I first caught Tremors in the cinema back in 1990 and dug it, but was kinda bummed that the amazing creature on the poster was nowhere to be found in the film. This was a common occurrence at the time, especially with the DTV horror from the likes of Charles Band etc, but not as often for a studio film. For some reason, I hadn’t watched it since - there may have been a VHS watch along the way but either way, it’s been a good quarter of a century since my last viewing. And what a fucking blast this film is - a small-town creature feature done right, filled with memorable characters and once it kicks off, doesn’t let up until the end.
Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are a delightful pair of leads, like a bickering married couple that just can’t escape the drudgery of their lives in Perfection, no matter what they do. You also have Michael Gross and Reba McIntire as the most likeable gun-toting survivalists you are likely to meet, Victor Wong from Big Trouble In Little China and young Ariana Richards, getting some creature feature trauma in as a warmup for Jurassic Park.
The real stars are the Graboids and their slithering tentacle mouths (but where are the teeth?). Practical FX from this era, no matter how rubbery, still rules over CGI for its tactility and actual interaction with the actors and the environment and Tom Woodruff Jr and Alex Gillis’s creations are marvellous beasts. Combine that with some large-scale vibrating building sets and you long for the days when studios spent decent coin on fun schlock like this.
Now all we need is someone to bankroll a legacy sequel with Bacon (SyFy can get faarked for bailing on the TV show a few years back).
4.5 Fuuuuuuuuckkkk Yoooooooouuuu’s out of 5