The key to why Ron Underwood’s “Tremors” (1990) works so well is that it never forgets it’s a comedy.
Yes, there are giant, worm-like creatures in the ground that pull you under and lots of scary moments, but this sci-fi/horror comedy-contemporary western hybrid never loses its sense of humor and forgets what it is.
Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon star as Earl and Valentine, two good ol’ boy repairmen who live out in an isolated desert town. Earl and Valentine are a real piece of work: these guys literally sleep in their pick-up truck, eat “bacon and beans” for breakfast, always wear jeans and flannel shirts and are, in the nicest sense, a couple of knuckleheads.
They’re known for being a rascally but dependable team for the town of Perfection which, if I counted right, has about a dozen people living there. The townfolk are warm, surprisingly diverse and share a family dynamic. The setting and look evoke a Western feel that is just right.
When Perfection’s citizens are randomly appearing to be sucked underground, Earl and Valentine are the first to discover in full what they’re up against: hungry, fast and vicious creatures that someone helpfully names “Graboids.”
In the same way “An American Werewolf in London” (1981), “Ghostbusters” (1984), “Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil” (2010) and “The Cabin in the Woods” (2011) are all comedies but have the bite of a scare fest, “Tremors” is that rare, enjoyable two-headed beast that also has it both ways.
The monster movie that breaks new ground.
On this day in 1990: TREMORS, starring Kevin Bacon, was released. pic.twitter.com/DP6K4r7CBB
— FANGORIA (@FANGORIA) January 19, 2025
I’ve never met anyone who saw “Tremors” and didn’t love it, which is why the film’s brief run in the theaters has always puzzled me. I saw it on opening week (on my birthday, no less) and remember the packed theater at the Wharf Cinema Center going nuts over it.
The screams and laughter were loud and in equal measure from start to finish, but “Tremors” wasn’t a success for its studio until it gradually became a cult favorite.
Part of the film’s undeniable charm comes from its cast. It’s harder than it looks to play “dumb,” especially when the actors in question are Ward and Bacon, two of the most interesting, hardest-working actors of their generation (it’s especially amazing to note that, after this, Ward played Henry Miller in “Henry & June” the same year).
They both fully invest in the endearing nitwits they play, creating a comic duo that is so rich, it could have sustained another movie.
The great Victor Wong and future “Jurassic Park” star Ariana Richards are also in the supporting cast, but the real surprise is seeing Michael Gross (fresh off playing the father on “Family Ties”) and Reba McIntire(!) portray gun-toting survivalists.
Their big scene, in which the sound of gunfire trailing off, then returning, has some of the biggest sustained laughs in the movie.
Yet, even when “Tremors” threatens to become utterly goofy and more of a spoof than a horror movie, it tightens the suspense and keeps us on edge.
The premise could have been a disaster in the wrong hands, but director Ron Underwood (whose follow-up was the 1991 blockbuster comedy “City Slickers”) gets the story right and creatively stages the attack scenes.
The ground-level POV camera work is an obvious ode to Sam Raimi’s most famous shots from “The Evil Dead” (1983). Though Underwood is working with a budget barely more substantial than what Raimi had on his early films.
The key is to makes audiences squirm and tuck their legs over their knees and off the ground, in fear that something will pull them down. “Tremors” still has that quality, in which wide open spaces in an isolated mountain town feel like a threat, not a place of solitude.
The forgotten “Blood Beach” (1981) tried an early version of this concept and failed to get it right (it also lacks entertainment value and any reason to exist). “Tremors” gets the B-movie thrills it’s going after and, unlike a lot of horror movies, it’s intentionally hilarious and gets better every time you see it.