Villian(s)  Telepath

Actor(s):  Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane

Brief Description  Scanners is a 1981 Canadian science-fiction horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. It stars Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Patrick McGoohan, and Michael Ironside. The movie explores a world where a small group of individuals, known as "scanners," possess extraordinary telepathic and telekinetic abilities that allow them to read minds, control movements, and even cause physical damage—such as making a person's head explode.

Plot:
The story follows ConSec, a weapon and security corporation, which recruits a drifter scanner named Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack). Under the guidance of Dr. Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan), Vale is trained to control his overwhelming powers and use them to hunt down Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside). Revok is a powerful, renegade scanner who has started an underground movement with the goal of creating a psychic army to achieve world domination. The film is celebrated as a cult classic and served as Cronenberg’s breakout commercial hit. Revok reveals to Vale that they are both sons of Dr. Ruth, who developed ephemerol as a sedative for pregnant women.

Ruth learned about the drug's side effect during his wife's pregnancies, and he made them the most powerful scanners in the world by administering a prototype dosage prior to abandoning them. Revok plans to create and lead a new generation of scanners to take over the world, but Vale refuses to join him. Vale accuses Revok of acting like his father, which enrages Revok. The brothers engage in a telepathic duel, which incinerates Vale's body. However, when Obrist encounters Revok, she discovers that Vale somehow has managed to swap minds with Revok, the latter dying in the former's body during the duel.