Review: Tremors (1990)

Director: Ron Underwood | 95 minutes | action, comedy, horror, thriller | Actors: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, Reba McEntire, Robert Jayne, Charlotte Stewart, Tony Genaro, Ariana Richards, Richard Marcus, Victor Wong, Sunshine Parker, Michael Dan Wagner, Conrad Bachmann, Bibi Besch

In many movies the mischief comes from giant size monsters and that is also the case in ‘Tremors’. The danger here is graboids, a kind of giant gluttonous worms that bother the inhabitants of the town of Perfection, and it soon becomes clear that the life for the various inhabitants does not exactly match what the name of the town might suspect. would become.

From the beginning, the necessary victims fall at the hands of the graboids. This coincides with an introduction of the various protagonists, which ensures the correct needed identification with them. In addition, the strong point of this film is the right combination of action, tension, horror and humor. From the outset, the necessary tension and curiosity is evoked because the nature of the threat in the town is only revealed after some time. And from that moment on, the momentum and tension remain because the various characters turn out to be almost nowhere safe, due to the qualities of the graboids: they are fast, strong and tough, they live underground and, using the vibrations caused by their victims, purposefully seek out their prey to create a perpetual perceptible threat. The human characters are not safe anywhere on the ground outside, so they are forced to wait for events indoors. It is a pity that the graboids go through the necessary learning processes and deliberately tear down the wooden houses where their prey resides and also block the possible escape routes of their victims. The only safe place turns out to be on top of a rock in the desert. The only annoying thing is that in their endless patience the giant buggers of graboids just keep waiting around the rocks so that despite all the efforts our friends seem to be heading towards destruction The human characters are not safe anywhere on the ground outside, so they are forced to wait for events indoors. It is a pity that the graboids go through the necessary learning processes and deliberately tear down the wooden houses where their prey resides and also block the possible escape routes of their victims. The only safe place turns out to be on top of a rock in the desert. The only annoying thing is that in their endless patience the giant buggers of graboids just keep waiting around the rocks so that despite all the effort, our friends seem to be heading towards destruction The human characters are not safe anywhere on the ground outside, so they are forced to wait for events indoors. It is a pity that the graboids go through the necessary learning processes and deliberately tear down the wooden houses where their prey resides and also block the possible escape routes of their victims. The only safe place turns out to be on top of a rock in the desert. It is also annoying that the gigantic pus of graboids in their endless patience just keep waiting around the rocks so that despite all the efforts our friends seem to be heading towards destruction It’s a pity that the graboids go through the necessary learning processes and deliberately tear down the wooden houses where their prey resides and also block the possible escape routes of their victims. The only safe place turns out to be on top of a rock in the desert. The only annoying thing is that in their endless patience the giant buggers of graboids just keep waiting around the rocks so that despite all the efforts our friends seem to be heading towards destruction It is a pity that the graboids go through the necessary learning processes and deliberately tear down the wooden houses where their prey resides and also block the possible escape routes of their victims. The only safe place turns out to be on top of a rock in the desert. It is also annoying that the gigantic pus of graboids in their endless patience just keep waiting around the rocks so that despite all the efforts our friends seem to be heading towards destruction

As mentioned, the events are presented with the necessary humor, throughout the entire film. This is due to the mutual dialogues between the various characters and the one-liners that are released on the viewer. The necessary humor has also been incorporated into the breakneck antics that often have to be played to escape the graboids. The cast is in good shape and the visible pleasure that the various actors have in their performances contributes to the entertainment that the film offers. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward appear to have the necessary comic talent, especially in their combination, and Michael Gross’ star role as trigger-happy gun fanatic clearly shows the humorous approach of this film. Yet the humor in this film is not at the expense of the tension it evokes. The besieged have to pull out all the stops to survive, but this is not enough for everyone to get out of it in one piece. During the rest breaks, everything must be done to stay one step ahead of the graboids and in this way the momentum in the story is guaranteed. In addition, Gross militant film character has a weapon collection that is almost large enough to fight an all-out war and partly because of this the desired entertainment-increasing scares, cringe-worthy chases,Narrow-escapes and literal explosive scenes come about when Val and Earl and their fellow sufferers decide to sell their skins for as much money as possible.

The special effects, especially the appearances of the graboids, have worked well. The slimy monsters with their wide-open mouths and meters-long fanning gripping tentacles come across as believable and threatening. A great achievement, since no computer techniques were used for their appearances. Furthermore, the way of moving the graboids is striking. The earth above them is set in motion during their movement and thus it becomes clear through the earth that they have raised what track they are traveling. This also appears successful and increases the credibility of the events. The environment, a remote desert where no help can be expected or called in,

‘Tremors’ is an example of a film which shows that the humor presented in it does not have to be at the expense of the tension, action and horror it evokes, provided that it is designed in the correct mutual dosage. Director Underwood has succeeded well with this film, making it a must for a successful portion of excitement and entertainment.