Tremors

Movie #4

Date Released: 1.19.90

Date Watched: ?

Reaction:

I actually really enjoyed this movie. It is a comedy and horror that doesn’t make fun of itself because it doesn’t need to. It’s also not an excessively stupid movie. The characters fall just short of caricature, the schtick falls just short of being shlock. The monsters and effects are just realistic enough to be taken seriously, even though they are cheap and basic. In short, Tremors walks a really solid line of fun, funny, tense, and gross that is just right and just what I needed after the first three movies I’ve watched.

On another note, I think this is one of Kevin Bacon’s best roles. I wish he’d taken on more roles like this one that didn’t require so much seriousness or earnestness. While I loved The Big Picture, one of my favorites of his movies, he really relaxes in this movie and he’s truly likeable, which I don’t always find is the case. His co-star, Fred Ward, is solid as always. I will say that watching two actors who often play side-characters take on the leads of this movie worked really really well.

This has been my first really enjoyable watch of the 1990’s comedy experiment so far. I’m sure there are some deeper themes in this movie, but I didn’t need to think about them. Fred Ward’s line, when he and Bacon’s character discover that the only road out of town has been blocked, was “ Is there some higher force at work here?” These days, that’s something we’re all feeling a little bit. And hopefully, like McIntyre (Yes, Reba McIntyre is in this movie), Bacon, Ward, and Michael Gross, we can blast our way out of this situation and no longer have to just scurry from rock to rock as the ground beneath us tries to swallow us whole.

Publishing Notes:

• I’m digging my existential COVID/Election/Protests angst here