Scanners III: The Takeover (1991)

Scanners III: The Takeover: Directed by Christian Duguay. With Liliana Komorowska, Valérie Valois, Steve Parrish, Colin Fox. A young female scanner turns from a sweet young thing into a murderous, power-crazed villain after she takes an experimental drug developed by her father. Her brother, who is also a scanner, is the only one powerful enough to stop her.

“u0026#39;Scanners 3: The Takeoveru0026#39; is actually a bit of a mini-epic. It doesnu0026#39;t have half the budget of the previous film and there are some off-the-wall, kooky performances from almost all of the characters but this is definitely the better – and by better, I mean camp fun – of the 2 films. The film begins with an introduction to Alex Monet, a brash Scanner that has reduced his abilities to a literal party trick. When he absent-mindedly kills his best friend at one such party, he decides, in an effort of contrition, to find a way to better hone his powers. This leads him to the Buddhist monasteries of Tibet. Meanwhile, his sister, Helena Monet, (who is the heir to the pharmaceutical company that is working on a u0026#39;cureu0026#39; for the previously-described side effects of the scanning mutation) is experimenting with said drug, turning her into a power-hungry megalomaniac. Much as the original u0026#39;Scannersu0026#39; introduced the ability to control computers, Helena attempts to control people by passing a u0026#39;scanner signalu0026#39; through pre-recorded video. When Alex returns, it is a cat and mouse game pitting brother against sister.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere is no doubt in my mind that the spark that inspired these follow-ups was the singularly iconic exploding head from the original and these sequels do not let down. There is a surplus of gooey gore and a sense that each death is an attempt to outdo the last. If youu0026#39;re after the headier (no pun intended) aspirations of Cronenberg, you are bound to be disappointed with these. If you are hoping to see fountains of blood spewing from the skulls of random characters, this is the place.”