TREMORS ANNIVERSARY REVIEW
Fred Ward, Kevin Bacon, and Finn Carter in Tremors
Film: Tremors
Released: 1990
Rated: PG-13
Anniversary: 35th
Genre: Creature feature, Horror, Comedy
Director: Ron Underwood
Writer: S.S. Wilson - Brent Maddock - Ron Underwood
Starring: Kevin Bacon - Fred Ward - Finn Carter - Reba McEntire
Plot: Natives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.
Ratings: (Current as of this posting)
Letterboxd: 3.5
Rotten Tomatoes: 76% Audience / 88% Critic
Spark Your Cinema: 3.5 sparks out of 5.
Earl and Val using makeshift pole vaults to avoid the underground creatures.
Tremors is a horror comedy that takes itself seriously. It isn’t overly campy or over aware of what it is. It is people who happen to be funny while they deal with underground monsters messing with their small town, the sort of humor I could see my own family and friends partaking in.
While Tremors is certainly more of a horror comedy than a straight horror, it is not because of bad acting or laughable special effects. Kevin Bacon is as Bacony as ever, leading a film with ease and charm as the tenacious Valentine or ‘Val’, and is matched by his partner in crime Fred Ward as Earl. The chemistry between Valentine and Earl is solid and believable, with most of the laughs coming from them playing off each other. They’re just some average guys trying to make something of themselves, and when they try to leave, monsters try to destroy their little town. Fulfilling our main trio is Finn Parker as Rhonda, the grad student conducting seismological tests in the area, who holds her own and fits right in with our main leads. There is a mutual interest romantically between Rhonda and Val that is lightly weaved in here and there, but it is far from a focal point of the story.
Our main trio is backed by the maybe dozen or so town dwellers, all of whom have their own distinct identity. A highlight among them is the lovable Reba McIntyre and Michael Gross as the eccentric survivalist couple whose weapon filled bunker is more of a curse than a blessing against underground dwellers.
Reba McIntyre as Heather Gummer in Tremors.
As a big fan of practical effects and the amazing efforts of those who create them, this film was a treat. It leaves the kills to the imagination, a lost art in a modern world that shows everything because CGI allows them too. Despite that smoke and mirrors, the Graboids, as they come to be called, are front and center otherwise whenever they leave the earth, and we are right along with Val, Earl, and friends as they are appalled by these creatures that have suddenly overtaken their teeny tiny town of Perfection, Nevada.
They treat the horrific elements quite seriously, with the Graboids being true threats with plausible weaknesses, who are even a bit mischievous with how they move and act. They are impish beasts that are a big threat, and we believe that.
It isn’t often enough that you get a horror film set in the brightest of light, right beneath beaming Nevada sunlight glaring off vibrant sandy grounds. 1990’s Tremors isn’t afraid to show their monsters instead of hiding them in the shadows. Every beak, every wormy tongue, every obscenely goopy tendril of spit is there, glaring in the sunshine.
The comedy comes from a good script delivered by good actors who know what they were doing. While there is some tension between the town members, it remains civil as they figure out how to defeat these things. The script maintains the threat as real and deadly, and yet never too dark. You’ll find yourself gasping and laughing and gasping again.
Some of the townsfolk of Perfection try to figure out how to get out of their predicament.
While not the biggest success at the box office when it came out on January 19th, 1990, it was well-received enough to get not one but six mostly direct-to-video sequels (the second, Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996) had a limited theatrical release), and even a television series that didn’t make it past it’s first season.
While I can’t say much about the pile of sequels this film has been followed up with, the first is a solid horror comedy that some have said evokes the spirit of the 50’s creature feature and I can definitely see that. Tremors knows exactly what it is, isn’t too long at an easy 96 minutes, and should provide a good time.
Happy 35th anniversary, Tremors!
