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Tremors (1990)

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Connections: Tremors

A small town gradually becomes aware of a strange creature which picks off people one by one. But what is this creature, and where is it? At the same time, a seismologist is working in the area, she detects "tremors". The creature lives underground, and can 'pop up' without warning. Trapped in their town, the town-folk have no escape. --IMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: March 28, 2007
The recently-released Tremors Attack Pack is definitely a thing of beauty for fans of the film. For just ten bucks - less than the price of a new release DVD - you can get all four of the films in one decent little set. Of course, the films are presented on two of those god-awful double-sided discs and the three sequels aren't exactly known for their quality, but still: four movies, two discs, ten bucks. How can you go wrong with that, especially when the first film is such a classic?

Perfection, Nevada is the backdrop for this charming little tale of two men, a woman, and four hungry graboids. The two men - Valentine (Kevin Bacon) and Earl (Fred Ward) - are the maintenance guys in this small desert town, but they've got their sights set on moving towards bigger and better things in the neighboring town of Bixby. As they're leaving the town, they meet the new government seismologist Rhonda (Finn Carter), introduce themselves, and eventually carry on their merry little ways. Just as they're about to get out of town and start their new lives, they come across one of the townsfolk and discover that he has died of thirst atop an old tower. Why would someone climb this tower and just sit there until they died? It's a bizarre situation, so the two head back to town in order to let everyone know about their discovery.

Right around here is when they find out that there are "graboids" roaming around in the desert, and on the surface, this might not be such a big deal; after all, this town has a pair of resident gun-nuts in Burt (Michael Gross) and Heather Gummer (Reba McEntire) who would welcome an "invasion" that would give them the opportunity to fire off a few rounds. The problem arises when the townsfolk realize that these critters move around under the sand and pull their prey down to be consumed whole: the victims never see it coming. As if that wasn't bad enough, the handful of graboids have decided to move onwards toward the town for what could only be described as a human buffet.

Tremors is definitely a "guilty pleasure" movie if there ever was one. On the one hand, you've got a film that has no right to be as good as it is; the plot is extremely simple, the cast isn't exactly something to brag about, and the basic concept (man versus monster) has been done a thousand times over in other films. However, everything managed to come together with this one. The storyline clicks in all the right places, the various cast members interact perfectly with one another and put on thoroughly convincing performances, and the pace of the movie turns out to be just right: it never slows down enough to let the absurdity of this situation sink in for the audience, yet it never feels like one of those MTV-styled action films that seem to be so prevalent these days. Although he may not have went on to achieve a highly successful career after this, Ron Underwood really knocked one out of the park with his debut offering.

There's no way that I could end this review without mentioning the true "stars" of the film, that being the graboids themselves. The effects used to create these monsters - all practical effects and none of that CGI crap, mind you - were splendidly done, and the final result was a mob of creatures that turned out to be both fearsome and awesome. There's a reason that three sequels would be thrown together after this release, and that can be attributed to the fact that these things make for some damned good movies. Of course, they had to go and tinker with the design down the road, but that's not exactly something that you can hold against the original, now is it?

Overall, Tremors is one of those movies that you can easily pop in on a lazy Sunday afternoon, kick back with a beer or two, and just have a solid ninety minutes of entertainment regardless of how many times you may have seen it before. 9/10.
Crispy #1: Crispy - added September 10, 2004 at 2:36pm
Tremors 2 wasnt all that bad. No where near the first though. It's all downhill from there though
Crispy #2: Crispy - added January 31, 2006 at 6:39pm
And now that I've seen 4, that one wasn't awful but still you could do without it.
bluemeanie #3: bluemeanie - added March 29, 2007 at 11:09am
One of the best action/horror films ever made. "Tremors" is a monster movie with a sense of humor...intentionally. Bacon and Ward have amazing chemistry together, Michael Gross and Reba McEntire are over-the-top and thoroughly enjoyable, and the rest of the supporting cast is stellar as well. Think "Lifeboat" set in the desert. I love, love, loved this movie as a kid and still do. 10/10.
Tristan #4: Tristan - added March 29, 2007 at 1:14pm
I think this was my first experience with "horror comedy" and I found it both terrifying and hilarious as a kid. Amazing performance from everyone, except the teenager. It was just perfect. 10/10
Alex P #5: Alex P - added March 29, 2007 at 3:14pm
god bless the Tremors Attack Pack. picked that beaut up for 14 dollars.
waxtadpole3657 #6: waxtadpole3657 - added March 29, 2007 at 9:35pm
I adore this movie. I loved it when I first saw it as a kid, and I still love it to this day. Just a super fun monster movie. Wal-Mart has the Attack Pack Crazymofo mentioned for 14 bucks. I need to get that sucker when I get paid.
Lucid Dreams #7: Lucid Dreams - added September 11, 2010 at 2:09pm
This movie looks like it should be horrible, but it isn't. I didn't see it until they played it all the time on the sci-fi channel, but it was pretty damn good. 8/10
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