The "Trancers" Franchise And Popular Squid Dishes

NOTE: This podcast was rebranded on 5/29/25 as "Horror Movie Franchises". 

In this episode we're covering a lesser known franchise called "Trancers". It's a low budget sci-fi series about a grizzled retired cop who travels through time-- by jumping into his ancestor's bodies. He's in search of trancers (they're kinda like zombies who do their master's bidding). 

There are six movies total. The first was theatrically released. The rest were direct to video. Tim Thomerson stars as Jack Deth. He's in all the entries except the last one. Helen Hunt is his girlfriend/wife Lena. She's in 1-2 and makes a cameo in 3. 

If you're looking for some 80s nostalgia, check out the first movie. Then if you like that, try the third as well. Forget about the rest (unless you're a hard core fan). 

I must say I was a bit disappointed by the series. All the main actors are good (and have been in tons of other movies/TV shows). I can even look past the low budget. But without a good plot, there's nowhere to go. If they had just made the story more interesting I could have been all in. I do know some people really like this show. If so, more power to them. It's just not for me. 

And in honor of my favorite Jack catchphrase "Dry hair's for squids" we'll talk about some popular squid dishes.

Photo Credit: Here