In the grand tradition of series reviews, I bring you, well, another one. This one is a film series that often goes unremembered by many. Why? Well, there were many gaps in the series' history and a tumultuous bit of cast upheaval as well. Unlike some other film series', there was no guarantee who would be back and who would be gone. Plus, it was made by Full Moon Pictures, who is not exactly Paramount. Well, that ends today. Prepare for a five part series of reviews that will make you say 'viva la Trancers.' We start out with...
The film begins with our hero- Jack Deth- arriving at a diner at night for some coffee. He has all the air of a 50s mystery novel character about him. This is supposed to be the cornerstone of the series, although it is only that strong well...here. One of the people in the restaurant 'turns' and becomes a 'Trancer.' Basically, they are the Rage Virus zombies from 28 Weeks Later, only much more low-budget and in a sci-fi setting. When they die, they turn into orange energy and vanish. Gee, that saves money on making corpses. This bit of good news is broken by the revelation that Deth's old enemy Whistler is actually alive (his supposed death takes place in Trancers -1, apparently) and has time-traveled. Why? To kill the Council's ancestors and erase them from history. Sounds good.
*
The Council decides to send Jack back in time- to 1985-, but into the body of his ancestor. Not only did he luck out and have his ancestor not be a quadriplegic, but he is also coming off of a one night stand with Helen Hunt. He adjusts pretty slowly, but, luckily enough for him, a Trancer shows up at Hunt's workplace. She does not take the idea of him killing one of her co-workers and driving off with her- how odd. When he goes into a tanning booth to find one of the descendants, she drives off. After he is knocked down and put into a James Bond-style death trap involving a tanning bed, she has a change of heart...for some reason. He repays the favor a couple of minutes later when they are confronted by Whistler (in the form of a present day cop). Using a 'long-second watch,' he skips past the villains in the blink of an eye. It's nice to have your own Deus Ex Machina, isn't it?
*
Jack is not doing so well and has only one Council member left to save. Unfortunately, the surviving descendant is a drunken ex-baseball player. While searching for him, they take a break to get in all the cliches of an 80s movie. Dance club scene with bad cover band-check. Badly-choreographed fight with punk fans- check. Older hero eventually blending in with 80s culture- big check. Eventually, they find the man, but he is a bum. Whistler is also on his trail and captures Ms. Hunt. He dumps her off of a roof, but Jack manages to save her by using the long-second watch again. Whistler is sent back to the future via the weird time-travel toxin that people are injected with. Unfortunately, Jack is left in 1985...at least until the sequel.
*
This movie is pretty good, although it definitely has to be viewed the right way. The movie is kind of silly, not all the clever and very low-budget. In spite of that, the movie works pretty well with what it has. Tim Thomerson is oddly-entrancing (pun not intended) as the lead, but I can't figure out why. Everyone else is pretty forgettable, although Hunt's 'spunky' character has its own charm as well. Looking back, it is hard to imagine how four films got spun out of this little bit of amusement. Then again, I have already reviewed the fourth Omen and Leprechaun films, so I should not be too harsh. You can do far worse than renting this movie. Believe me, I have!
*
You have to know what comes next, don't you? More zombie-vampires, Tim Thomerson and low-budget action. Stay tuned...
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