It is that time of the year, and yet another Christmas Movie to be reviewed. Trancers was recommended to me by one of our loyal fans, and this movie has the bonus of being also an 80’s Action movie starring the great Tim Thomerson of Dollman fame. Wait! There are also zombies! Hell, Yes!

I was considering doing this review in the 80’s Action Format, but after watching it, I am disappointed that there were not enough elements to justify that type of review. It was mainly the ubiquitous presence of the very young and cute Helen Hunt as Jack Deth’s girlfriend (gasp!) that extinguished any hope of an 80’s Action sausage and death-fest. And, the PG-13 rating did not help much either as there was a definite void in the novelty death and splatter that we all crave. 

How about the plot then? Well, there wasn’t that much of one either. Jack (Tim Thomerson) was a Dirty Harry type cop in the future who was sent back in the past to the 1980’s Los Angeles to thwart the villain Whistler (Michael Stephani), who was now the Police Commissioner. This guy was turning squids (the weak-minded) into zombies to do his dirty work of assassinating the ancestors of the Council Members who are now in the future. 

Confused yet? The remaining Council chose Jack to go back in the past because he was ruthless and had a grudge to settle with Whistler for the death of his wife. So, he was on a mission to find Ashby, one of the ancestors, who was a professional baseball player. 

That’s about it. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was pretty disappointed in this film, even though it was a low-budget sci-fi film. Tom Thomerson was, as always, his magnificent self, but the rest of the movie was real snoozer. Fortunately, the film was mercifully short at 1 hour and 16 minutes, but it also fell short on the expected action and gore. Trancers was ultimately a love story between Jack and Leena, which was unacceptable. What about this being a Christmas Movie? There was just a brief scene with Jack killing a Mall Santa who was really a zombie.

5.0/10.0 With the Goatesians Rating of Disappointing. Watch Dollman instead.

Quotes and One-Liners

• “If I catch you in L.A. again, I don’t care if you’re a kid, an old lady, or a kitty cat, I’m gonna kick your ass! –Jack Deth
• I’m from another time, another world. I don’t even know what you people eat for lunch. -Jack Deth
• “Welcome to the twentieth century, Jack Deth” -Santa Claus
• ” Know that it is I who am solely responsible for your demise. One by one, your ancestors shall be murdered, and you, their progeny, shall cease to exist.” -Whistler