Trancers (1985): I Put A Spell On You…

*Disclaimer!* I wrote a handful of articles for a now defunct e-zine called BthroughZ a number of years back, and when that site went belly up, so did the reviews I wrote for it. I didn’t want to lose the articles I worked so hard to write, so over the next few months I will be reposting them here for your enjoyment.

Directed by Charles Band, 1985's Trancers takes place in 2247, a time when the city of Los Angeles is almost completely under water as a result of a devastating ice age. The film follows detective Jack Deth, a tough as nails cop who has been hunting Martin Whistler (Art La Fleur), a criminal who uses psychic abilities to transform weak willed individuals into mindless zombie-like slaves who follow his every command. Personally, I would make them shovel and do dishes.

Using some scientifically accurate time travel technology (so much irony in that line), Whistler escapes to the past - 1985 to be exact - leaving his physical being behind and taking over the body of one of his ancestors. Seeing a prime opportunity to change the future for his personal benefit, Whistler begins killing off the ancestors of governing council members, completely removing them from existence. There is only one person who can stop Whistler from continuing this completely rude killing spree, and that person is Jack Deth, who has been chosen to go back to '85 to stop his arch nemesis and send him back… to the future!

Wait, wrong movie.

While Trancers is a cheap, low-budget science fiction film, it isn't cheap when it comes to the entertainment. Trancers comes in at a scant 75 minutes, and the pacing is really tight with a full-forward momentum that lasts right up and until the final moments. Furthermore, there are a handful of cheesy ‘80s sci-fi staples like the future being drenched in neon, and the effects used to show the waterlogged Los Angeles are poor, forced perspective images mixed with matte paintings. Which I actually love. There's even a punk rock night club scene, complete with wild dancing, a skinhead, and a band doing a shitty version of an even shittier Christmas song. Oh, and of course, what future would be complete without a few lazerz (Zs replace Ss in the future, but how would I know that?)?

Outside of the sci-fi and action aspects of Trancers, the film also has a heavy Film Noir feeling to it, and this is captured with the costuming, some of the set design and even the characters themselves. It's one of the things that I really enjoy about the film, and it also carries over in a big way to the character of Jack Deth, who while being from the future, is a cop right out of the past (our past, not his) with his hard-boiled attitude and cynical demeanor. He’s definitely the cop who plays by his own rules.

Speaking of Deth, the performance by Tim Thomerson, is simply wonderful. He’s got the perfect look, and he plays the gritty cop role as convincingly as anyone else possibly could have. He brings to life a truly entertaining character, one that lights matches off of his teeth and spouts off some fantastic (but not over the top) dialogue. Trancers is the film that made Thomerson a B-Movie star, and while he did have a decent career, he is much more talented than his career would lead one to believe.

Another performance that I enjoyed, surprisingly, comes from Helen Hunt, who plays Leena, Deth's '85 love interest. She has this cute and lively personality that exudes likability, all things which I do not associate with the actress at all. Both Hunt and Thomerson also have a great chemistry together, and the contrast of the spunky and fun character of Leena compared to the jaded and often miserable character of Deth is kind of a cute mix. Like kittens in a bubble bath.  

Even though the story lacks in the originality department, the film brings some smart ideas to the table and serves them up nicely for a cheaply made B-Movie. There is a healthy amount of cheese but that is certainly not a defining aspect of Trancers. The movie has great dialogue and characters, solid acting, lots of action, an enjoyable blend of genres, and most importantly, Trancers is an enjoyable, high energy rollercoaster ride through ‘80s genre cinema.

Finally Made the B-List!

Because you can never get enough me, the great Karl Brezdin of the exceptional B-martial arts film blog Fist of B-List was kind enough to feature Chuck Norris Ate My Baby (aka the blog you are reading right now!) in his latest segment of Fist of Further Reading!

In this earth altering segment, I was challenged to answer five questions that shed some light on my blog as well as my love for B-level martial arts movies. Many of these questions were quite difficult to answer at first, therefore I had to spend a few weeks training among the stone warriors at the Terra-Cotta ruins with my pet hawk to enlighten myself before answering them.

As a result of my intense training, I was able to answer Karl’s questions with the ferocity of a diamond encrusted tiger, so please take a moment to head over to Fist of B-List to read about ME! Furthermore, if you aren’t already reading Fist of B-List, then you’re missing out on one hell of an awesome blog that is solely focused on B-grade martial arts movies. And even if you aren’t a fan of B-grade martial arts cinema, I still think you’ll find some serious enjoyment out of what Karl does, so get to it, brah!

CLICK DA LINK!!

P.S. for Karl: My answer to the mystery box would have been a motorcycle ala Peter O’Brian in The Stabilizer!

Bounty Killer DVD Giveaway!

I have a nice little DVD giveaway to share you that involves the upcoming post-apocalyptic action film Bounty Killer. Much like the prize pack giveaway I did for The Purge a few months back, this one is very simple and the prize is pretty sweet. All you have to do is take the Could You be a Bounty Killer? quiz below, then post your results in the comments section to be entered into a random drawing to win a DVD copy of Bounty Killers. Easy peasy, right? I’ll give you guys until Thursday, September 12th to get your answers in, and I plan to announce the winner on Friday the 13th, because that sounds like the cool thing to do.

If you’ve never heard of Bounty Killer or aren’t exactly sure what it’s all about, then you can check out the trailer below to get an idea if it’s a movie that you might be interested in. I think it looks like it could be fun. More importantly, however, there are some sexy babes in there (I’m Loken at you, Kristanna), and we all know how much you like sexy babes, you sick pervert! Now quite tugging your rope* and take the quiz… we’re talking a free DVD here, brah!

*For those of you who do not have a rope to tug, then please consider this an apology. You’re still a pervert, though.

Dumpster Diving for Gold 666

It’s been far too long since I last did a proper Dumpster Diving for Gold video, but after an unacceptable hiatus, I am back with a brand new video filled with all sorts of dumpster worthy goodies to tickle your shriveled pickle! Take some time out of your day to watch me awkwardly ramble on about all my recent-ish finds, which include VHS tapes, DVDs, records, and all sorts of other wonderful things. Also, I refer to a movie as being “great-awesome,” so there’s that.

Guest Post: Why (Action) Matters

The ever incredible T.L. Bugg of The Lightning Bug’s Lair celebrated his FIVE YEAR (!) blog anniversary in August, and to help him celebrate such an incredible feat, he asked a bunch of awesome peeps (and myself) to take a defensive stance on specific genres of cinema. In what the Bugg has dubbed Why (Genre) Matters, myself and a bunch of passionate writers tackled topics and genres spanning everything from Trash Cinema and Westerns to Hitchcock and Horror Fandom. As for my topic, I got the opportunity to express why Action matters.

Now, while this seems like an easy A for someone who absolutely adores the action genre in ways that few can comprehend, this was sort of a difficult task for me at first. However, I found an angle that I think defends the genre in a way that expresses its depth as well as its importance in cinema. Though it very well could be a bunch of nonsense, but I’ll let you decide that for yourself.

Click here to read my post on Why (Action) Matters!

Also, be sure you take the time to check out all of the Why (Genre) Matters’ posts. There are some seriously wonderful people/writers involved, so I highly encourage you to dig into one of the coolest events the blogosphere has ever seen!

Click here to read all the posts on Why (Genre) Matters!

Before I sign off, I do want to take a moment to thank T.L. Bugg for asking me to take part in such a major event. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to hang out with Bugg on a number of occasions, and he’s become someone who I consider a true friend. With that said, I want to wish him a happy five year anniversary, and I look forward to what the next five years bring us!

100 Ghosts: A Gallery of Harmless Haunts

When it comes to horror, nothing is more iconic than a ghost. From Slimer and Samara to Beetlejuice and Sam Wheat, a ghost can come in all shapes and sizes, but if there is one depiction of a ghost that is most recognizable, it is that of the white bed sheet with two eye holes cut into it. This ghostly image has been around for so long that it’s difficult to pinpoint when it began being used to frighten people, and to this day it is still one of the most prevalent pop culture icons associated with horror and Halloween alike.

This classic ghostly figure is the basis for 100 Ghosts: A Gallery of Harmless Haunts, a humorous and often delightful look at the versatility of the bed sheet ghost. Written and illustrated by Doogie Horner, 100 Ghosts takes the traditional bed sheet ghost and places it in various comedic situations. These range from a ‘Jellyfish’ ghost, which comes complete with little ghost like tendrils, to a one-eyed ‘Cyclops’ ghost.

100 Ghosts: A Gallery of Harmless Haunts is the perfect coffee table book for the coming Halloween season and could just as well find a nice home at the bedside of a young child. It’s charm is in its creative simplicity, and the wit that Horner injects into each and every one of these 100 ghosts makes the book enjoyable to spend as little or as much time with as the reader would like.

Here are a few examples of what you’ll find in 100 Ghosts:

100 Ghosts: A Gallery of Harmless Haunts VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

If these images are your cup of bed sheet covered tea, then 100 Ghosts: A Gallery of Harmless Haunts goes on sale September 10 from Quirk Books publishing. Furthermore, you can pre-order it right now for a very reasonable price of $8.96 over at Amazon.

Dreamaniac (1986): And She’s Killing Like She’s Never Killed Before

Steeped in ‘80s youth culture, David DeCoteau's début feature film, Dreamaniac, takes bits and pieces of all that was popular at the time, particularly heavy metal and the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. With a tagline such as "You don't have to live on Elm Street to have a Nightmare," it is clear that the target audience the film was aiming for was the Freddy crowd. In the same vein, this was a time when heavy metal was at its most popular (and most controversial), so the mixture was a no brainer for any cheap horror film looking to turn a few bucks. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you.

Despite the film's brilliant hybrid title and the promise of a female version of Freddy Krueger, Dreamaniac has very little-to-nothing to do with the dream world. In fact, the only time there is any actual dream sequence would be within the first five minutes where the audience is introduced to Adam (and his ass) and Lilly (re: The Succubus!), the women who Adam has been having sexually driven dreams about. After Lilly puts a kink in Adam's hose by killing him within this opening dream sequence, he wakes up, and this would be about the point where the dream portion of Dreamaniac ends. Maybe it should have been called Awakeiac.

Soon after the opening dream sequence, it is learned that Adam is a professional heavy metal lyrics writer (wait…what?) who is living on his own in a secluded area so he can focus on his work. Oh, and so he can privately focus on his satanic rituals, which he actually uses to bring Lilly out from his dreams and into the real world. To be honest, I'm really not sure why he does this. First off, Adam has a gorgeous girlfriend named Pat (Kim McKamyshe aka Ashlyn Gere!), which is actually a total surprise considering Adam’s style consists of a sleeveless Def leppard t-shirt, gold rimmed glasses, ripped jeans, and short (for a metal guy), blonde feathered hair. You know, the outfit of choice for most any kid who plays Dungeons & Dragons and kills small animals to feed their sexual urges.

Much of the film (well, all) is set in Adam's home, which is being used by Pat's sister to throw a party as a way to get into the good graces of a sorority she is trying to join. The partygoers consist of the usual hipster dweeb, the snotty - but oh-so entertaining - bitch, the lame-o jock, a valley girl, and every other stereotype you can imagine. These would all become the cattle for Dreamaniac's killer, Lilly (Sylvia Summers), as she works her way around the house using her powers of seduction to slay all of its inhabitants. This leads to what is a slew of sexually driven scenes filled with enough male tighty whiteys (and the butts behind them) to have granted a sponsorship from Fruit of the Loom. And with DeCoteau at the helm, it's not a surprise.

While Dreamaniac is filled with some hysterical dialogue (and I mean HYSTERICAL!), terrible music and bad acting, it is a film that tried to be more than just any old cheap ‘80s Slasher film. I've never seen or read anything to support this, but there seems to be a clear Italian influence as far as the film’s style goes. With liberal use of fog, colored gels and stilted camera angles to portray atmosphere, I couldn't help but think that people like Argento, Fulci and possibly Soavi were aesthetically very influential for DeCoteau. Granted, it's not anything to be impressed with, but I commend the attempt at creating a sense of style instead of simply mailing it in.

Released in 1986 by the long defunct and pre-Full Moon distribution company, Wizard Video (which fell under the Empire Pictures umbrella), Dreamaniac is one hell of a good time. Even if it doesn't deliver anything that it promises to, it's worth a watch for any fan of bad cinema looking for a quick chuckle. Furthermore, anyone who is interested in taking a deep look into the inner workings of a heavy metal songwriter will certainly be pleased with this one. Before I sign off, however, I feel I should mention that the VHS box art is simply wonderful, but what really shines most is the pure fact that the crazed looking Clint Howard look-alike is absolutely nowhere to be found in this film whatsoever. Like, not at all. That kind of tells you everything you need to know about Dreamaniac right there.

Who needs the trailer when you can watch the entire film?!