"I must remind you that the scanning experience is usually a painful one.”
ConSec scanner, Scanners
I suffer from Exploding Brain Syndrome, a harmless condition with the most over-the-top name ever. EBS is a sleep disorder-related sensory illusion: some people hear explosions, or perceive flashes of light - in my case, it's like a brief cymbal crash that occurs three or four times in a row, separated by a few seconds.
Because EBS has such a dramatic appellation, it's impossible for me to experience it without thinking about Scanners, David Cronenberg's breakout 1981 science fiction horror film. Scanners is best known for the horrifying scene where Canadian actor Louis del Grande's* head is made to explode by Michael Ironside, who plays the villain of the film. The overly graphic effect was created through the rough and ready special effects expediency of firing a shotgun up through a prop head filled with dog food, leftover hamburger, and rabbit liver, resulting in an undeniably effective moment** that makes me very grateful that my experience of EBS is not a literal one.
- Sid
* Coincidentally, Del Grande went on to create and star in Seeing Things, a CBC dramedy about a newspaper reporter who experiences psychic visions of crimes. The show ran for six years and featured the who’s who of the 80s Canadian acting community.
** For anyone wishing to see the cinematic results, here's a link to the clip:
https://youtu.be/KYEOuBWVFvk?si=cthRaE_tf0ApOJDF
The exploding head is quite near the end of the scene, if you happen to be one of those people who just can't wait to see what that might look like.
