You get neon and synthesizer music galore in director Charles Band’s fast-paced sci-fi action B-movie. The subtly funny Tim Thomerson plays Jack Deth, a hard-boiled Los Angeles police detective from the year 2247. In the ultra-simple plot, Deth chases the evil Whistler back in time to 1985. Whistler’s trying to assassinate a counsel of government officials by killing off their distant ancestors and his big trick is that he can turn people into hypnotized zombies called Trancers who work as his henchmen. Jack Deth, meanwhile, has a little watch that can stop time for ten seconds and some help from future TV star Helen Hunt. 
Yep, it’s Blade Runner meets The Terminator on a budget of about twenty bucks. The film became a cult hit and when Charles Band started up his Full Moon Entertainment production imprint four years later, one of his early projects was a sequel. As of this writing, the Trancers series is up to part six.
The screenplay is the first produced work from Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, who’d later collaborate on a few sci-fi TV series, including the short-lived The Flash, along with the film adaptation of The Rocketeer.