Cult Classic Reviews #2: Scanners

An early film from David Cronenberg, from his first wave of b-movie horror films. Scanners was made the year I was born (1981), I remember seeing it when I was pretty young and finding it a disturbing watch. There was something unsettling about the tone of the film and the idea of someone being able to get inside my head and kill me with just the power of their mind.




Watching it now it’s aged, but still manages to be pretty disturbing all the same. Yeah, most of the acting is wooden, it’s badly dubbed in parts, laughably corny in a few places and the effects might be dated, but they still have a charm and the infamous exploding head is as good today as it was back in 1981.





It’s Cronenberg's intense direction, ideas, and use of audio and visuals that make it effective and these basic elements continue to serve him well today, only with bigger budgets and better casts. The films strongest card is Michael Ironside, who makes for a formidable villain, he seems to be channelling a bit of a angry Jack Nicholson in his performance, snarling and chewing scenery as he epitomises pure evil. It's a solid piece of acting in the midst of the b-grade support. He doesn't seem to get the credit he deserves, but he’ll always have fans in the cult film world for his roles in Scanners, Total Recall and the cult sci-fi series V.





It’s not the best of Cronenberg's films, it's not even the best of his early works, but it’s a memorable piece of b-movie history nonetheless and a movie that always comes up in conversations about cult film. 7/10

Cult Classic Reviews #1: Repo Man

This forgotten gem is the epitome of a cult classic; a film adored and worshiped by a small number of devoted fans. For some unknown reason, I only recently watched this. After the strength of a friends recommendation and reading reviews online, I decided to make the purchase. As soon as I saw the cover box, I recognised it from my early ventures to the local video shop in my youth and it brought back fond memories.




It launched the career of Emilio Estevez, who is actually really good here playing the lead character Otto, a young suburban punk that unknowingly becomes a repo man. The plot revolves around the search for a Malibu Chevy carrying a mysterious cargo. The film is b-movie grade trash, but it’s well made trash and the bad special effects, quirky plot (UFO's and punks) and absurd characters all add to its charm and it captures the anything goes attitude of the 80’s perfectly. The punk ethics of the film are accompanied by a fitting punk rock soundtrack featuring tracks by Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Iggy Pop and Suicidal Tendencies.




Everything in the film works, it wouldn't benefit from a bigger budget, and with the bad FX aside it doesn't feel like a cheap film. It kinda feels like the exploitation films of the 70s, and I can definitely see some influences from it in Tarantino's early work. The acting is good for this kind of film, it’s a tad dodgy in places but never in a bad way and with a great supporting cast of familiar faces. Of the cast I really liked Harry Dean Stanton, he’s always been a great character actor and his portfolio of roles speaks for itself (Alien, Escape From New York, Inland Empire etc). He’s perfect as the grouchy, veteran Repo Man and Otto’s mentor.




Repo Man, is a fun slice of weird, unique cinema with plenty of balls! And there’s ample bizarre goings-on, whacky humour and stabs of violence to satisfy any cult film fan. Highly recommended, if like me, you missed it first time around. 8/10