Tremors (1990)

"I can't believe we said no to free beer!"

To most horror fans, the 90's was the decade that horror died a stinking, oozing death and retreated to the nether-regions of the video shelves, only to crawl out when Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson made it cool again in 1996. By the time 1992 had rolled around, the amount of larger budget horror films getting made were scarce, with companies like Full Moon opting to just go straight-to-video where they knew they could make the serious cash from horror junkies. The low budget filmmakers switched from making horror to more indie-genre fare in the wake of Tarantino and Kevin Smith, seeing that lack of money didn't have to equal lack of talent. It meant that being a horror fan, we didn't have too many really great films to watch. It wasn't all dead in the 90's, though, as a couple of gems managed to sneak through the financing meat grinder and make it to production. One of the best off the starting block for that decade was Tremors.

Valentine McKee (Kevin Bacon; Friday the 13th, She's Having a Bay, Flatliners) and Earl Bassett (Fred Ward; Southern Comfort, Secret Admirer, The Right Stuff) are two easy going drifters, roaming from job to job, working for little pay and beer. They have been settled around the dusty town of Perfection for quite a while, and after cleaning out another shitter, decide it is time for them to move on in life. There is one thing stopping them from leaving town, however; a string of mysterious deaths to some of the town residents. Val and Earl find a string of victims on the outskirts of town, and head back to Perfection to warn the residents that a killer may be on the lose. It is here that they discover a large, snake-like tentacle wrapped around the rear axle of their car. 

The next day, both Val and Earl head off on horseback to try and reach the next town. After discovering the town doctors car buried in the ground, they are attacked by one of the creatures. What they initially thought were large snakes are in fact gigantic creatures. These 'graboids' are mean bastards; they sense your movement through vibrations in the ground, and will eat you legs-first if they get a chance. They lads get lucky in escaping the creature as it accidentally kills itself when it runs into the concrete storm drain wall. Hauling the body back to show the town-folk, they must figure out a way of getting everyone out of Perfection alive. But how can they do that if walking or driving can equal instant death?

What makes Tremors so successful is the fact that it dives headfirst into both the comedy and horror genre and comes out with something that still somehow feels fresh. By distilling down two decades of creature features and modern comedy, both SS. Wilson and Brent Maddock came up with a screenplay that is packed full of memorable characters and creatures, even if there is more of an emphasis on gags over gore. The horror aspects mainly come from its 'Jaws in the desert' scenario, but there are a few stalk-and-kill moments that work effectively enough, and a few severed heads and bloodied brains shots remind you that characters can actually die and that not everyone will make it out alive.

The jokes are mostly character based, and are fairly consistent. The townsfolk are made up of the old Chinese guy who runs the store, Walter (Victor Wong; Big Trouble in Little China), bonkers survivalist couple Burt and Heather (Michael Gross and Reba McIntyre) and the seismologist, Rhonda (Finn Carter, How I got into College, Ghosts of Mississippi) who just happens to be there investigating the unusual 'tremors' coming from the area. Some of the funniest moments come from the bickering between Val and Earl ("Dammit, listen to me; I'm older and wiser"-"well, you're half right") and from the great deadpan performances from Gross and McIntyre who get to finally unleash all of the firepower in their basement. There are also some great little touches that really add to the film, such as the little girl on the pogo stick, having to pole vault from rock to rock, Victor haggling with Earl on the price for the dead 'snake', or the sound of the old blues song drifting up from the buried car. 

The creatures themselves are well designed, and I can imagine the hassles that must have been in place for the mechanical effects to work correctly, especially as there are several big scenes involve characters getting chased with the road collapsing behind them, or earth being churned up by the creatures. Easier to do with CGI than having to have machinery do it live in front of a camera. The film was produced by Gale Ann Hurd, who made her name with producing all of James Camerons early films. Directed by Ron Underwood (City Slickers), the film rips along, and could probably be used as a perfect example of how to structure a modern, mainstream action film. Very few moments are wasted here.

Tremors paved the way for some great genre mashers that would come later, with the likes of Shaun of the Dead and Slither. It also spawned several sequels (of questionable quality, though the last was pretty good from memory) and a TV show, and hopefully will never be remade. Hopefully. Check it out if you somehow missed this one over the years, it's still great and worth a re-watch.