Tremors

Tremors

1990

Director- Ron Underwood

Cast- Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, Reba McEntire, Victor Wong, Ariana Richards, Charlotte Stewart

           

    Val and Earl (Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward) are handy men who are good at almost everything; stringing fence, operating heavy machinery, pumping a septic tank. What they’re not good at is putting together any sort of plan for their life. As such, they are stuck in the remote, sparsely populated town of Perfection, where they perform odd jobs for the locals.

            

     After one too many crappy jobs they decide to leave for greener pastures but they’ve made the decision one day too late. Something is killing people and has torn up the rode out of town, trapping them in a desert valley. The culprit is a group of giant, underground monsters, dubbed “graboids” that sense vibration. They grab their victims with their multiple snake-like tongues and drag them underground to devour.

             

     Val and Earl are joined by a cast of colorful characters; a spunky grad student who is in the valley studying seismology (Finn Carter) a store owner looking to make a buck on the creatures (Victor Wong, from so many good movies like Big Trouble in Little China, Prince ofDarkness, and Golden Child) a dooms day prepper and his wife (Michael Gross and Reba McEntire) and others. The creatures are smart and adapt, so townsfolk have to come up with new ways to kill the creatures. Eventually they run out of options and try to flee for their lives.

           

      This is pretty close to a perfect movie. I mean it. It’s hard to watch this and find anything that could, or should, have been done differently. It has the perfect blend of comedy and horror, it moves along at a nice pace, the creature effects were good and the casting choices were excellent. Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon play off each other well with great comic timing. Victor Wong was always entertaining in everything he ever made. I think the real genius casting was Michael Gross as Bert, the gun toting survivalist. Prior to this film, Michael Gross was known for his portrayal of the liberal, former hippy, father in the sitcom Family Ties. So convincing (and enjoyable) was his portrayal of Bert, that now he is mainly known for starring in Tremors (and its MANY sequels). Also look for Ariana Richards as the pogo stick riding little girl. She is known to most for her portrayal of Lex, the young hacker in Jurassic Park.

            

     The movie was moderately successful in the theatres (it cost 11 million and made 16 million) but became legendary on home video and has millions of loyal fans. The film has aged remarkably well. Proof that a good cast and a clever script is the best recipe for film longevity.