Trancers (1985)

Crummy time travel thrillers proliferated like dandelions in the wake of The Terminator, but this one is at least tolerable, thanks to surprisingly good, straight action performances by comedian Tim Thomerson and a very young Helen Hunt who managed to produce good chemistry from a rather pedestrian script. They could have aimed for camp with this, but they tried to keep the science fiction and action thriller elements straight- faced and this was the right approach. Apocalyptic plot-lines and camp don't mix well. The low budget means that on an effects level the movie is pretty lean, but this is not a bad thing in that it at least manages to look urban gritty futuristic where necessary. Most of the action takes place in the present day (which was actually 1985), making the need for a futuristic look largely unnecessary - something The Terminator taught low budget filmmakers everywhere. Not a particularly good movie, but not an awful one either. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes if you're a science fiction fan.

Made on a tight and modest budget, but thankfully blessed with a hip, sharp, and witty script by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo, capable direction by B-flick maestro Charles Band, priceless and instantly quotable slangy dialogue (favorite line: "Dry hair's for squids"), a nonstop brisk pace, several rousing and well staged action set pieces, a terse 76 minute running time which ensures that there are never any dreary lulls, and, most importantly, lively and engaging acting from a rock-solid cast, "Trancers" might be derivative of such movies as "Rabid" and "The Terminator," but it's done with a winning surplus of verve, style, and sheer infectious go-for-it enthusiasm that it in turn makes this snappy little quickie a hugely entertaining ride straight down the line. Tim Thomerson hits it right out of the ballpark with his marvelously deadpan and sardonic portrayal of Jack Deth, a hard-boiled trooper from the future who travels back to 80's Los Angeles to prevent evil mastermind Whistler (a pleasingly slimy Michael Stefani) and his zombie-like minions called trancers from killing the ancestors of his enemies. An incredibly adorable pre-stardom Helen Hunt likewise shines as Leena, the spunky punkette babe who helps Jack out with his daunting mission. The rest of the cast is uniformly on the money, with stand-out work by Art LaFleur as Jack's gruff superior McNulty, Telma Hopkins as sassy engineer Ruth "Ruthie" Raines, Anne Seymour as the stern Chairman Ashe, Richard Herd as the equally no-nonsense Chairman Spencer, and Biff Manard as former pro baseball player turned boozy and broken-down skid-row bum Hap Ashby. Moreover, this picture has great fun with the Chrismastime setting, with an attack by a zombie Santa and a crude punk band singing a raunchy yuletide song in a rowdy club rating as extremely nifty and amusing touches. The wristwatch that can slow down time is another gnarly gimmick. Mac Ahlberg's polished cinematography gives the film a funky "Blade Runner"-ish futuristic glowing neon urban noir look. The pulsating score by Phil Davies and Mark Ryder hits the groovy spot. A total treat.

Trancers is a breathtaking film. Made on a minute budget, the sets clearly suffer from costings yet despite this the film is consistently humorous and riveting. Tim Thomerson blasts his way through many bad Trancers dude in his sarcastic and wry style - the scene where he tells a well toned body-builder (Michael McGrady) that his tan suits Christmas well is brilliant as are many of the daft remarks. Featuring a pre-fame Helen Hunt as Leena and a great range of supporting actors we also have to be grateful to the writers, Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo (later to concentrate on computer games understandably) who tone the film in ways that Charles Band (as director) could never have done alone.

This sci-fi entry comes across as a charmingly trashy amalgam of BLADE RUNNER (1982) and THE TERMINATOR (1984) – not as good as either, sure, but arguably more entertaining. It involves an unshaven, raincoat-clad police detective from the 23rd century (the film, in fact, was re-issued as FUTURE COP) chasing the leader of a group of Trancers (gullible "squibs" who turn vicious and expire fluorescently in a pile of ashes) back to the present day, where the latter intends to exterminate the ancestors of the three council members who brought about his downfall.Except for a young Helen Hunt, I was unfamiliar with the main cast – though craggy-faced lead Tim Thomerson evokes the perfect blend of machismo, world-weariness and bewilderment the role requires. The film is also refreshingly tongue-in-cheek – with the funniest bits being the hard-boiled hero lighting a match against his own teeth and when, on entering a discotheque frequented by punk rockers, he deadpans "It looks like a room full of Trancers to me". As a matter of fact, the sharply-written script has a fair amount of amusing one-liners: when Thomerson complains about the implausibility of a name like Peter Gunn upon catching an episode of the vintage series on TV, Hunt quips, "What kind of a name is Jack Deth?" (i.e. the character played by Thomerson himself).While the special effects afforded by the modest budget could best be described as quaint, the action sequences are adequate enough – including a couple in which the hero manages to halt time (via a James Bond-like gadget wrist-watch) in order to flee the presence of Trancers who have him cornered and, then, to save the heroine from certain death. Though perhaps too low-key for its own good and somewhat under-developed at 76 minutes, the film seems to be deserving of a cult reputation (for what it's worth, it was followed by two sequels also featuring Thomerson) – but, alas, hasn't been served at all well by the DVD format so far (this viewing came by way of the no-frills fullscreen R2 edition from a budget label). I, for one, wouldn't be averse to a more exhaustively packaged and properly framed re-issue...