"Goddamn underground monsters!"
I didn't have any overarching plan when I started this blog to have the films I watch complement each other, but it seems to just occur naturally every once in a while. I believe I brought up Tremors in my review of Deep Rising, given that the films have similarly designed monsters and a broadly similar horror/comedy tone. But whereas Deep Rising is mostly just stupid, I think Tremors is a great example of how to do schlocky, B-movie horror in a way that manages to be enjoyable without pandering to the lowest common denominator.
Plot Recap: Val (Kevin Bacon) and Earl (Fred Ward) are two handymen/professional shit-kickers who live out of their blue pick-up truck and making their living doing manual labor and odd jobs for the good people of Perfection, Nevada (Population: 14). Frustrated by the dismal prospects of their current situation, they resolve to abandon the isolated town for bigger and better opportunities. Their escape is waylaid by a rash of mysterious deaths and disappearances, which are revealed to be the work of massive carnivorous worms lurking beneath the desert sands. With the townspeople trapped and no way to call for help, it's up to Val and Earl to save the day.
This movie was yet another staple of my formative years and it stands the test of time for a number of reasons. Foremost in that regard are the effects which, for a $11 million budget in 1989, hold up pretty goddamn well. One of the major problems with Deep Rising was its over-reliance on CGI in an era where computer effects were still rudimentary and kind of shitty looking. Even now, when TV-budget CGI is reasonably convincing, I'm still of the opinion that practical effects give a movie more texture and will always communicate to the viewer the presence of something real on the screen. This is especially effective when it comes to creature FX. Tremors uses a combination of animatronic and stop-motion effects to create the monstrous Graboids plaguing our heroes. As demonstrated in this scene, in which Michael Gross and Reba McEntire (yes, Reba McEntire) prove that libertarians are not to be fucked with, practical effects really come through in terms of making you feel the prescence of the creature along side the actors, as well as creating a more tangibly gross experience than something you'd get from a computer. Seriously, that thing is like a dual Freudian nightmare. Giant phallic monster with tentacles coming out of a gaping vaginal mouth. ::Shudders::
Second reason that Tremors stands above many other horror movies: none of the character do anything that doesn't make sense. You know how in a horror movie, characters who are well aware that something is out to kill them will split up, or explore an extremely dark room or do something similarly stupid that makes you go, "Who the fuck would do that in this situation?!" Yeah, that never really happens in Tremors. The characters come up with reasonable plans and put them into action, with varying results. I was astonished while rewatching the movie at how completely I agreed with the decisions the characters were making, given the knowledge that they had. A rare thought to have during a horror movie, sad to say.
By extension of this lack of plot-driven stupidity, the characters in Tremors all end up being pretty likable. Despite some broad racial stereotyping (Mr. Chang, the thrifty shopkeeper, played by the grandpa from Three Ninjas, jumps to mind), the characters are surprisingly well-balanced. Val and Earl, being blue-collar bumpkins and constantly engaging in goofy banter, are competent and level-headed. Rhonda (Finn Carter), while obviously in over her head, is an equally competent and sensible female lead, as well as realistically cute for a seismologist (As opposed to say, Alone In The Dark, in which Tara Reid played and archeologist/museum curator. Seriously.). The entire film is well cast, the standouts being Michael Gross and Reba McEntire as a survivalist couple who live in Perfection to escape government meddling. Also, its nice to remember that, given the right material, Kevin Bacon is both an effective comic actor and a pretty decent action hero.
If you've ever enjoyed a 50's horror flick, Tremors updates the goofy thrills of those old movies quite nicely and features some pretty impressive creature effects to boot. Plus, you can use it to connect Kevin Bacon to the little girl from Jurassic Park if you ever need to while playing Six Degrees. So there's that.
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