Trancers V: Sudden Deth

• USA / Romania • 1994 • 73m •

• Directed by: David Nutter. • Starring: Tim Thomerson, Stacie Randall, Ty Miller, Terri Ivens, Mark Arnold, Clabe Hartley, Alan Oppenheimer, Jeff Moldovan, Stephen Macht, Luana Stoica, Rona Hartner, Ion Haiduc, Mihai Dinvale. • Music by: Gary Fry.

Jack's back for one more round with the Trancers. Jack Deth must attempt to find his way home from the other-dimensional world of Orpheus, where magic works and the Trancers were the ruling class (before Trancers 4, that is). Unfortunately, Jack's quest to find the mystical Tiamond in the Castle of Unrelenting Terror may be thwarted by the return of Caliban, king of the Trancers and once thought dead.

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Image from: Trancers V: Sudden Deth (1994)

During this period, Full Moon took to making films back-to-back: Subspecies II & III, Trancers IV & V, etc. Some reviewers think that these paired-off entries are ultimately too similar to one another to count as separate movies. And they complain. Bitterly. But hey, major studios have started using the same technique - "Kill Bill" has been bisected, and "Lord of the Rings," which was filmed all in one go, was subsequently turned into three very similar movies (Here come the Orcs - run! Wait...here come our guys! ATTACK!).

So, I don't mind that this film is, in some ways, a retread of its predecessor. In fact, the effects and acting are significantly better than they were in Trancers IV - maybe it took a while for all concerned to find their stride - and so it has a different feel to it. There's also a more focused, quest-style plot, as Jack Deth toddles off to the Castle of Unrelenting Terror to obtain a jewel called the Tiamond ("sounds like Diamond" - oh Peter David, your dialogue is just too much!).

Bizarrely, several plot elements are plundered from "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix," including a siren-like seduction scene (in both cases, the spell is broken because the hero becomes hungry) and a scene in which ghosts are dispelled simply by being yelled at. Ah Peter David, I know where you get your ideas! I don't mind, though - a good sequence is worth repeating.

All this praise aside, Trancers V does not stand up terribly well on its own, and the ending feels rushed and cliffhanger-like. Jack Deth impregnated someone? He's dying? He's going back to his own time? Wha??? Since the series never continued...not with this actor, or in this vein anyway...the final feeling is one of acute disappointment.

So ends Jack Deth's final, oddball adventure in sword-and-sorcery land. Shame that he didn't get to appear in one more detective-style movie, but I still like the fish-out-of-water quality of his final battle against the nefarious Trancers.

Review by dr_foreman from the Internet Movie Database.

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