Movie #43: Trancers

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100 Sci-Fi movies in 100 days!

Trancers (1984) is directed by Charles Band of Full Moon Productions fame (Puppet Master, Subspecies, etc...)
It stars Tim Thomerson and a young Helen Hunt.
Thomerson plays a cop/detective (Jack Deth) in a future Los Angeles that hunts down and eliminates "trancers." These are followers of a guy name Whistler who have been transformed by his hypnotic powers into zombie-like killing machines. These trancers look like normal people but have the ability to trance into these zombie powerhouses that can kick serious butt.

Jack and the "council" have almost rid the city of these zombies when their leader, Whistler, finds a way to go back in time to 1985 and raise a trancer army to hunt down and exterminate ancestors of Jack Deth and the council members so that in the future they will not exist and Whistler can take over the city.
The council sends Jack Deth back in time to stop Whistler from carrying out his plan. The way time travel works in this film is that you are sent "down the line," meaning that you are given a drug that sends your "essence" back in time to inhabit one of your ancestors. You end up in, and possess, their body the entire time you are down the line.

Jack inhabits one of his ancestors who is dating Leena (Helen Hunt) and has to convince her of who he is and what his mission is so that she will help. She thinks he's loony until her first encounter with a trancer which makes her a firm believer.
Jack locates ancestors of the council members and protects them as he brings the fight directly to Whistler and his zombies.

                                                          click on the box above to view the trailer.


I love the movie. It plays out like a film noir private detective flick. Complete with voiceovers from Jack Deth.
Check it out. It has become a cult film and spawned about 6 sequels. Full Moon Entertainment has a streaming subscription service where you can watch all the Trancer films. It's available online or through their Roku channel.
If you watch it let me know what you think.


- Patrick Shawn Bennett
broadcasting from the city of Angels, circa 1985.