Born on this day – Lawrence Dane:

Lawrence Dane

Actor

Producer

April 3, 1937 – March 21, 2022

Credits:

A Case of Libel (1983); A Family Man (1973); A Very Merry Mix-Up (2013); Absolution (2006); African Skies (1993); Airwolf (1987); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1987–1988); Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story (1995); American Playhouse (1986); Amy Fisher: My Story (1992); Angela's Eyes (2006); Bear Island (1979); Behind the Wall (2007); Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989); Black Fox (1995); Black Fox: Good Men and Bad (1995); Bonanza (1969); Breaking News (2002); Bride of Chucky (1998); CBC Show of the Week (1966); Counterstrike (1990); Crossing the Line (2002); Danger Bay (1986–1988); Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995); Day One (1989); Detective (1964); Devlin (1992); Double Jeopardy (1996); Duct Tape Forever (2002); E.N.G. (1989); Encounter (1960–1961); Escape: Human Cargo (1998); Espionage (1964); Everything She Ever Wanted (2009); Fall: The Price of Silence (2001); Festival (1960–1967); Find the Lady (1976); First Person (1961); Flashpoint (2011); Georges-Étienne Cartier: The Lion of Québec (1962); Guilty Hearts (2002); Happy Birthday to Me (1981); Head On (1980); Heavenly Bodies (1984);  Hedda Gabler (1978); Highlander: The Raven (1998); House on Greenapple Road (1970); I Spy (1967); In Like Flynn (1985); In Opposition (1989); It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975); It Takes a Thief (1968); It Takes Two (1995); ITV Play of the Week (1963); Jericho (1967); King's Ransom (2005); Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1994); La Femme Nikita (2000); Lancer (1969); Lethal Vows (1999); Little Gloria... Happy at Last (1982); Love / Julia (1982); Macbeth (1961); Mannix (1970–1971); Many Happy Returns (1986); Masters in Our Own House (1965); Memories of Manon (1987); Millennium (1989); Mission: Impossible (1967–1971); Mod Squad (1970); Moonlight Becomes You (1998); Mount Royal (1988); Mr. and Mrs. Loving (1996); MythQuest (2001); National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995); Nothing Personal (1980); Of Unknown Origin (1983); On the 2nd Day of Christmas (1997); On the Road (1962); Only God Knows (1974); Our Man Flint: Dead on Target (1976); Pilot: Part 1 (2001); Playdate (1961–1963); Point of Departure (1960); Poltergeist: The Legacy (1996–1997); Puppets Who Kill (2005); Queer as Folk (2001); R.C.M.P. (1960); Rated X (2000); Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop (1991–1992); Rituals (1977); Rolling Vengeance (1987); Running (1979); Scales of Justice (1992); Scanners (1980); Scarlett Hill (1963); Secret Service (1992); Seeing Things (1981); Shadow of a Pale Horse (1960); Shocktrauma (1982); Side Effects (1994–1996); Sidestreet (1976); Sofia (2010); Stand by for Life (1963); Star Runner (1991); Stargate SG-1 (2000); Still Small Voices (2007); Street Legal (1991–1992); Tales from the Cryptkeeper (1999); Testees (2008); The Christmas Wife (1988); The Clown Murders (1976); The Equalizer (1988); The F.B.I. (1968–1973); The Felony Squad (1967–1969); The Forest Rangers (1965); The Good Fight (1992); The Heatwave Lasted Four Days (1975); The Hill (1960); The Hitchhiker (1985); The Hunger (2000); The Invaders (1967); The Last Best Year (1990); The Last Debate (2000); The Littlest Hobo (1983); The Long Island Incident (1998); The Mask of Janus (1965); The Outer Limits (1996); The Park Is Mine (1985); The Perfect Marriage (2006); The Red Green Show (1993–1994); The Rowdyman (1972); The Saint (1963); The Serial (1964–1965); The Shaft of Love (1983); The Sullavan Brothers (1964); The Unforeseen (1959); The Virginian (1968–1969); The Wayne and Shuster Hour (1961–1962); The Wonderful World of Disney (1998–2003); The Young Rebels (1970); This Man Craig (1966); Thrill Seekers (1999); Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke (1999); Top Cops (1990); Tropical Heat (1992); Twin Sisters (1992); Undercover Grandpa (2017); Vanished (1995); Waking the Dead (2000); Wojeck (1968); You Lucky Dog (2010).

Scanners (1980) - still blows my mind … kind of:

Scanners

Whenever I hear the subject of “guilty pleasures”, Scanners (1980) is one of the movies I immediately remember.

At the time I first watched Scanners, I’d already seen director David Cronenberg’s previous cinematic ventures into the “body horror” genre: Shivers, Rabid, and The Brood.

I wasn’t too impressed with any of those movies.

They had interesting concepts, but were flawed, and often hampered by wooden acting.

Scanners is no exception, sadly, but it still entertains me.

If I had to make up a category, I guess Flawed But Fun would fit.

Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly – I enjoyed. 

Videodrome, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers, and eXistenZ – I loved.

Naked Lunch – I hated.

Eastern Promises and A History of Violence were both thought-provoking and gripping conventional thrillers, breaking away from his principal horror genre. 

I have yet to see his other works.

Scanners, released in the United States on January 14, 1981, is a mix of horror, science fiction, and espionage-thriller, with a James Bond-esque plot of world domination

The Scanners of the title are people with an invisible mutation: a form of telekinesis enabling them to link, control and even destroy humans and computers by the power of thought.

This is a fun movie to be enjoyed simply for what it is: fantasy.

Whenever I watch Scanners, I ignore the numerous plot holes and inconsistencies.

I wish I could ignore the lousy acting in particular … however, that’s simply impossible.

Stephen Lack, as great and jovial a guy as he is, in my movie-watching experience, gives the worst performance of a lead actor I have ever seen.

He acts as if he’s in a daze and says his lines in a droning monotone.

He’s so wooden; I felt I could have made a solid bookcase just out of his performance!

The man was cheated out of his Razzie Award!

I laugh every time I see and hear him deliver the line:

“The future! You murdered the future!”

On the plus side: this movie made me a fan of Michael Ironside.

He’s excellent as the villain, Revok, and his presence in a movie has always inspired me to view it.

Ironside, along with Patrick McGoohan, Jennifer O’Neill, and Lawrence Dane, all give good performances.

The special effects fall into the “good for the time” category, but even with no CGI at the time it was made, and a limited budget, Cronenberg still did a great job.

The vein and eyeball-popping final battle between the hero and villain will make you smile at how fake it all looks.

For all its faults and fall-shorts, there’s still a lot to enjoy in this movie, and no blog about Scanners would be complete without mentioning the landmark exploding head scene.

This effect alone makes Scanners a classic must–see … even if you do have to ignore the fact that there is not one spot of blood or gore on either Michael Ironside, or the table at which they were seated!

When I first saw Scanners, I knew very little about the story, so this scene had a similar surprise element of the head falling out of the hole in the bottom of the boat, in Jaws, or the shock ending of Carrie.

It was a long time before a making-of documentary revealed to me how they achieved the exploding head effect in Scanners: a latex life-cast was made of actor Louis Del Grande’s head:

The cast was fitted with a plaster support, filled with dog food, fake blood, rabbit liver, portions of burger, syrup, and sealed with wax.

After numerous failed attempts to produce a convincing effect, special effects artist, Gary Zeller, finally took a shotgun, positioned himself low behind the seated dummy, and blew its head off!

The resulting effect is … even now … mind blowing!