the scanner killing other scanners for scanner domination. Did we use the word "scanner" enough yet? There are other ideas woven into the plot as well, which helped immensely. If there are ideas that are reasonably well-thought-out, it's hard to go totally wrong, and thankfully the writers knew that so they developed certain thoughts. It's all perfect for the video stores and pay cable outfits of the 90's. On top of that, there are some cool and gory effects, making Scanner Cop II better than expected.Patrick Kilpatrick usually plays a baddie and here you get to see him at the height of his evil powers. Robert Forster does almost a sit-down role but he adds color and professionalism to the proceedings. Kane Hodder and Jewel Shepard appear in small roles, but the true star of the show isn't Quinn, it's a man we think is named Julian Neil (but we're not sure) who plays "Kidnapper Leader". This bad guy who is not important to the plot at all, gives an insanely over the top performance. He has a highly comical Muppet voice and he just about steals the movie with his brief screen time. This guy should have gone far.We have a screener copy (not to be confused with a scanner copy) of this on VHS from Republic Pictures. In a packaging move we haven't seen anywhere else, there's a gatefold flap that unfolds from the left hand side of the box. We don't know if it reached stores with this added value piece. It might be just for the screener, or perhaps just for the Canada VHS, which is where it was released as Scanners: The Showdown. We thought this was worth mentioning because it was so unusual.In all, Scanner Cop II was way better than we thought it would be.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com
lost-in-limbo I've never seen David Cronenberg's 1981 "Scanners", nor its sequels which the "Scanner Cop" films are supposedly a spin-off from. The sequel to "Scanner Cop" is workably unfashionable b-grade stamina, but presentably quick moving with plenty of icky make-up and blood that doesn't let up for one second. Anyhow it's a fun entry consisting of numerous skin-splitting action and carved out tension, but it does lose shape towards the latter end with repetitive actions making their way in. Forget the silly plot, as even though it's an atypical concept, what progresses is predictable (cop after bad guy scenarios) with there being little in the way of a story. What it becomes is nothing more than a slide show for the head-jigs, strained facials (which goes full-ball for the film's climax) and of course the exhilarating make-up effects, which are commendably achieved. Patrick Kilpatrick in the bad guy role is great as the viciously stringent scanner going about scanning the power out of other scanners to become even more powerful, so he can take on scanner detective Samuel Staziak (who's perfectly played Daniel Quinn). Kilpatrick was the only one in the cast that didn't seem to be taking all that seriously with the constant grimaces when notoriously scanning his victims (but he's meant to be playing a nut-case), which was the opposite for a determined, stone-cold Quinn. Khrystyne Haje, Stephen Mendel and Robert Forster provide fine support.
disdressed12 once again,we have B movie with Z grade acting.the dialogue in this one,as in the previous Scanner Cop movie is cringe worthy and delivered the same way.thought the acting wasn't great in this one,our hero,played by Daniel Quinn,has actually improved from the previous movie.not a lot,but some.i didn't find the story particularly compelling,and again,like in the previous film,i really did care either way about the characters.except for one.that would be the villain played by Patrick Kilpatrick.i don't know what it is,but the guy makes a great villain.he just has some quality.plus,in this movie,he was really having fun with the role.one other thing i want to mention.the movie was far too disgusting,for no reason.i don't mind disgust when it serves a purpose,but that isn't the case in this movie.anyway,my vote for Scanner Cop II is a 4.5/10
leathaface This movie, like the other Scanner movies made past the first one, had good make-up effects, but also some less-than-par acting (the hold-up/hostage scene with the three thugs was so bad it was hilarious). But other than that, the movie was very entertaining in my opinion. Carl Volkin, played by the intimidating-looking Pat Kilpatrick, is an escaped criminal scanner on the loose, trying to become the most powerful scanner in the world. He accomplishes this by draining the life force of various scanners around the city, resulting in some bizarre melting/death sequences. In the end he has to contend with Sam Staziak, the most useful cop on the police force (obviously). There's a few cool-looking face-contorting illusion sequences, and a head explosion in the end (of course). Overall this movie was fast-paced, the acting was a little hard to swallow, but the special effects were awesome for a b-movie. I'd recommend it if you like innovative sci-fi or cop action movies.