MovieChat Forums > Scanners (1981) Discussion > TERRIBLE Acting

TERRIBLE Acting

posted 21 years ago by violentworld
101 replies | jump to latest

Are you kidding me?!?! The acting of Stephen Lack as the main character, Cameron Vale, was HORRENDOUS! Like it was just ridiculously bad. I couldn't believe that he was actually such a terrible actor. In fact, my friend and I were so confused as to how he ever got the lead role with such a lack of skill that my friend commented at one point "Wait, is he SUPPOSED to be a bad actor as part of his character?" It's just mindblowing how much of a crappy acting job he did and how he was EVER cast as the main character...WOW

[–] blindedhorse 16 years ago

Im gonna say that yeah Lack's performance was god awful, it kinda ruined the movie. The special effects were good, and the set design was awesome. Ironside did a good job too.

[–] monkeymechx 16 years ago

There really wasn't any bad acting, given the setting and story.

It made sense for Vale to come off as so stilted and cold, considering he wasn't really a functioning human until only recently, when the movie begins. He's been wandering for years in a haze, only coming out of it when he was given the Ephemerol and allowed to truly think and feel without the constant static of other people's thoughts.

Imagine you'd lived your life wandering around as a nearly insane derelict, eating garbage and being spat on; having no memories of a shaping, normal past; not having any recollection of your parents or a parental relationship to guide you, and so on. Suddenly you're "awakened", and put into what is basically a detective/assassin/spy game with deadly odds.

Now also imagine you know you're different from every other human on Earth, save for a handful of people, who you desperately track down to find some sort of relation and understanding of your breed of man. Nothing makes any more sense than it did before, but at least now you have a path to follow to get some answers.

I think all of this fits the explanation for why Vale came off the way he did. Perhaps I've just been exposed to a lot of different horror and sci-fi, and expect a varying range of character types, but I certainly get and think it's fitting that Vale was so distant and affected in his performance. He pretty much was a psyborg.

[–] smackfireout 15 years ago

It made sense for Vale to come off as so stilted and cold, considering he wasn't really a functioning human until only recently, when the movie begins. He's been wandering for years in a haze, only coming out of it when he was given the Ephemerol and allowed to truly think and feel without the constant static of other people's thoughts.

this only works to a point.

i dont think anyone is disputing lack didnt know what he was doing and that his glassy-eyed, duh-duh performance was accidental. like if he had got the lead in raiders of the lost ark he would have acted the same way. nobody's denying he didnt act as a spaced-out simpleton, they're arguing he didnt make a very interesting, compelling or convincing spaced-out simpleton.

also canadian accents delivering lines like "youu sent yur shoulders owt ta git me" is inherently hilarious

[–] shawn_381 16 years ago

Awful acting by Lack, (and a few others) but great character name - Cameron Vale.

And for some reason Ironside and Lack's lines were both dubbed - check out the train scenes between the traitor guy and Ironside - clearly dubbed, but the traitor guy seems not to be. Bad editing like this and bad acting kept pulling me out of the story. I ended up washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen while the last 30min played in the background.

I had read on another Cronenberg post (Rabid, or maybe They Came From Within) that he had issues with sound editing, maybe this was part of why he dubbed voices.

I like Cronenberg's stuff from Videodrome on,and think he made arguably the best Stephen King adaptation with "The Dead Zone", but his early stuff like this - I don't get the crazy devotion. Just B grade writing, acting and effects, IMO.

[–] coex 15 years ago

the MGM dvd has some sound sync issues... OR the audio for that scene was simply looped in later at the studio because the original didn't sound good, etc.

"Just B grade writing, acting and effects, IMO."

exactly!! Cronenberg's films up to maybe Dead Zone were strictly B movie stuff! He often had to really scramble and cheat to get money to make these things, and they were passionate affairs based on his personal visions, etc. Not many people in the late 70s/early 80s making this kind of personal film!! Heck, not many today really pushing themselves to the edges that Cronenberg was trying for! Put these in context and give him some credit.

[–] BartlebyScrivner 15 years ago

The bad acting made the film enjoyable for me as a type of 1950s B-Movie. The plot-- killer psychics wanting to take over the world-- combined with the cheesy acting, funky music, and special effects made it seem very much like something that would have come out of the Ed Wood era of Sci-Fi films, right up there with "The Brain that Wouldn't Die" and the myriad alien invasion flicks. It's not a great movie by any means, but it's a fun movie, and that's just as good for me.

[–] terror_and_submission 15 years ago

The acting was definitely terrible and the movie in general was a let down. It's funny because it's so cheesy, that's about it. I had fairly high hopes with it being a Cronenberg movie and a seemingly highly regarded one at that. Pretty lame stuff.

[–] franzkabuki 15 years ago

Lack was very much the right type and that goes a long way. Never found his performance distracting or irritating like many others seem to have - he´s definitely tolerable. Ironside and McGoohan on the other hand are legitimately good so as far I´m concerned, talking of Scanners as a generally poorly acted film is, well, misguided. And it´s a good, entertaining movie overall, the best of his early ones alongside Videodrome. The cold, low wintry light lends it a very subdued, memorable atmosphere.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] RobBase086-1 15 years ago

I thought he did a great job as the lead actor. I did not have any problems with him at all in the movie.

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[–] 15 years ago

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