They come up from underneath the ground and grab you to your death. Tremors was and still is the shit. A personal staple of so bad it’s good movie watching for me, Tremors has managed to be a cult hit that has spawned three, yes three, direct t video sequels and a prequel film that talked about the beginning of the graboids. Plus if you can believe it, it had a 13 episode television show which I have seen and is gloriously bad. But I am not going to talk about the beating of the horse that the franchise has done, I am talking about some Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward science fiction/horror/comedy original Tremors.
Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are the stars, a pair of small-town handymen living in a small desert community, who stumble upon several difficult-to-explain phenomena, including a couple of people who’ve died under extremely strange (and, in one instance, very grisly) circumstances. Eventually, they and a handful of their neighbors find the cause: gigantic prehistoric worm-like creatures that streak under the desert the way fish swim through oceans, reaching up and grabbing anything they need for food. Cut off from the outside world, they have to figure out how to get across the desert alive while these creatures — that are smart as well as fast — close in on them, stalking them like monster sharks. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
Tremors is like the perfect b-movie that should have never happened. I mean the movie itself hinges on the special effects to look remotely believable in order for us to buy into the premise and my god do those graboids look fucking sweet. It is awesome to see them bust through the Earth and just maul whoever or whatever happens to be in their path. Those big, turd looking slugs are just relentless and have interesting features with their whole snake-tongue thingies, whatever they are. If was terrible looking CGI, then I wouldn’t be talking about or evening remembering this movie fondly. Yes I said fondly cause this is an awesome movie.
With Tremors, you get two different movies. On one hand you have a sci-fi horror movie with a buddy comedy thrown in for some laughs. Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon both carry a lot of the movie and are really funny to boot. Their friendship/partnership looks believable and they both have that grumpy wit about them that makes them enjoyable to watch on screen. Aside from the horror/sci-fi aspect, the movie is also a loving throwback to those monster movies from the 50s. You know, those movies where radiation has caused like spiders, ants, really bug to become giant killing machines. In this movie we get beefed up worms that can move underground at high speeds while busting through the Earth and terrorizing the citizens of the town, what’s not to love?
I wish that there were more movie like this being made, as in original movies not bastard sequels that milk every drop of what little creativity there is left in the idea. Tremors is that bitter pill of b-movie taste that is actually really nurturing and satisfying to watch. Yeah, it’s cheesy, but then again it’s a fun movie. Watching big worms just demolish a town through the use of borrow underground and then spring up from beneath to kill their prey….awesome. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are great in this movie. There is a sweet shootout between two hunters (one of which is Reba McEntire) and a tremor that made it through their house. Pure carnage! Anyways, if you movie watching is consisted of b-movies, sci-fi, horror or anything else that is found on Sy-Fy, then this is a must watch.
