Tremors (DVD)

TREMORS (1990)

Welcome to the glorious eighties people! Not only a time of twisted sister haircuts (see the Lost Boys for more) and hideous fashion sense, this is also the decade that brought fourth with it the mighty grail-like virtue of VHS allowing for straight to video garbage dressed up like a film to haunt every shelf of the local video store, preying on many an unsuspecting victim. High concept ridiculousness, often without ...
...way?"

Tremors is one of these rarefied diamonds. Hell, it even got a cinema release…

Perfection, Nevada - a small town of not many in the middle of nowhere. Home to Val (Kevin Bacon) and Earl (Fred Ward), two handymen (not hired hands) who have come to resent their mundane existence in this place and, after a hose-pipe to a sceptic tank springs a shit-spewing leak all over them, they decide enough is enough, pack ... more

TREMORS (1990)

Welcome to the glorious eighties people! Not only a time of twisted sister haircuts (see the Lost Boys for more) and hideous fashion sense, this is also the decade that brought fourth with it the mighty grail-like virtue of VHS allowing for straight to video garbage dressed up like a film to haunt every shelf of the local video store, preying on many an unsuspecting victim. High concept ridiculousness, often without the budget for semi-decent effects and directed by what you can only presume as a team of monkey's, your Dad would, more often than not, rent such guff because the likes of Blade Runner and The Terminator had already sold out. However, every now and then, the old man would pick a real diamond amongst the chaff, causing you to sit-up, take note and reflect "why can't all films be made this way?"

Tremors is one of these rarefied diamonds. Hell, it even got a cinema release…

Perfection, Nevada - a small town of not many in the middle of nowhere. Home to Val (Kevin Bacon) and Earl (Fred Ward), two handymen (not hired hands) who have come to resent their mundane existence in this place and, after a hose-pipe to a sceptic tank springs a shit-spewing leak all over them, they decide enough is enough, pack their truck and head off into the horizon to seek their fortune. But fate seems to be conspiring against our new chums. First they find Edgar, the local drunk, stuck up an electricity pylon, dead from dehydration. A rather strange and banal occurrence only made all the more bewildering when passing old Fred's farm, finding a number of sheep butchered and Fred's decapitated head stuck in the ground to greet them. Obviously something's not quite right and, more to the point, it looks like Val and Earl decided to leave Perfection one damn day too late. Especially when, with help of seismologist Rhonda (Finn Carter), they discover that recent earth tremors aren't exactly what they seem. A psychopath didn't kill Fred, and the snagging of what can only be described as a large snake (brilliantly coined as a "graboid" by Victor Wong's store owner) attached to Val and Earl's truck points to something underground that's beginning to terrorise the small population of Perfection. Something big. Something that can hear your vibrations through the ground. Something that can bury a whole station wagon. And, most importantly, something not particularly vegetarian! With the town under siege from an unseen enemy, it's up to Val and Earl to find a way out of the valley for the townsfolk before they find themselves all six feet under.

There is an enchanting sense of fun and enjoyment at the heart of Tremors, despite the rather simplistic B-movie associations that the film is driven upon. Prehistoric worms under the soil are a somewhat distant cousin to Them's! (1950) mutated giant ants in the desert. Said worms are not particularly original either, seeing as they have more than a passing resemblance to the giant worms in Dune (1984). Instead, what makes Tremors particularly refreshing is the way that the film plays out.

The horror elements are slickly undertaken with some good outright scares, well-crafted creepy tension and grizzly deaths. The finding of old Fred is a stand-out jump out of your skin moment, mostly because, up until that point, the film focuses on the characterisations of the numerous town folk of Perfection. It's simply unexpected. In contrast, the "graboids" pulling the new Doctor in town under the ground whilst his wife frantically tries to save him is relentlessly terrifying. In some ways it's very reminiscent of the shark attacks from Jaws - short, sharp moments of horror that linger on in the mind long afterwards. And that's without the reveal of the full beastie until a good third into the film, which really ups the ante for the saviour of Perfection.

Yet, despite the genre conventions, Tremors isn't wholly a horror movie and benefits greatly from Ron Underwood's direction in providing a quirky charm, pitched just right (something Underwood would also deliver later in City Slickers), to ensure the audience care about the central characters being hunted, surviving until the final frame. In many ways, the characterisations, especially the central pairing of Val and Earl, and the direct to the point screenplay featuring some entertaining banter, makes Tremors a highly memorable flick.

Indeed, it's easy to suggest that without Kevin Bacon or Fred Ward's wonderfully concocted bickering as the put upon Val and Earl then Tremors would simply miss a beat, bypassing the audience as yet another pointless by-the-numbers horror. For that matter, rather than having the central focus pin-pointed on the "graboids," Underwood correctly utilises the quirky dynamism between the central pairing to engage with the viewers. There's no typical horror cliché styled opening that predicts the carnage that is to follow. Instead we have some upbeat guitar twanging as Val plays a practical joke on Earl before the two argue over whose turn it is to cook breakfast. A quick game of rock, paper and scissors later (an incidental moment that is well used throughout the movie in solving such disputes) votes in favour of Val. It's a delightful introduction to the twosome, containing some excellent verbal sparring that continues throughout.

Furthermore, the fact they're not the brightest of accidental heroes, relying on quick wits over intelligence to get them out of numerous "graboid" related incidents, places them in the esteemed company of both Ash and Jack Burton (from the Evil Dead Trilogy and Big Trouble in Little China fame) - pretty high praise indeed when placed on equal footing to genre contemporaries, making it no wonder Tremors verges on the edge of classic/cult status. Without Val and Earl to cheer for or to entertain you with their buddy-buddy ways, Tremors simply wouldn't work as well as it does.

The supporting cast are equally effective. Importantly, the titular prehistoric monster is a well designed creation. Used sparingly throughout except in the more grandiose set-pieces, it keeps a useful air of mystery about its being. With no CGI, the effects are crafted from some decent animatronics and puppet work, whilst a classic point-of-view shot is used to give a perception of the power and speed the creature has whilst tearing down the structures of Perfection. Finn Carter's Rhonda gives the film some viable intelligence in identifying the earth shovelling monsters, along with some slick duty as a jean-less damsel in distress. Her introduction also provides one of the films more entertaining moments as the antithesis of Val's expectations of "blonde hair, world class breasts and legs that go all the way" by being a sufficiently kooky, yet geeky science graduate that wears sun-block on her nose. She's not the genre clichéd big breasted useless female, and the film ironically benefits because of this as Val and Earl's more than useful sidekick.

Possibly the most fun in the flick comes from bonkers mad survivalist couple, Burt (Michael Gross) and Heather (Reba McEntire - yes the country and western singer). With a bunker stocked to the brim with anti-Communist weaponry and Rambo-esque tendencies, brilliantly staged when they fire-off most of their weapon stock against a particular bunker intruder, they provide Tremors with a gusto that keeps the pace of the movie up at a whip-cracking pace. Sure, Tremors moves away from a horror flick to a more action-adventure orientation in the last third with Burt's heightened presence, yet, with a fight or starve motif as the townsfolk are cast adrift on some rocks in the middle of the desert, it delivers a fitting finale of daring-do as our assorted heroes take the fight to the beastie with homemade grenades and stupid bravery.

It's testament to Underwood that Tremors doesn't fall into the trap of becoming too light-hearted or overly cheesy (and with Burt and Heather's characters this could have easily occurred). Indeed, Underwood effectively ensures that the horror and comedy are weighted perfectly in their combination to create a film that is not necessarily silly (like the more recent Eight Legged Freaks) and contains enough shocks and tense scenes, without being necessarily scary. Furthermore it's a blessing that the film doesn't fall into a parody of the genre or take itself too seriously by attempting to explain away reasons for the "graboids" being present in the desert. They are simply there and they need to be dealt with. Indeed, the script is clever in it's character dialogue and set-piece structure, without being particularly intelligent or distinguished and the film works all the better for it.

Whilst Tremors was not quite the success on its original cinema release, VHS has ensured that it lives on in the memory of those that have memories. And boy does such a film deserve to live on. This is classic eighties fare and, possibly, the last great film of such an era of quirky, enjoyable concepts that worked because of their simplicity and character based entries. Remember, the real show here is the chemistry between Val and Earl which makes Tremors so instantly memorable and not the titular giant worm based in a 1950's disaster movie. And, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Tremors has even advocated it's own cross-genre to the point where it has inspired other knowingly goofy creature features such as Anaconda, Lake Placid, Deep Blue Sea, and Deep Rising (itself slowly becoming a revered classic). A fine influence indeed on modern cinema tastes. Gloriously entertaining and fantastically good fun, at 95 minutes you could do a whole lot worse.

Overall - Tremors is, without doubt, the last great film of the eighties (despite it being released on the cusp of the following decade). Sharing an ethos of movie making that prevailed throughout this era, you'll be hard pushed to find a fun, charming film with a hint of gore and fleeting terror like this, anywhere else. Excellent stuff!

Director: Ron Underwood

Screenplay: S.S Wilson & Brent Maddock

Cast:

Kevin Bacon .... Valentine McKee
Fred Ward .... Earl Bassett
Finn Carter .... Rhonda LeBeck
Michael Gross .... Burt Gummer
Reba McEntire .... Heather Gummer
Robert Jayne .... Melvin Plug (as Bobby Jacoby)
Charlotte Stewart .... Nancy Sterngood
Tony Genaro .... Miguel
Ariana Richards .... Mindy Sterngood
Richard Marcus .... Nestor
Victor Wong .... Walter Chang

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 95 minutes

Genre: Action / Comedy / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller 

...less