Recently I was in Hanley snagging another materialistic haul, and I stumbled across something interesting, Tremors 5 on DVD. Since I have a soft spot for the Tremors series, I grabbed it, and will watch it after sitting through the first 4 movies, because I'm like that, that of course means starting with Tremors, so here we go.
This film starts off introducing us to Val and Earl, who are, in my opinion, both really cool, the shit they through at each other is funny to watch, and the film's opening does a good job of showing why they're so anxious to leave, Perfection is a tiny, quiet little town with a population of 14 that's literally in the middle of nowhere, in a desert surrounded by mountains and cliffs. While scenically beautiful, it's a bit of a shit hole, and you get why they want to leave. Val and Earl, in addition to constantly giving each other shit, have a believable friendship in this film, and they're just fun to watch. while they're technically the main characters of the film, this film, at least more in the second half, focuses more broadly on the whole town, so how are the townsfolk. Burt and his wife are my favourite, they're a pair of Ex-military survivalists with a huge collection of guns who live in a bomb shelter just incase of world war 3, you've got a fairly good idea of what they're going to be like from that description, but that doesn't stop them from bringing the fight when the monsters show up, and when they do, it's completely badass. the less conspiratorial residents include a graduate student named Rhonda, who is also a pretty cool character, perhaps the smartest person in the town, she figures out the monsters pretty quick, and while that kills a good opportunity for mystery, I think it's beneficial to the film as a whole for reasons I go into later. Rhonda is also pretty fun when she thinks up ways either to escape the monsters or to distract or scare them, I did say she's smart, and it's fun. The Chinese shop owner, Mexican farmer, and idiot kid all really serve to add variety to the line up, which isn't to say they're not good, because for the most part they are, perhaps with they exception of the idiot kid, but I think that's rather the point. Those 3 however are the most memorable of the supporting cast, the rest of the town is pretty whatever, either just there to die or there because won't someone please think of the children. This film has a very straightforward story, it's actually very strange to see a film that's as straightforward as this, there is no big baddie, there's no big mystery of say, where these monsters came from or what they want, this film is just about the people in this town trying to escape.
This may sound boring, but this film actually has very few dull moments, it's not a very long film, but for it's length, it's a very well paced film, even the slower moments of which this film has many, are still fun because of the interesting and at times very funny characters that occupy them. And this brings me back to something I said about Rhonda earlier, how she figures out the monsters pretty fast, killing any mystery about at least what they are, this isn't a negative, in fact it streamlines the film's story, cutting out any unnecessary baggage that would come with for example more information on their origins or their purpose, they simply must escape, that's what matters, simple, and good. I've used the word monster to describe the Graboids for long enough, but these monsters that are after the crew in this film are called Graboids, and they are awesome. while cutting it pretty early on, this film does open with a bit of a mystery, with a not so slow build towards the big reveal, the reveal which is really awesome, the Graboids are enormous worms that hunt by sensing vibrations in the ground, and when they are revealed they look crazy, with their mouths which I think I can best describe as a demonic cross between a flower and a mantis mandible, with freaky mini tentacle monsters for tongues, they're just a funky looking creature. The film makers didn't slouch when filming these things either, the special effects used in the film are, even now, stupidly good, with good old models, puppets and camera trickery instead of CG, and like I've stated many, many times, when done right, models and props trump CG with ease, here is a superb example of it done right. Really if I had to pull an issue I have with this film out, I'm not a huge fan of the romance element of the film, I think it was actually added on to the film after test screenings, if that's true, then it would explain how bolted on and unnecessary it feels, it just seems like they needed a kiss at the end, when a subtler approach or even just removing it entirely would have left the film on a better note, in my opinion. finally, this film isn't all sitting on rocks and artificial romances, from time to time, shit goes down, and it is stupidly cool, either when the Graboids are cleaning house with the humans, for vice versa, it's mad, and I love those scenes.
I love this film, I have since a very young age, and even now, as a young adult, I still have a huge amount of fun with this film, it's got cool and interesting characters, stuck in a fascinating situation, hunted by really cool monsters, and there isn't a single part of this film I don't like, even if the romance element feels like dead weight. It has really cool special effects, a simple and fun story about survival and escape, that has fun and interesting slower moments, and sweet louder moments, including a sweet basement scene I didn't touch on specifically in the review, but it's nuts, Tremors is absolutely a must watch.
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