Review of Trancers II (1991) by Bryan G — 26 Sep 2009

There was a six year gap between the original Trancers and this sequel, The Return of Jack Deth, and you'd think that was more than enough time for Charles Band to work out the kinks from the first film. While a few of the problems I had with the first Trancers have been fixed in this sequel, a couple newer ones pop up that prevent this film from out-doing its predecessor. Still, the movie is just as entertaining and ends up being another decent science fiction film from Full Moon.

The movie takes place in 1991, and Jack (Tim Thomerson) and Lena (Helen Hunt) are now Mr. and Mrs. Deth. The whole ordeal with Whistler and his murderous plans are a thing of the past, and the two have set out to live their lives. Unfortunately, Whistler has a brother who has tranced (time travel via sending your brain waves back in time to inhabit the body of an ancestor) himself into the head of a mental facility director and is creating a drug that he plans on using to create an army of trancers to try and finish Whistler's work.

It was great to see the cast of the original film return for this follow up. Both Thomerson and Hunt deliver better performances in this film, and their characters are developed a little better. I liked the introduction of Alice (Megan Ward), Jack's first wife who died in the future, and the way that complicated Jack and Lena's relationship. It isn't much, but it at least allows for some character development this time around, unlike the original film.

I enjoyed the performance by Alyson Croft, who plays an ancestor of McNulty (Art LaFleur), a top member of the police force of the future. When McNulty trances himself in the past, he has to inhabit the body of this 15 year old girl. And it was funny to see his mannerisms come out of this young woman, and I felt Croft was consistently hilarious with some of McNulty's quirks.

The film also features cult horror icons Richard Lynch, as Whistler's brother Dr. E.D. Wardo, and Jeffrey Combs as his assistant Dr. Pyle. I like both of these actors, especially when they make appearances in Full Moon movies. While neither of their performances here are my favorites of their work with Full Moon, I still enjoyed their presence in the film.

The action in Trancers 2: The Return of Jack Deth is still as anti-climatic as the original film was. However, this time around there is a little more violence in the film. Jack is more apt to using his gun this time around, and there are a lot of people getting shot to death in the film. And the film seems to have fun with all of the gun fighting, and it ends up being a rather squib-tastic experience. Although, I have to wonder why Jack has no regrets shooting these trancers, since technically they are innocent people unwillingly inhabited with the minds of violent decedents. Oh well, it's a stupid movie... why bring logic into it?

Trancers 2: The Return of Jack Deth is another decent watch, and has given me hope that this Trancers box-set might very well end up being one that I like the majority of the films in it. Even if the other films can't expand on the concept, if they can maintain this level of enjoyable absurdity, hopefully the rest of the series should be the same level of fun to watch.