Tremors (1990) | 31 Days of Horror: Oct 25

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Walk without rhythm and you won’t attract the worms.

What’s not to love about Tremors? It’s a not-too-scary action film about giant worms that never takes itself too seriously. It’s got fun performances and great special effects, all while paying homage to classic monster films of yesteryear.

Before Viewing

This trailer tells you two things: there are giant worms living under the desert town of Perfection and Val & Earl picked the wrong day to leave town. The characters work to discover what they are and where they’re from, even trying to name them. All the while running from something they can’t see under the dirt. Nowhere seems safe; not buildings, cars, or basements. And the last thing you will feel is the Tremors.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

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After Viewing

Around the town of Perfection, Nevada (population 14), Earl (Fred Ward) and Val (Kevin Bacon), short for Valentine, work odd jobs. They meet the new geology grad student Rhonda (Finn Carter), who is mapping out seismic activity in the valley over the summer. After a disaster with a septic tank, the men decide to pack up and leave for the more populous town of Bixby, 38 miles away. On their way out of town, they discover Edgar (Sunshine Parker) dead, twenty feet up on a power line tower. They then find Old Fred (Michael Dan Wagner) and his sheep slaughtered at his place. Driving back into town to report the death they tell two construction workers, Carmine (John Pappas) and Howard (John Goodwin), that there’s a serial killer around. The two workers both die shortly afterward.

Gearing up once again to leave town, Val and Earl find a landslide where the workers had been, and no one is around. Unable to pass they return to town, having gotten momentarily hung up on a rock. But back in town Burt Gummer (Michael Gross), a survival and weapons enthusiast, discovers a snake-like creature attached to the axle of the truck. Town store proprietor Walter Chang (Victor Wong) offers to buy it from the pair for $15. That evening the doctor (Conrad Bachmann) and his wife (Bibi Besch) are pulled underground by something unseen. The phone lines are down, and nobody is able to call out of the valley for help, so Val and Earl mount a pair of horses to ride to Bixby.

The two handymen stop by the Doctor’s trailer to warn them about the murders and find the couple’s station wagon buried under the earth, headlights pointing up. Something spooks their horses, and the men are thrown off. Some orange snakes rise up out of the dirt and kill one of the horses. Whatever it is chases Val and Earl towards a cement canal which they leap over. The creature, which burrows rapidly underground, crashes into the side and kills itself. Rhonda shows up and sees the worm-like creature, realizing from her research that there are three more throughout the valley. One heads towards them so the three take refuge on a boulder attempting to wait it out. They see it is missing part of one of its mouth tentacles (the snake-looking things) and dub it Stumpy.

The worm never leaves, stranding them overnight. The next morning they decide to pole vault across a series of boulders to get to Rhonda’s truck and head back to town. After hearing their tale, Walter christens the creatures Graboids. In the general store, a freezer kicks on causing vibrations that attract a Graboid which eats Walter. The people all take refuge on their rooftops, with Val, Earl, and Miguel (Tony Genaro) on top of the store, Rhonda stuck on a water tower, mother Nancy (Charlotte Stewart) and her daughter Mindy (Ariana Richards) on their house, Melvin (Bobby Jacoby) on the roof of a shed, and Nestor (Richard Marcus) on his trailer. Realizing the Graboids use sound and vibrations to hunt them, they try to keep quiet, warning Burt and Heather (Reba McEntire) about the creatures.

A Graboid tries to, and does, penetrate the concrete wall of Burt’s basement, but he and Heather unload many bullets into it, killing it. They take to their roof and try to kill a third, but it won’t come out of the dirt. Nestor’s trailer is flipped over and he is killed as the Graboids learn how to get to the humans. Val makes a run for a bulldozer and semi-trailer while others distract the monsters. He drives past each building, and up to Burt’s, collecting all the survivors in an attempt to get into the granite mountains surrounding the valley. The Graboids prove too smart and dig a trap that causes the tractor to flip, spilling people out onto the sand. They all make their way up on some boulders.

Burt is able to go “fishing” with a homemade pipe bomb and blow up a third Graboid, but the final one, Stumpy, is too smart and spits the bomb back at the survivors, destroying the remainder of the bombs–except one being held by Val. Val, Earl, and Rhonda are stuck off the boulder and realize that the last Graboid will not be fooled by others making noise. Val takes off running towards a cliff with Stumpy chasing. He lights the fuse on a final bomb and overthrows Stumpy, landing behind the creature. Earl gripes, but then realizes the explosion has made Stumpy charge them. They dive out of the way and the worm exits the earth at the cliff, falling to its death on the rocks below. Back in town, Val and Earl are hailed as heroes. Rhonda gets a grant to study the creatures. She and Val have an awkward conversation and eventually kiss.

“Hey, Rhonda you ever seen anything like this before?”
“Oh, sure Earl. Everyone knows about them. We just didn’t tell you.” – Earl & Val

Tremors is the final film in a week of big animal horror (though tomorrow’s Sci-Fi Saturdays article has a bit of that same horror to it). This week I’ve looked at bugs (Mimic), alligators (Alligator), ants (Empire of the Ants), spiders (Eight Legged Freaks), crocodiles (Lake Placid), and ticks (Ticks). Tonight the creatures are the weirdest worms you’ve ever seen. And unlike other films in this genre, and films from this week–with the exception of Lake Placid–these Graboids do not seem to be the by-product of genetic experimentation, toxic waste, or radiation. Their origins are left strictly to the viewer’s imagination; though there are several hypotheses set forth in the film including “mutations caused by radiation,” built by the government as a weapon, ancient dinosaur-like worms that have existed for millennia, and aliens from outer space. It often seems necessary to create some explanation of how the monster was created, just to add some validity to the story. But especially in this case, not providing an explanation allows the audience to focus on the most important elements of the film, the survival of the characters instead of focusing on the believability of the backstory of the monster.

One of the things that makes Tremors so good is the idea that these creatures live underneath the solid ground we walk on. Things that make aquatic animal horror films, like Jaws and Piranha, so engaging is the fear that something unseen can come up and begin nibbling on your toes. Swimming in the water is entering the domain of the creature, and land is the only safe space (baring mutated piranha that can walk on land). But this film takes those lessons from Jaws and sets the same horror on solid ground. The characters now have to play like “the floor is lava,” avoiding the soft, sandy parts, and leaping from boulder to boulder. The filmmakers also impart an intelligence to these Graboids. They are not just creatures trying to feed, but a smart animal that learns how their prey reacts in situations. Like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, the Graboids plan ahead and attempt to trap the humans. The filmmakers also try to personalize the Graboids, specifically Stumpy, by creating an alpha character that continues to menace the townsfolk.

From a horror standpoint, Tremors creates a new experience for viewers. These aren’t the same type of monsters seen in cinema before. Audiences get to learn about them with the characters. What are they? How do they move? What are the rules? How can they be killed? The Graboids seem like land-sharks, so staying off the ground will probably be the safe call. The characters hide on their rooftops, which seems like a smart thing to do. But the creatures begin to learn how to undermine the foundations of these buildings, eventually tipping Nestor’s trailer over. Vehicles seem to be another safe bet, but they can quickly bite the tires, or suck normal-sized trucks and cars into the earth. Their upper bodies are armored and even being a few inches under the ground they are protected from even the biggest guns that Burt can shoot. Eventually, explosives seem to work. But who would have thought that a Graboid could spit? It’s terribly unlucky for the humans that the bag of pipe bombs gets destroyed. Another element of the horror is that the entire film takes place in daylight. With the exception of the death of the doctor and his wife, every other scene takes place in broad daylight. Most horror films are set at night and in woods or locations that limit the visibility of the monster. Having this film take place in the bright desert creates a false sense of security. The Graboids are still unable to be seen until it’s nearly too late.

Tremors would not be what it is without the cast and crew that made it. The film stems from an idea by writers S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock who came up with the story in the 1980s. They wrote the film Short Circuit, which created an interest in their work, which they used to get Tremors produced. Their friend Ron Underwood assisted on the screenplay and directed the film, his first feature-length movie. This is one of his best-known films, along with the western/comedy City Slickers with Billy Crystal. The cast for the film is extremely diverse and likable, which also may account for the widespread love for the film. Without Kevin Bacon in the film, Tremors may have been relegated to a smaller cult status only. Known for his 80s work in Footloose, Quicksilver, & She’s Having a Baby, genre fans may also regale him from an early appearance in the original Friday the 13th. His partnering with Fred Ward (Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swan) created a classic western duo that were accidental heroes; not too strong, but smart enough to figure out how to deal with these creatures. Ward would return six years later for the first of six sequels, Tremors 2: Aftershocks. Tremors was the only major role for Finn Carter, having had a supporting role previously in the comedy How I Got Into College. Supporting roles in the film included several sci-fi and horror actors including Victor Wong (Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness), Bibi Besch (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), and Arianna Richards (Spaced Invaders, which released a few months later, and Jurassic Park). Tremors was the first acting role for for country singer Reba McEntire, who would go on to other film and television roles. But the film did the most for Michael Gross.

Gross was known for his role as Stephen Keaton on the comedy series Family Ties (with Michael J. Fox). Upon completing that series in 1989, he worked on this film as Burt Gummer. Even though he would go on to do various television cameos and films after 1990, the character of Burt would define the rest of his career. Gross is the only actor to appear in every iteration of the Tremors series (both film and television), playing Burt Gummer in all of them except for Tremors 4: The Legend Begins where he plays Gummer’s ancestor Hiram. A couple of other actors returned to the sequels as well. Fred Ward, as mentioned above, appeared in Tremors 2, while Tremors 3: Back to Perfection saw the return of Charlotte Stewart’s Nancy, Ariana Richards’ Mindy, Bobby Jacoby’s Melvin, and Tony Genaro’s Miguel. The storyline continued after part 3 with a 13-episode Tremors television series airing on SyFy–again starring Gross. The remaining films, which only included Gross, are Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004), a prequel about the town of Perfection, Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015), Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018), and most recently Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020).

Tremors is such a fun film and one that pays homage to the horror/sci-fi films of the past. It has elements of The Blob, Them!, and Tarantula with the residents of a small town having to fight off the invasion of monsters that want to kill them. It would also inspire a whole franchise, as well as new monster films like Grabbers, Slither, and Eight Legged Freaks. It has one of the tightest ensemble casts, which form a group where it’s not immediately evident who may live and who may die. For those that have never seen the film, hopefully, some of the above will get you excited to queue up a screening. And for those that are already fans, stay in the rocks, and thanks for reading!

Assorted Musings

• The poster mimics the original poster for Jaws, with the three leads replacing the swimming girl and a giant worm replacing the shark.
• Chang’s death in the grocery store mimics Quint’s death in Jaws. Both are stuck in the mouth of the monster and swung back and forth as the creature tries to swallow them.
• The Graboids were created by the special effects team of Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis at Amalgamated Dynamics. This was their second film after Teen Witch, but they have worked on dozens of films since including Alien3 and Alien vs. Predator.