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Behind The Scenes

Two Tough Guys In One
Tim Thomerson punches out the screen in
TRANCERS II and DOLLMAN

With his hardened features, jet-silver hair, and wisecracking sense of humor, Tim Thomerson plays the kind of hard-boiled detective who'd be prefectly comfortable in Humphrey Bogart's trenchcoat. But in the Full Moon's wild universe, this prototypical P.I. has been transported across time and space as TRANCERS II's 21st century zombie hunter, and DOLLMAN's 13-inch cop with an attitude. But no matter whether he's landed in present-day Los Angeles or the bombed-out Bronx, Thomerson's gun has remained smoking.

In his twenty yaers of film work, the actor has stepped into every character from AIR AMERICA's profiteering Vietnam ace to AFTER MIDNIGHT's serial-killing psycho. But Thomerson's fan-favorite role is Jack Deth, a Trancer chaser from the future who's sent "down the line" to Los Angeles. But he finds himself completely out of place in a city where it's impossible to tell the difference between the mid-warped drones and the Hollywood punk rockers. "Charles Band, Paul De Meo, Danny Bilson and I came up with the idea for Jack Deth in 1983," Thomerson says. "We wanted this time-traveling, Raymond Chandleresque detective who'd pay tribute to the great film noir adventures."

TRANCERS saw Jack Deth battle the minions of Whistler, the arch-foe responsible for killing the hero's wife in the era to come. With the help of rock chick Lena (Helen Hunt), Jack defeats Whistler and decides to remain in his own ancestor's body. TRANCERS II picks up six years later, and finds Jack happily in love, but decidedly unhappy aboout his role in protecting Hap Ashby (Biff Manard), an ex-drunk baseball player destined for greatness. The arrival of Whistler's brother and his surprising captive is guaranteed to make Jack return to his old trancer-shooting ways.

"It's been a long time since he's seen any action," says Thomerson. "Jack's job is to hunt trancers instead of hanging out at some rich guy's house. Jack's itching to go back to work, but is shocked when the Council retrieves his first wife before her murder, and sends her to his aid. He may have been married to Alice once, but most of his lifes' been spent with Lena. It's not easy to fallin love with two women, but it sure is possible here."

Jack Deth may have future shock, but Thomerson had no problems travelling back to the role he helped create almost a decade ago. "Everyone instantly got back the TRANCERS camaraderie, especially me and Helen. We first met ten years ago when she guest-starred on my television show THE TWO OF US, and I was impressed enough to recommend her for Lena. It was no problem reviving our chemistry," says Thomerson.

Lena has done alot to soften Jack Deth, but don't expect Thomerson to play nice as DOLLMAN's Brick Bardo. With a gun that blows villians to sub-atomic particales, Bardo is the toughest cop on his home planet Arcturus. Then, when a floating head named Sprug threatens the universe with an anti-matter bomb, Bardo's search for the device lands him in a Bronx hellhole, but Baro's blaster more than compensates for his size against the turf's ruthless gangs.

"Brick Bardo is an anti-hero, a good cop driven to Dirty Harry-esque extremes because his family's been wiped out." quips Thomerson. "Brick's got no one to live for, which makes him think nothing about risking his own body. I'd say that DOLLMAN is almost as expressionistic as a Sergio Leone western, with Brick as the Man-With-No-Name. He's a lot more visceral than Jack Deth.

"I'd love to do a sequel where Jack and Brick meet each other in Hawaii, since all it takes to be a tough guy is putting on dark sunglasses!" Thomerson slyly remarks. "I love any kind of role, especially one that comines comedy and action. There's nothing better than having a gun, girl, cigarette and a bad guy to fight."

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