Tremors (1990)
Well here it is. Tremors, the film everyone has seen at least twice. I would also wager it improved the popularity of ‘rock, paper, scissors‘ in settling important decisions in the playground and in the workplace. I know this to be true. In fact thanks to the old reliable rock I recently got out of showing a colleague how to use Outlook.
Set in small town Perfection, we meet two handymen Valentine and Earl played by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward. Two easy going guys just going about their business trying to make ends meet and planning to leave the town for good.
Whilst out and about planning the next odd job they discover a body, and the carcasses of the local farmer’s sheep. Determined not to let this ruin their plans they try to leave and find the main road blocked. Then their car breaks down and they discover half a worm like creature attached to the axel. More people start to disappear and it’s soon obvious that the town is under attack by giant worms.
The guys meet up with some of the locals (including shop keeper, teenager, and gun nut couple amongst others) and try and come up with a plan. Due to Perfection being stuck between the mountains there is no phone signal and the nearest town is 38 miles away. So it’s up to Val and Earl to save the day. They go off to find the doctor and encounter one of the worms and manage to take it out. Remembering that there is a visiting geologist in the desert measuring the tremors, they go to warn her and she works out that there are still three more worms out there. The next day they make it back to town and share the bad news. After an attack they become trapped on the roofs. How will they survive and how will help get there?
Looking back at Tremors now, the only thing that really lets it down is the effects compared to today’s CGI. Whilst this is no bad thing it does add a bit more nostalgia to the piece. When I first saw it, it reminded me of the cheesy 70’s sci-fi disaster films I used to enjoy as a child such as Bug (1975) and the 80’s TV version of Day of the Trifids. Another enjoyable modern stab at this genre was 2002’s Eight Legged Freaks which like this is well worth a look.
The chemistry between Bacon and Ward is great and you feel generally disappointed knowing that the film spawned three sequels and a tv show, all without involvement from of Bacon. Having not seen any of them I can’t really comment. Ward returns as Earl for part two and Michael Gross (gun nut Burt) stars in the three sequels and tv series. If you have seen the sequels or TV show let me know if there worth spending time on.
