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Scanners poster

Movies that feel likeScanners (1981)

A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called 'scanning' to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non-Scanners.

If you loved Scanners, the closest films we have are The Fly (1986), Phantasm (1979) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). All three share Scanners' cerebral and dread feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Son of Frankenstein (1939).

🍅 69% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. David Cronenbergcerebraldreadunsettling
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

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If Scanners hit the spot, these will too

The Fly poster
The Fly
1986 · dir. David Cronenberg
🍅 82%★ 7.6horror · science fictionHuluPeacock

David Cronenberg working the same nerve twice

When brilliant, eccentric scientist Seth Brundle makes a huge technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

Phantasm poster
Phantasm
1979 · dir. Don Coscarelli
🍅 72%★ 6.6horror · science fictionPrime Video

The same mix in both: ideas, then dread

A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers poster
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1978 · dir. Philip Kaufman
🍅 93%★ 7.4science fiction · horror

Both lean on unease more than on science fiction

The residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves, and as the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers uncover the horrifying truth.

The Invisible Man poster
The Invisible Man
1933 · dir. James Whale
🍅 95%★ 7.6horror · science fictionPrime VideoPeacock

Common ground in both: murder and scientist

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

After experimenting on himself and becoming invisible, scientist Jack Griffin, now aggressive due to the drug's effects, seeks a way to reverse the experiment at any cost.

The Fly poster
The Fly
1958 · dir. Kurt Neumann
🍅 95%★ 7.1science fiction · horror · dramaPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: scientist

The difference: Leans harder into drama than Scanners does

Industrialist François Delambre is called late at night by his sister-in-law, Helene, who tells him that she has just killed her husband. Reluctant at first, she eventually explains to the police that he invented a matter transportation apparatus and, while experimenting on himself, a fly entered the chamber.

Videodrome poster
Videodrome
1983 · dir. David Cronenberg
🍅 83%★ 7.2horror · science fiction · mysteryPrime Video

The same hand behind both of them: David Cronenberg

The difference: Sits closer to mystery than Scanners does

As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.

Phase IV poster
Phase IV
1974 · dir. Saul Bass
🍅 50%★ 6.4horror · science fiction

Common ground: murder

Arizona ants mock the food chain on their way to a desert lab to get two scientists and a woman.

Spring poster
Spring
2014 · dir. Justin Benson
🍅 85%★ 6.7horror · romance · science fiction

Cerebral horror in both cases

The difference: Made in the 2010s, in a different era of the craft

A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky poster
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky
1991 · dir. Lam Ngai Kai
🍅 89%★ 7action · science fiction · horror

Science fiction with a pulse of dread, in both cases

In 2001, where all correctional facilities have been privatized, martial artist Ricky finds himself victim to the corrupt system, found "guilty" of the manslaughter of an infamous crime boss.

Son of Frankenstein poster
Son of Frankenstein
1939 · dir. Rowland V. Lee
🍅 95%★ 7.1horror · science fiction

Horror built on unease, twice over

One of the sons of late Dr. Henry Frankenstein finds his father's ghoulish creation in a coma and revives him, only to find out the monster is controlled by Ygor who is bent on revenge.

Eraserhead poster
Eraserhead
1977 · dir. David Lynch
🍅 87%★ 7.2horror · science fictionMax

Both are built on the same subject: body horror

First-time father Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

Plan 9 from Outer Space poster
Plan 9 from Outer Space
1957 · dir. Edward D. Wood Jr.
🍅 66%★ 3.9science fiction · horror

Cerebral science fiction, and it commits to that

In California, an old man grieves the loss of his wife, and dies the day after she is buried. However, the space soldier Eros and his mate Tanna use an electric device to resurrect them both, alongside the strong Inspector Clay, who was murdered by the alien-controlled dead couple. When the populations of Hollywood and Washington D.C. see flying saucers on the sky, a colonel, a police lieutenant, a commercial pilot, his wife, and a policeman try to stop the aliens.

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The best-reviewed films that share Scanners’ defining feeling.