The Ultimate Headache

In Scanners (1981) there’s a bunch of telepathic guys who can take over your body with their minds. That’s just one of their tricks. They can make your head explode as though filled with multi-colored goo.

First you get a headache, then your nose begins to bleed red stuff, then your head starts to swell up like a balloon ate too much air, then ka-BOOM!

Dr. Ruth (not that old withered sex therapist, but a scientist) works for the ConSec Corporation and wants to track these head-bursters down and convince them to be exploited for profit.

Not all Scanners are bad, so a wussy Scanner is sent into the bad Scanner’s underground clubhouse to learn their agenda. And what he finds is a group of world mad telepaths that want to ka-BOOM the world, one noggin at a time.

Problem with telepaths, though, is they can read your mind, and the head (sorry) Scanner faces off with the nice Scanner in a scene where they unleash both their head ka-BOOMING on each other. It’s like a sword fight with think swords.

While we do get to see a few heads go splat, it’s this final scene that’s legendary, what with all the popping of veins, the glowing of eyes, the smoking of orifices, the swelling of craniums… Even with all the plot getting in the way of the movie, it’s still pretty cool. Tylenol™ should’ve sponsored this sci-fi head-slapper.