10 years after "Scanners" came out, was released the sequel: "Scanners II: The New Order", a great film, a horror-thriller-action film, even with drama scenes. There is action as explosions and chases, thrilling scenes and gore, also a great acting and wonderful special effects. An awesome sequel.

A scanner discovers a plot by renegade elements in the city government to take power with the help of evil scanners.

First of all, there is a weak, unnecessary connection to the first film with the main character being the son of the characters from David Cronenberg's "Scanners". This is somewhat silly, as the story would be just as good (or bad) if these were just a new generation of scanners with no connection at all.

Beyond that, it is not a terrible film. Clearly it is not on the level of the original, with absolutely zero star power or big name crew. Director Christian Duguay had no prior film experience, having done only a few television episodes. But some real thought was put into crafting a tale wherein some scanners would be good and others evil while the average human can either choose sides or stay out of the way. (Writer B. J. Nelson had one prior credit: the Chuck Norris action flick "Lone Wolf McQuade".)

The film has its own sequel (though it was concurrently) and another spin off, "Scanner Cop" (with its own sequel). Exactly why this was never made into a television series is unclear, because under the right hands this would be a better format for an ongoing story of good and evil, cops and baddies. Something of a more sophisticated "X-Files", perhaps.

Now that "Scanners II" and "Scanners III" are out in a combination set from Scream Factory, they are well worth checking out. Regrettably, not a single special feature was added to the package, but at least we get to see a series that has long been neglected (and forgotten).

David Cronenberg's SCANNERS is one of my favourites of his films – it's a rip-roaring B-movie with a great premise, good acting, and genuine horror. When I sat down to watch the sequel, I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into – an unconnected B-movie in name only, made in 1991 so probably pretty cheesy. Boy, I was wrong! This is a sequel that follows the original film pretty closely but puts a fresh spin on proceedings, and it actually doesn't come off too badly in comparison to the first. Sure, the director can't hope to match Cronenberg's work, but for the most part this is a pacy, exciting little thriller with some well-staged action scenes. And it's only a little bit cheesy.

David Hewlett makes for a charismatic lead and he's ably supported by an intriguing cast. This being a Canadian production, half of the actors are French, and Yvan Ponton is the best of the lot, a truly hissable and appalling villain. It was great to see Isabelle Mejias again after her titular role in video-nasty era horror flick JULIE DARLING; Mejias is an actress with an indefinable, hypnotic quality about her. I would describe her as elfin and she lights up the screen whenever I see her; it's a shame she hasn't done more work. Raoul Trujillo, playing an evil scanner, goes way over the top but there was something about his crazed, energetic performance that grabs your attention in the same way that Jim Carrey does. Of course, there are the requisite exploding heads and other bubbly, grisly special effect sequences, and these are all well-handled. This is a fine little film that puts other B-movies from the era to shame.