More than 30 years ago, one of the most fun and objectively great creature features surprised the horror world. In 1990, director Ron Underwood gave us Tremors, a film that was originally planned to be just another Jaws rip-off, including the usage of “land sharks.” Instead, we were all shocked with murderous prehistoric worms with snake-like tongues called Graboids. Tremors would go on to spawn six sequels and a 2003 SYFY series, all of which I have watched in order to share my thoughts with you. So, let’s put on our hard hats, and go digging for Graboids!
Starting with the first and best, Tremors (1990). The characters don’t get much more charming than in this film. Val and Earl, played by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, are best friends to the end. Their constant bickering and looking out for one another is so endearing, and all they want to do is get the hell out of the drab, dusty Perfection, Nevada, to give their lives the kick-start they need. The cast is rounded out with fun additions like Charlotte Stewart (Eraserhead), Victor Wong (Big Trouble in Little China), Ariana Richards (Jurassic Park), Michael Gross (Family Ties) and of course, Reba McEntire. Before they can leave, giant carnivorous worms have other plans for the town.
Tremors was chock-full of action, with fantastic creature effects from Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. Huge replica worms were built, with inspirations coming from all sorts of animals, like crocodiles, elephants, and slugs. The kills are brutal and plentiful, especially for a PG-13 film, and we even get a perfectly placed f-bomb from Kevin Bacon. Also, there was tones of goop and viscera from exploding these giant wormy meat bags. This is one of my favorite horror films and it’s in constant rotation.
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Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996) actually didn’t do too bad of a job continuing the Tremors legacy. Kevin Bacon left the franchise, but Fred Ward stuck around as Earl, and Chris Gartin joined as Grady, Earl’s new and annoying Graboid-hunting partner. Michael Gross also returns as Burt Gummer, now separated from his wife, and helps Earl and Grady take care of the Graboid population problem in Mexico. The sequel made a great choice in creating Shriekers, bipedal creatures born from the insides of Graboids, that use infrared vision to hunt their prey. The film was directed by S.S. Wilson, who wrote the original film, and chose to use a mix of CG and practical effects for the creatures. They didn’t look bad, and I appreciated all of the awesome explosions, but the second film never really captured the imagination of the first.
The third film, Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001) was directed by Brent Maddock, who helped write the screenplays for first two films, as well as Wild Wild West, Batteries Not Included, and Short Circuit. Michael Gross returns again, this time as the main protagonist, and from here on, becomes the franchise’s star. Grady’s character has basically been replaced by Desert Jack Sawyer (Shawn Christian), but several of the first film’s actors return to their roles for this one, which was a nice touch.
A new threat is introduced, as the Shriekers evolve into the poorly named “Ass-Blasters,” which are basically flying versions of Shriekers, that use gas to fart themselves into airborne positions. This is where the series really takes a turn for the worse, as the CG starts to downgrade, and dialogue and stories start to suffer. One of the cooler parts of this film is the introduction of “El Blanco,” an all-white Graboid that has posted up outside of Perfection, turning the area into a nature preserve.
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From here, the franchise was developed into a series for SYFY with Tremors: The Series (2003). Michael Gross returns for all 13 episodes, and while the ongoing story of El Blanco was strewn throughout, each episode had it’s own weird one-off story. For example, one episode had the crew trying to hunt down an Ass-Blaster that belonged to Vegas show performers “Sigmund & Ray.” Another episode had Burt trying to protect a nearby town barbecue from a hoard of Shriekers. Actors who had played Perfection residents were completely replaced with less experienced TV actors, and the dialogue was pretty rough. The only real saving grace of the series were some unexpected cameos from actors like Christopher Lloyd, Michael Rooker, and Vivica A. Fox. I’m certainly not surprised this only lasted one season.
This brings us to Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004). This straight-to-video prequel was also directed by S.S. Wilson, and Michael Gross returns, but this time as Hiram Gummer, great-grandfather of Burt, and his interaction with Graboids in 1889, in what would eventually become the town of Perfection. This is by far the worst film in the series. Hiram Gummer hates firearms, so rather than being the gun nut, calls in Black Hand Kelly (Billy Drago) to hunt and kill the Graboids. When he fails, Hiram finds his inner gun nut to dispatch of the monsters himself, with the help of the townspeople. Honestly, I recommend skipping this one altogether.
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The franchise takes a break for 11 years, then returns with Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015), directed by Don Michael Paul, who would go on to direct the rest of the films in the series. In this sequel, Burt (Michael Gross) has become somewhat internet famous, creating a Man vs. Wild style survival show. He’s approached by Travis Welker (Jamie Kennedy) and the two are asked to hunt Graboids for pay in South Africa. The two agree, and upon arrival, realize they’re dealing with evolved forms of Graboids and Ass-Blasters. The story really isn’t bad, and the effects are pretty decent. Gross and Kennedy have good on-screen chemistry, with the reveal being that Welker is Gummer’s son from a former girlfriend, hence the sub-title of the film. It definitely wasn’t the close to the best of the series, but did enough to revive my interest in it after watching four films and 13 TV episodes.
Weirdly enough, the sixth film was probably my third favorite. Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018) brings back Burt and Travis, but this time to Canada, where Graboids have migrated and killed glacier researchers. Here, the duo runs into Valerie McKee (Jamie Lee Money), a young Graboid hunter and the daughter of Kevin Bacon’s character from the first film. The change of scenery was really nice, getting to see the Graboids move through snow, ice, and water. Strong effects and neat storyline of using Graboids as government bioweapons has this film toward the top for me.
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The franchise’s final film, Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020) takes us to Dark Island, where a reach biotech businessman is leading a hunt on genetically-mutated Graboids, unknowing that they will eventually turn into the other species. Scientist Jasmine Welker (Travis’ mother, played by Caroline Langrishe) is conducting research on the island, and sends word to Burt, who is now retired and living in isolation from the government on another island, that they need his help. Burt arrives to see that his former girlfriend and his son are now conveniently in jail (Jamie Kennedy left the franchise), but has been replaced with Jimmy, played by Jon Heder. They must work together to stop the hunting group before the creatures get out of control.
Again, this one wasn’t the worst, but it was toward the bottom half. The choice to switch out Jamie Kennedy with Jon Heder was not a good one. The creature effects were pretty decent, but the camera effects and shaky cam were a real detriment to an otherwise okay film.
So, there you have it, and honestly, I have the say the film series really wasn’t nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Michael Gross took the reigns and became the face of a franchise that has lasted 30 years, and I appreciate that dedication. Gross has since said that he doubts the franchise will continue, and if it did, his return would depend on the physical commitment that would be demanded of his 75-year-old body. SYFY also planned a return to franchise, with Kevin Bacon starring in a pilot for a show revival. Unfortunately, it was cancelled before it could get going. All-in-all, there could be much worse franchises to binge through. I think there’s a few here you could skip (especially Tremors 4 and the series), but if you want the full Burt Gummer and Graboids experiences, I say dig right in!
What are some of your favorites from the franchise?
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