15 years later Harrigan is now the leader of the LAPD and the child, Sam Staziak (Daniel Quinn), is a rookie cop with the same Los Angeles Police Department.

As the string of murders begins to decimate the police department, Sam faces sensory overload and possible insanity as he reluctantly uses his powers to hunt the man responsible for the killings.

A scan by Sam of a wife who killed her police officer husband shows the drug makes the victim see a giant version of whatever phobia they have.

[5] TV Guide rated it 2/4 stars and wrote that the film "works as a solid exploitation item", though it criticized the police procedural aspects.

[6] Glenn Kenny of Entertainment Weekly, in an article critiquing recent direct-to-video releases, rated it D+ and called the plot an excuse for "gruesome special effects".

[7] Writing for Bloody Disgusting, Daniel Baldwin praised the film for taking the Scanners series in a new direction, describing it as "a tightly-written and paced cop thriller".