Reviews: Tremors (1990) Movie Review
Subgenres: Comedy, Creatures, Cult Classic, Desolate, Isolation, Cryptid, B-Horror
Where does Tremors (1990) stand among horror films? Our review examines the scares, pacing, and what makes it unique in the genre.
Tremors (1990) is directed by Ron Underwood and the first in the Tremors movie franchise. Tremors had an estimated movie budget of $11 million and grossed $16 million at the box office. This film took a very new creature feature in the film and along with great actors, created a following of viewers that carried over into the pitiful sequels that followed.
Tremors star Kevin Bacon (The Following TV series, Apollo 13 (1995), Footloose (1984), Mystic River (2003), X-Men: First Class (2011)) as Valentine McKee and Fred Ward (The Player (1992), Road Trip (2000), Escape from Alcatraz (1979)) as Earl Bass. These old buddies who act like the funniest odd couple meet up with Finn Carter as Rhonda LeBeck when the small town experiences a bunch of creatures wreaking havoc in the town. The trio must first determine what it is that these creatures are, round up the remaining survivors in town, save them from those monsters and get them out of town.
When the creatures, called Graboids, come on screen we are treated to the horror elements of the movie. All other times we get a lot of entertaining comedy and a taste of southern life. The creatures are shown as little as possible, and that helped the film because when you do see the creatures, they look great. The cast plays off of one another and makes the film so much more believable and entertaining. Val and Earl are both looking to snag Rhonda’s affection by contesting to be the bigger hero in the film. Michael Gross (Family Ties TV series, Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001), Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)) and Reba McEntire (Reba TV series, One Night at McCool’s (2001)) join the group later on as the official hunters excited to hunt something new. Sit back and have a few laughs with Tremors. Keep an eye out for Victor Wong (The Last Emperor (1987), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), 3 Ninjas (1992)).
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Tremors Rating Scores
- Our Score: 7/10
- Overall Score: 7.33/10
- IMDB: 7.2/10
- MetaCritic: 6.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 8.8/10
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