Dry Hair is for Squids

TRANCERS (1985)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Trancers" unfolds like comic-book junk food, easily digestible yet lacking any real form or function. I enjoyed it well enough but I can't say it will forever be etched in my memory except for the presence of Tim Thomerson and Helen Hunt.

Tim Thomerson is Jack Deth, the L.A. police trooper/bounty hunter of the future, 2247 to be precise, and he seeks and destroys "trancers," humans who become zombiefied killers. Exactly why they become killers or how this transformation is initiated I can't say except that some psychic maniac named Whistler (Michael Stefani) has found a way - he has inhabited the body of one of his ancestors and is planning to kill the ancestors of the Angel City Council. Meanwhile, Deth can identify the trancers with a special bracelet thus his services are summoned by the Angel City Council who plan to send him back in time to stop Whistler, specifically in L.A. in 1985. Time-travel is not accomplished by machines - no, he merely has to inhabit the body of one of his ancestors by some sort of injection and, presto, he will be a journalist who just happens to look like Jack Deth in 1985.

This is the kind of movie where trancers corrupt the bodies of Santa Claus and a built tanning salon owner; Helen Hunt plays the sweetest punk rock fan of all time (she screams punk by having a shade of purple in her hair) and is also Deth's girlfriend; a single-use James Bondian futuristic watch that can stretch one second of time for ten seconds (the most novel touch in the film), and where a homeless man was once a relief pitcher with his own baseball card! A funny bit of business about this former relief pitcher - he is one of the ancestors of the female member of the Angel City Council! So how come Deth and Whistler have lookalike ancestors but the others do not?

"Trancers" is a low-budget and entertaining B-movie blend of "Blade Runner" and "The Terminator" and moves at a very fast clip at a mere 76 minutes. Logic is threatened throughout as is often the case with time-travel plots but it is the ample charm and humor of Tim Thomerson that keeps this afloat. He plays it straight without cracking too much of a smile, no matter how silly the movie gets. Helen Hunt has such sweetness and empathy that it works wonders and she has charismatic rapport with Thomerson. They stand out amidst all the comic-book junk food shenanigans.