This one is gonna be a quickie.
I don’t have any in depth analysis to provide for this film because honestly there’s no point. That’s not to say that this film is substanceless because it certainly is not. Rather, to put it plainly, it’s dumb fun! And believe it or not but I actually LIKE dumb fun movies!
I have yet to reach the point in my existence as a film critic where I am unable to enjoy anything that isn’t overly pretentious in its presentation. Although judging by the track I’ve been on I can only assume that the event horizon isn’t too far in my future.
For right now though, I want to spend some time talking about one of my favorite movies, Ron Underwood’s Tremors.
Now I’m willing to bet like 85% of you who have absolutely no idea what film I’m referring to. Which honestly perfectly aligns with my track record of movies here.
Tremors is a 1990 comedy-monster film with an actually ridiculous cast.
In lead you have Kevin Bacon whose legacy I’d be doing a disservice to if I laid it out to you. His cohort is played by the late Fred Ward who was in classics like Escape from Alcatraz and The Right Stuff. In the ensemble cast we have, get this, country music legend REBA MCENTIRE who truly needs no introduction. As well as Michael Gross star of Family Ties alongside Michel J. Fox.
Now you must be asking, what could this film possibly be about with such a star studded cast.
The plot of Tremors is as follows; “In a small New Mexico town four monsters of unknown origin live under the ground and eat anyone on top of it.”
That’s it, that’s the plot, but my GOD is it a great time.
The design of the monster, named the Graboid, is actually really cool and well thought out. It’s got a giant three pronged beak like the Sarlacc from Return of the Jedi. Inside of its mouth there’s three tongues each of which has its OWN mouth and possible sentience. I’ll put a picture at the bottom so you guys can see for yourselves. I’m actually really impressed with what they were able to accomplish with such a small budget.
To Be completely honest this is my favorite monster movie and in my mind is one of the best all time monster movies that doesnt have the word Godzilla in the title. The Graboids have such a presence throughout the movie. Although the film is constantly reveling in its own stupidity the Graboids always feel like a real threat that the characters have to be wary of. There are sequences in this movie where the characters have to use quick thinking and clever planning to make it out of precarious situations.
It’s my belief that a monster movie is only as good as its human characters. If the humans are boring and underdeveloped the movie is going to suck. However if the characters feel like three dimensional people and the monster is only there to supplement their arc, the movie is going to be great. For example to go back to Godzilla for a second. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire in my mind, sucks. The story sucks, the fight scenes suck, and especially the human characters suck. They are nothing more than character archetypes with no sense of flavor or originality to them. On the other hand though Godzilla Minus One is an absolute masterpiece of cinema and just may be the greatest monster movie ever created. This is for many reasons, like the fact that the story is very strong because it knows how to effectively emotionally communicate with the audience. However the best thing about Godzilla Minus One is its characters. Each character is so perfectly fleshed out that you’re genuinely worried when they get placed into dangerous situations.
Tremors understands this and something else that many other monster movies don’t. It uses the monster sparingly. Much like Godzilla the Graboids are actually seen very rarely but like I said before their presence permeates across the entire movie. They are narratively supplemental to the growth of the characters. Each of their decisions is informed by the fear of what the Graboids might do next. Other than that though the characters are just all so interesting to watch. All of them are well defined and likeable people so watching them slowly get picked off is kind of heartbreaking. I can distinctly remember the shopkeeper’s death and how much it really bummed me out because I liked his character so much.
My dad, like most cases, was actually the one who turned me on to this movie. He has this almost clairvoyant ability to know what films I like and always seems to drop them on me at the right time. I’ve been trying to do the same for him but with much less success.
This movie has one of my favorite movie lines ever but unfortunately I am not allowed to write it here. It’s an insult he yells as the final Graboid dies and I think that it’s an absolutely awesome line that is very much in character.
So yeah like I said, not very long and definitely not as well structured as what i’ve done in the past. This was more or less my stream of consciousness as I gushed about this movie. But I feel like that style fits a movie like this. A movie that knows what it is and enjoys being without any restraint. I mean really, what more could you ask for in a movie?
I give this one a Kevin Bacon/10
Until Next Time
“In Real Time”
Tristan Good
Also if you want to know what the line is, you have to watch the movie yourself ; )
Trust me it’s worth it.
