Scanner Cop 2 - The Showdown

Both "Scanner Cop" and "Scanner Cop 2" can be used as examples to contradict people if they claim that cool and amusing horror movies didn't get made during the 1990s. They may not be masterpieces, but these spinoffs to David Cronenberg's magnificent classic "Scanners" (1981) are action-packed, entertaining, and extremely gore!

Troubled Scanner and young Brad Dourif lookalike Sam Staziak once more needs to control and wisely divide all his powers, this time to defeat a maniacal scanner - Karl Volkin - who found a method to literally drain and absorb the abilities of other Scanners. Volkin is buffing up to confront Staziak because he killed his brother by using his scanning skills during a police intervention.

The script of "Scanner Cop 2" isn't groundbreaking or particularly clever, but it does offer an unpretentious, exhilarating, and straightforward cat-and-mouse situation between a likeable hero and a loathsome villain. The latter, played by Patrick Kilpatrick, is responsible for several of the most sadistic, excruciatingly painful, gooey, and splattery murder sequences of the entire 90s decade. What Volkin does to his fellow Scanners to obtain their abilities is beyond sadistic, as he drains and pulverizes them like a vampire without teeth. Their skin burns, their entire body melts, and their corpses remain behind unidentifiable. Special effects and make-up wizard John Carl Buechler must have tremendously enjoyed himself during this assignment. What makes it extra cruel is that most of these people didn't even (ab)use their scanner skills and were trying to lead a normal life.

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.

After pitting psychic policeman Sam Staziak (Daniel Quinn) against a non-scanner in Scanner Cop, it's back to the old 'good scanner vs bad scanner' formula for this follow up. The villain of the piece is Karl Volkin (Patrick Kilpatrick), who uses his psychic powers to suck the essence from other scanners, making himself more powerful with each victim, his final target being Staziak, with whom he has a score to settle.

Despite a rather predictable plot and so-so performances, Scanner Cop II is a reasonably fun piece of straight-to-video silliness, director Steve Barnett keeping things moving along at a decent pace, delivering several effectively gruesome set-pieces along the way. Volkin's attacks are the highlights of the film, the evil scanner causing his victims to rupture and melt into unrecognisable gooey piles of flesh, the impressive special effects by makeup man John Carl Buechler. There's also a fun scene in a warehouse where the bad guy almost gets the better of Staziak, using his brain power to control forklift trucks. Of course, Staziak ultimately wins the day, tricking the villain into using up all of his ill-gotten power before giving him a taste of his own medicine, with explosive results (it's a scanners film... there had to be an exploding head somewhere, and it's a messy one!).

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

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

While the loss of an interesting story is a shame, Scanner Cop II more than delivers plenty of genre highlights, offering an unpretentious, exhilarating and straightforward cat-and-mouse chase between a likeable hero and a loathsome villain. Director Steve Barnett brings us a grislier take on the Scanners universe, one with copious amounts of visceral violence that works wonders in the production's limited budget and unrefined style. It's not an escalation of Sam's cop story, but the film enjoys creating a mess, finding its happy place in blood and guts. Daniel Quinn once again turns in a good performance as our hero but like the previous film, it's stolen by the villain, this time played with excruciating sadism by Patrick Kilpatrick. Backed by another funky synth score, this time by Richard Bowers, Scanner Cop II introduces a bit of levity amidst the grim nature of its story, it isn't exactly groundbreaking but it does put on a major show of force when it comes to scanners and their destructive ways.