Review of Tremors (1990) by Brooke F — 22 Oct 2010

Wild and campy fun is to be had with TREMORS, a monster film from 1990. TREMORS combines the elements of character dynamics that made JAWS so successful and features on-edge sequences of monster-on-human chases and attacks which rival ARACHNOPHOBIA (1990) directed by Steven Spielberg's producing partner Frank Marshall and CRITTER's (1986). Plus Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are great onscreen buddies, and Reba as the deputy sheriff makes a great debut (quick question: how is it that most of today's most successful and famous directors and actors/actresses got their starts in horror movies?).

In a small New Mexico end-of-the-road town, Valentine (Bacon) and Earl (Ward) are two buddies whose penchant for choosing odd jobs with low pay bothers them very much. What bothers them now seems small to what will come to them and to the town too. Workers and townsfolk begin to simultaneously disappear for some random reason and their disappearances all share one common characteristic: they vanish into the ground! Soon enough, Valentine and Earl figure out who or what is taking out these unfortunate people: man-eating worms! Valentine, Earl, and the informed townsfolk are with limited resources, but with what they already have they can eradicate this underground threat...permanently!

As with all species, there are the small ones and then there are the big ones. You can imagine TREMORS's setup of first using the small worms in the first portion of the film, and then later the big worms for the film's gooey climax. And man, does this film climax with a number of inventive and smart evade-and-strike sequences.

JAWS is the Godfather of monster movies, and the two words that can sum up why that is so are these: killer shark. Plus it put Steven Spielberg on the map as a major filmmaker with major commercial appeal. Director Ron Underwood's TREMORS (using his own story) put Ron Underwood on the map, but his success as a director lasted through the early 90s. In the 2000's, he turned toward TV directing and hasn't looked back. While director Ron Underwood's work on TREMORS is not up to par with Steven Spielberg's on JAWS, Underwood did utilize great EVIL DEAD-esque camerawork and smart interplay between the characters.

Speaking of the characters, Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward were absolutely great together as Valentine and Earl. Their relationship felt bona fide. And none of the supporting characters were no less believable, as they stayed committed to their roles with their time onscreen.

TREMORS is a solid monster movie filled with wild and campy fun from the 1990's, more specifically of 1990. With the successful combination of the character dynamics that made JAWS so successful and on-edge sequences of monster-on-human chases and attacks that rival the monster films' ARACHNOPHOBIA and CRITTERS allows TREMORS to be what it is. Be ready for more Critiques and Opinions on Every Movie I Can Get My Hands On!