Tremors is one of the best films ever made. Fight me.
In fact, Pop and I fought over who’d write this as it’s one of our all-time favourite films. But, Pop lost Rock Paper Scissors, so I get to dig into it. Put simply, Tremors is about as close to Perfection as it gets, and that’s a hill we’re each willing to die on. Or under. (So Rock rips through paper..? – Pop)
Tremors is one of the most ridiculously fun movies ever made. It’s the kind of film that leaves you energized and grinning from ear to ear, quoting lines, and wondering why more movies don’t hit this sweet spot of action, horror, comedy, and pure, unfiltered entertainment. It’s impossible to be in a bad mood after watching it. (Well, unless you’re Kevin Bacon in 1990, who thought it was a career-killer before realising it was one of the best things he ever did.)
It’s self-aware but never smug. It’s meta without winking too hard. It’s funny but never stupid. The horror hits when it needs to, the tension works, and the action is thrilling. Every single character feels real – from the reluctant-but-loyal hero duo of Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward to the surprise MVPs of Reba McEntire and Michael Gross as the ultimate doomsday preppers. Even Rhonda, our seismologist love interest, comes across as an actual scientist, not a Hollywood version of one. To Val’s chagrin. (I still can’t get over Denise Richards playing nuclear physicist in a Bond film -Pop).
And the script feels absolutely airtight. Setups, payoffs, callbacks – every single moment is earned. Nothing is phoned in. Nobody coasts. This is a B-movie that operates like a prestige tentpole blockbuster.
But here’s the problem.
Tremors is so good that it ruins other movies.
It’s the gateway drug to horror comedies, creature features, and practical effects masterpieces. And yet, once you’ve seen it, you’re chasing a high that almost nothing else delivers. There are plenty of great monster movies, but nobody has done what Tremors does better than Tremors. (Here’re where I’d list my other favourites in the comedy mutant monster amuck genre like Arachnophobia, Ticks, Deep Rising, Eight Legged Freaks, Frankenfish… but I’m not writing this one, sooo… -Pop)
So yeah, we’ll say it: if you don’t love Tremors, we probably won’t get on.
-Mom
(That’s it? But I want to wax about the actual monsters. Back in the late 80s and early in 1990, the grannies at the MPAA didn’t let horror movies get away with much, but Tremors found a way to be absolutely dripping with grue without breaking its one-f-bomb friendly PG-13. It’s got the best kind of horror movie carnage: wet, chunky, gory, but exclusively aimed at the creatures. The humans barely get a splatter, but the Graboids get dispatched with gloriously sloshy practical effects that put most R-rated creature features to shame.
And almost everything happens in broad daylight. No shadows to hide cheap effects, no shaky cam to blur the seams – just full-scale, down-to-earth mutant sand worms that look real because they were real. Built and shot practically. Wires. Pulleys. Animatronics. Slime. That’s how you make a monster.
There isn’t an instalment in the franchise that I wont happily sit through, I love this series wholeheartedly, but the original stands alone, and still stands the test of time. -Pop)
Tremors wormed its way onto Home Video today in 1990, after a January 19th theatrical release.