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Tremors Movie Review

Tremors is a 1990 horror comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward. It’s a delightfully entertaining romp.

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“Pardon my French“

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A bunch of huge, alien-like worms attack the people of a small desert town in Nevada. That’s the premise behind this very reminiscent of ‘Dune’ genre flick that also happens in a desolate place and has giant worms as obstacles. However, here science fiction is non-existent, though we do have a scientist in the team, which was a great choice.

The movie switches between horror and comedy elements and although it doesn’t do that as effectively as one would wish for, both still work quite a bit. Though never truly hilarious and/or truly scary, there are many amusing moments here as well as genuinely well executed horror scenes with the worms themselves being stupendously realized both in terms of design and in terms of their attack strategy. I liked how they were getting smarter and the use of seismology was excellent in this movie.

The character development is also much better than you would expect from this type of movie and the same goes for the acting. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are excellent. They’re so much fun together as their dynamics steal the show here. They share a genuine friendship, which was great to see. I also really liked the female scientist and that crazy older couple who are incredibly capable in dealing with the monsters somehow. The redneck mentality of a small town is so well showcased here and to great comedic effect, especially in the ever-present guns.

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Although Tremors should have killed more people, still I liked the main team so much that it was ultimately a good choice that they spared them all, but other less important characters should have been killed to raise tension a bit more. The movie can be silly at times, but it is undeniably charming in its old-fashioned approach at storytelling, fine direction and such a fun score. It’s also highly cinematic for such a small movie.