#21 Trancers

IMDB Link

Plot:

Jack Deth is a kind of cop/bounty hunter in the bleak Los Angeles of the future. He's become obssessed with chasing Whistler - an evil criminal who uses powerful hypnotic powers to convert people into zombie like creatures known as trancers. Whistler has managed to escape through time travel and is loose in 1980s L.A. but Deth is on his trail.

A User Review:

This low, low budget sci-fier is somewhat derivative, but it's kind of a take-off on Bladerunner-type movies, rather than a ripoff of them. Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) is a detective in the future who's sent back to 1985 to stop a madman who's decided to kill the ancestors of the city council of Deth's time. With the help of Lena (a young Helen Hunt), Deth fights Trancers (who have fallen under the control of the madman) and his own culture shock.

It's a short movie (76 minutes), and things move pretty quickly; plot isn't so much of a focus as a annoying gnat that appears from time to time. But for being so short, the characters are pretty well developed - and one huge bonus is that Deth isn't an no necked, shoot-first idiot, as renegade cops are often portrayed.

Trancers is original, often-funny sci-fi cheese. It's great to see Thomerson and Hunt.

Trivia:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Jack shoots Santa Claus, he is grabbed by Santa who says 'welcome to the 20th century Jack Deth' but you can clearly see Santa's mouth not talking.

Poster:



Trailer: