Cast: Stephen Lack, Jennifer O’Neill, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, Michael Ironside, Robert A. Silverman, Lee Broker, Mavor Moore, Adam Ludwig, Murray Cruchley, Fred Doederlein, Geza Kovacs, Sonny Forbes, Jerome Tiberghien, Denis Lacroix, Elizabeth Mudry, Victor Desy, Louis Del Grande, Anthony Sherwood, Ken Umland
Cameron Vale (Lack) is a solitary man that ekes out a living on the fringes of society. Vale is troubled by people’s thoughts, which he can sense. He can be overwhelmed by the intrusion of the swarm of thoughts in a crowd. Taken into custody by security agents, Vale is approached by Dr. Paul Ruth (McGoohan), a member of the board of defense and security company ConSec. Dr. Ruth explains that the cause of Vale’s affliction is a peculiar neural arrangement. From Dr. Ruth, Vale learns that he is a scanner, one of a few people with a special form of extra-sensory perception. Dr. Ruth wants Vale to help him track down Darryl Revok (Ironside), who has conspired to disrupt ConSec’s work with scanners. Revok is a scanner who uses clandestine means to gain wealth and economic dominance, and who has recruited a band of scanners to assist him. Helped by Dr. Ruth to control his mental powers, Vale begins to function well enough to start carrying out his assignment. Vale’s investigation leads him to Benjamin Pierce (Silverman), a scanner who has found sanity in his art and who may know where to find Revok. A team of armed ruffians attack Pierce’s house and kill him before Vale is able to stop them. Pierce’s last words lead Vale to Kim Obrist (O’Neill), who has her own reasons for tracking down Revok. Scanners can interfere with the thoughts of others, and they can focus to achieve telekinetic effects which can be deadly. With Kim’s help, Vale discovers elements of a sinister plot involving ConSec and a company called Biocarbon Amalgamate, which Revok controls. Meeting with Dr. Ruth, Vale and Kim start to understand what Revok is up to and uncover an agent planted by Revok in ConSec’s management. Vale’s investigation begins to hamper Revok’s activities. But Revok is a scanner of unparalleled power with substantial resources at his disposal, and once he feels threatened by Vale he turns against him. Special effects by Gary Zeller. Music by Howard Shore.
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