Tremors almost feels like a story told by some overexcited little kid, who came up with a cool monster design and just wanted to show it off. The film seems to adore the Graboids, and has the characters constantly elaborate on their possible origins, but in a flippant manner, ensuring that no actual remotely believable explanation is given. Just enjoy having them around fighting a bunch of backwater eccentrics. In that sense, Tremors is unabashedly shallow entertainment. However, the effort put into the logic and practical effects of the Graboids, and the sense of family loyalty between the underdog heroes of Perfection gives it an undeniable charm as well. It's the type of film that's designed to be played over and over again until the VHS is worn out, just to enjoy spending time with Val, Earl, Burt and the rest as they fight to survive the monster invasion.
On the downside, the dialogue really could've used sprucing up - the chemistry between the lead actors doesn't entirely save clunky, forgettable lines - and there definitely could've been more kills, especially considering how large the cast was. Not all of them were that memorable either. You're telling me Melvin the goofball couldn't die? Or that Super Mario-looking dude? I guess they didn't want the film to end on too much of a downer, but it would've helped to sell how fierce the Graboids are. Oh well. It's still entertaining fluff.
Tremors 2: Aftershocks is a joy. Although the film had less than half of the original's budget, it feels like all the successful elements have been beefed up - the comedy hits better, the cinematography is shinier, the action is way more intense and most importantly, the dynamics between the cast are far more interesting.
This film abandons the town of Perfection in favor of a more western-feeling Mexican outback(with plenty of greenery to contrast with the original's arid desert) and focuses on a tightly-knit group of hunters, most notably my favourites Earl and Burt. We also have the charmingly enthusiastic Graboid fan Grady, who replaces Val as Earl's partner. He's 10 years younger and has to earn his stripes, giving him more of an arc and making him contrast better with Earl's increasingly grouchy personality. You also gotta love Dr Kate Reilly, Earl's hot blonde love interest. She was 45 at the time the film came out, so I appreciate Tremors 2 for not going with a typical youngster.
But the film truly belongs to its emerging icon, Burt Gummer. His character was cool in the first Tremors, but here the utterly unironic military fanatic is an unrepentant scene-stealer, from his 'mission diaries' to MRE glorification to brilliant rants regarding the amount of briefing he got. Like all the best characters, Burt is so special, because you can easily see him existing outside of the film series and being a legend on a day-to-day basis. Burt doesn't need Tremors. Tremors needs Burt.
I also have to talk about the pacing of this film. The threat doesn't truly emerge until the second half due to an unexpected twist, because the characters are already familiar with the monsters and we get to see them treat the Graboids with hilarious matter-of-factness(given what a threat they were before). It sets up their downfall wonderfully, and gives them time to bond and goof off, making sure we're invested in their fates.
What a fabulously entertaining ride of a film. And if you don't watch it, you've been deprived of some critical, need-to-know information!!
Tremors 3: Back To Perfection can only be described as the franchise's sloppy seconds. Now, granted, it does give the limelight over to Burt Gummer, which is what I always wanted. But even that bizarrely feels like a comedown. Maybe it's just that that Tremors 2 got me used to the idea of a superior trimmed down cast, each of whom add something to the situation. Or just Burt on his own. Here, he's basically bogged down by a pair of uninteresting teenagers. And he himself was comic relief to begin with!
They do bring back the town of Perfection also, and I gotta give credit to the filmmakers for how accurately they recreated and evolved the landmarks, as well as the return of several cast members from the original. But despite giving decent performances, the oldies don't really play a huge part in the film. One of them dies, one's become a minor antagonist and two are isolated for the majority of the runtime. So I'm not really sure what the point of going back even was, aside from nostalgia. They certainly don't bother to recreate the 'all for one and one for all' town dynamic from the original.
You gotta hear about the climax. After the nailbiting, incredibly satisfying conclusions to the previous two, they had the balls to end Tremors 3 with Burt and his goons crawling around in a small junkyard! It looks like they can barely be bothered to act scared, and why should they? The newest Graboids(which, I should say, are barely an upgrade over the last film's variation) seem to have the attention span of a goldfish.
Tremors 4: The Legend Begins might not be the best monster movie, but it's comfy. It's basically the first film, but in the Wild West and with an even better town dynamic, where nobody is superfluous. Michael Gross returns, this time as Hiram Gummer, the ancestor of his more famous character. Hiram is, to put it bluntly, a spoiled asshole. His transformation into the defender of the town provides Tremors 4 with a solid main arc. Couple that with the western flair and a very likable group of main characters and you have yourself a good time. The only real drawback is that the Graboids themselves are just not very threatening. Like in the previous film, it seems that being a bit quieter than normal is enough to protect yourself, and things get nowhere near as desperate as they could. We also don't see them much until the final act.
Amusingly enough, Gross himself gets outperformed by Billy Drago, who portrays the half-insane gunslinger Black Hand Kelly. What a fabulous character. Drago is just so weird, creepy and eccentric that you can't take your eyes off of him. The section of the film focused on him is by far the highlight of the whole thing.
So yeah, I'd call Tremors 4 a more character-based film, with a good message about fighting for what and who you believe in, namely those around you.
After a long gap, Tremors 5: Bloodlines brings the aging Burt Gummer into modern day, and takes the series away from the supervision of its original creative team. It sounds like a recipe for disaster and indeed, the script is the weakest of the franchise thus far. The film's bloated with non sequiturs and irritating characters. Nevertheless, it feels like they're trying to make a great film. Don Michael Paul's direction is astoundingly good, taking full use of the African setting and his own talent. The lighting, cinematography and pacing are all spectacular. There's such a great visual flavour and atmosphere to Tremors 5. The action is spot-on, and goes completely OTT towards the end. But I'd much rather that than the limp conclusion we got in Tremors 3.
Michael Gross hasn't missed a beat and delivers one of his better performances. I loved seeing how wacky Burt has gotten, particularly in the wonderful cage sequence(one of the best moments of the character to date), and the premise of him going on an adventure to Africa is inspired. There was definitely potential here for the movie to reach the glory of Tremors 2 and it's really just the script holding it back. The film knows it wants to be campy, self-aware and deliver some good Graboid action, but it has no idea how to get to that point in a reasonable way, so there's a lot of flailing around with different subplots, none of which are really interesting. It's not until the final act when the African community teams up to battle the Graboids that the film properly clicks, but by that point it's too late.
But the worst thing about the film by far is the irritating presence of Jamie Kennedy as Burt's long-lost son Travis, who takes the role of the audience surrogate way too far with his constant comments on the man's every action. Their bonding was pretty cringeworthy, and ultimately irrelevant. He's a crap version of Grady from Tremors 2, and that's being very kind.
All in all, Tremors 5 has its positive traits and fills me with hope about this new era of the series because they got so close to making a good film here. Maybe next time?
Tremors 6: A Cold Day In Hell is rather aptly titled, because it's almost as if the franchise, overheated by its crazed fifth installment, took a cool glass of something nice and finally pumped out a movie one can be proud of. Metaphors aside, Tremors 6 is pretty much exactly what I asked for. Thanks to the more contained setup of a research station battling three Graboids, it's a much better structured film whilst still retaining Don Michael Paul's visual flair. Can I just say how much I love the formula of the Tremors series? They never waste any time - you get to the monsters, the gags and Burt pretty much from the first minute and so it feels like the films just fly by at a breezy pace. I also really enjoy the strong sense of continuity between them. It's very clear that each film matters and adds to the character, so none of the adventures feel throwaway in spite of their standalone nature. This in particular matters here, when a plot point from Tremors 3 suddenly becomes significant again. It's a rare and welcome anomaly in the direct-to-video sequel world.
The scripting is still a slight issue, with exposition ranging from nonexistent to elaborating on the Arctic heat wave four times. Characters have a tendency to speak purely in oneliners, but at least they're decently written ones and everyone, even the returning Jamie Kennedy, manages to be likable. Michael Gross gets to play up Burt's vulnerability(or lack thereof) as old age seems to be catching up to him. I'm really surprised by how well the writers have managed to evolve Burt over the years, never making him feel like a caricature of himself(even if he is a caricature of survivalists).
All of the action hits the spot. There's CGI of course, but it's all excellently rendered and shot, the guns feel real, practical effects are also employed when possible and the new environment offers just enough of a difference to fool us into thinking that we're not retreading old ground. But it's Tremors doing its thing and doing it well. I couldn't ask for more.
I wish I could say Burt Gummer goes out with a bang, but Tremors 7: Shrieker Island is completely forgettable. Part of that has to do with the choice of location - a thick, wet, needlessly blue-tinted jungle where you can barely see anything - and part of it has to do with the fact that the film is littered with unimportant characters who take up a bunch of screentime. Casting Richard Brake as a lunatic hunter was great, but we spend way too long following his gang of Graboid fodder in their disastrous hunt. Perhaps if Brake had been allowed to go crazier and really chew the scenery, this might not have been so bad, but he only lets loose right before he's killed off.
And what about Burt himself? Giving him a send-off is a tall order after the amount of movies we've been through. How does Shrieker Island fare there? The answer is poorly. There's a weak attempt to show us that Burt has gone over the edge(a smarter movie would've used Brake's character Bill as a dark mirror of Burt's here) and that he's now treating the Graboid Queen as his own white whale. But we only really get about five minutes total of crazy Burt. After the scenes of him shaving his beard and returning from exile, the filmmakers inexplicably decide to just reboot him to his standard self, albeit with far less fun dialogue than usual. Even more stranger is the fact that rather than make Burt's Graboid rivalry about him as it should be, they actually squeeze in a weak scientific explanation that the creatures hunt alpha prey, something they've never done in any previous film or even most of this one. It makes no sense.
But I think the nail in the coffin is that even Don Michael Paul let me down. There's very little memorable imagery, and his love of slow-motion is a little too noticeable by this point. Burt's actual death, as old-ass Michael Gross floats across the screen flipping the audience the bird, is a proper jump the shark moment. Should've given that bird to the director!
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