31 Days of Horror: Day 14

Tremors

Dir: Ron Underwood

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward,

and Michael Gross

Prepare to be jealous. I am two degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon…you’re welcome blog reading community, you are now three degrees away from Sir Bacon. I have a special place in my horror heart for creature features. Godzilla, Mothra, Them, Night of the Lepus, The Blob, The Fly, The Host…the list is too long to continue. I’ve mentioned in previous posts my addiction to video rental stores as a kid, but Tremors was a film I journeyed to the theater for, by bus. I remember the billboard in my neighborhood of the giant monster with jaws wide open ready to engulf three hapless victims from underneath the ground. It was everything that a monster movie fan could dream of.

 Tremors is a B-movie that doesn’t realize it’s a B-movie. Even for it’s time the creature effects were laughable, but the gore was an unexpected element. Not to mention the surprising story components that I didn’t see coming, like a car being swallowed up, a man getting sucked through a tire, a big worm with smaller worm tentacles that grab from the mouth, or the amusing underground burrowing point-of-view shots. It’s all B-movie stuff here. And, I’m talking to you film snobs; I know deep down in those “only-I-know-what-is-good-film” hearts, that you secretly like this film. Don’t deny yourself the 90 minutes of mindless joy.

The 90’s were the decade of the buddy film and Tremors was no different. Bacon and Ward banter and argue comically throughout the film and Micheal Gross adds the amusing “loose canon with an elephant gun” element. Most of you have seen this film, but your kids…your kids need to see this film. Instill in them the love for the creature feature, nurture their inquiries for the monster that lurks in the closet, create in them a profound admiration for the strange and unusual…you never know, they might make the next great monster movie. Day 14 and everything is better with Bacon.