Nancy Voss is a character in the 1993 television miniseries Tommyknockers based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. She is played by Traci Lords.
Nancy is in charge of the post-office in a small town that is about to be visited upon by a maleficent paranormal force. The (female) writer, Bobbie Anderson (played by Marg Helgenberger) discovers a mysterious stone structure in the woods and proceeds excavating it. The stone radiates a strange green light. As the townspeople take an interest, they experience increasingly strange things, such as telepathy, or crazy ideas for all sorts of inventions. The tense atmosphere is increased by the disappearance of a local boy, Davey, under mysterious circumstances. The only inhabitant who is strangely immune to the changes is Bobbie’s boyfriend, the poet Jim Gardner (played by Jimmy Smits). Over time, the townspeople cease their habitual activities such as work, family life, or sleep, and become essentially focused on producing their strange inventions. Their health and demeanour deteriorate significantly. At the same time, they are suspicious of Gardner, who has by now figured out that the town has been assailed by an alien, life-draining power.
Nancy does not start out as a villainess in this film, although she clearly is a seductress. In fact, she constantly goads her subordinate co-worker, Joe Paulson, into having sex with her at the office, even though he is married to the local deputy sheriff. The entire town except Becka, the cheated wife, knows about this, and therefore Nancy is not very popular. As the earlier described phenomena make themselves felt, however, Nancy increasingly fits into the town community. After Joe’s death, she invents a number of bizarre devices, including a “disintegrator ray” contained in a lipstick, and emerges as one of the leading advocates of further excavating the stone structure. She (presumably) kills two state troopers who are investigating the disturbing happenings by sucking them into her new weapon. As Nancy’s looks (unfortunately) deteriorate, she also becomes increasingly threatening, especially against Gardner. In fact, one could argue that she emerges as the leader of the more radical townspeople, whereas Bobbie, although clearly under the spell, still manages a more moderate and non-violent approach. On one occasion, Nancy outspokenly calls for Gardner’s execution, only to be stopped by Bobbie’s intervention. On another, the evil Nancy comes up with an even more destructive new weapon, a disintegrator rifle. Finally, she begins a new relationship with yet another wife’s husband, Bryan.
After Gardner has managed to free Davey from inside the buried alien ship, and Bobbie from the life-draining influence, he tells her to run off with the boy. They take refuge in a garage, where an enraged Nancy pursues them, armed with an axe. In the garage, unfortunate townspeople such as Davey’s grandfather, or Bobbie’s dog, have been encased in crystal devices, presumably designed to drain their energy from them in order to fuel the ship. Bobbie tries to free them, but is attacked by Nancy. Losing her axe during the fight, Nancy nonetheless pushes Bobbie against a wall and produces her deadly disintegrator lipstick. Threatening to erase her for good, Nancy bids good-bye to Bobbie, who pleads for mercy, and prepares for execution. Imprudently, she stands with her back turned to the grandfather who, though weakened, is still alive. Suddenly grabbing Nancy by the throat from behind and with both hands, he chokes her. Nancy drops her weapon and desperately tries to free herself from the grip, releasing loud coughs and groans. After a scene in-between, we see Nancy in her last gasp, before releasing a final, agonising howl. She falls face down to Bobbie’s feet, where she remains outstretched. As the ground begins to shake, Bobbie seizes Davey and her dog and they exit the garage, leaving Nancy’s body behind.
Trivia[]
- Traci Lords appeared as undercover spy Dixie Love in the 1989 comedy film "Fast Food".
- Traci Lords appeared as Vanessa Van Pelt in the 1991 episode "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick" for the TV comedy series Married...With Children.
- Traci Lords also appeared as Talia Massey in a 1997 episode of the series Viper.
- Traci Lords appeared as Racquel in the 1998 action horror film Blade.
- Traci Lords went on to portray the evil Barbara Stone from the 2016 Lifetime film Nightmare Nurse.
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