Trancers, 1985

I found this little gem in a £1.99 DVD bin in Cash Converters, I can only imagine who would've taken this in to get the 25 pence or so they'd pay out for it. Anyway, this movie is great, Tim Thomerson plays a cop from the future who must come to the 20th century to track down an evil cult leader who takes over his victims by 'trancing' them. The beginning of the movie is just brilliant... Trooper Jack Deth (Thomerson) stops by a diner to get a cup of coffee and gets attacked by a geriatric waitress whose been tranced.

While in New York, 1985, Jack teams up with a young Helen Hunt who rides a motorbike and has blue streaks in her hair! She's a 'punk rock chick' according to the sleeve. Pedestrian script aside, this is really well acted and extremely enjoyable, and at only 80 mins it never outstays its welcome. 80's sci-fi b-movies rule, and this is a brilliant cheapie - made for just $400,000.

Thomerson reprised his role in 4 sequels and even has his own action figure! Trancers was directed by Charles Band who later started his own z-grade movie company, Full Moon Entertainment and had direct to video hits like Puppetmaster, Demonic Toys, and Shadowzone (dire!!!!). This one was released in the UK by Vestron and the UK DVD is a reasonable VHS transfer, this one deserves a good quality released sometime soon.

Watch the trailer