Tremors: Project 4-12 Review

Project 4-12 originally aired on June 27, 2003. This particular episode introduces a new creature, a creature that not even a Graboid can kill. It's staggering to me that the TV show has the guts to not only introduce a new creature, but to say that it's more powerful than the creatures that the movie series it's based off of has to offer. Again, the CGI in this TV series sucks. It's gut-wrenchingly horrible, but at least it remains consistent from episode to episode. Christopher Llyod gets introduced in this episode. What happened to his career? This seems like a pretty big low, if you ask me. This episode again opened up the floodgates for more storylines to continue. They didn't continue the previous episode's storyline. It ends with the new creature dying, but hints that there could be numerous more creatures that were invented in a laboratory that Christopher Llyod showed the remains of to Burt Gummer in this episode. I only hope it's not new creature after new creature each episode.

Tremors: Hit and Run Review

Hit and Run originally aired April 25, 2003. This episode once again, like the very first episode focused on the grabboid creature. For the first time in a LONG time, the grabboid could be considered scary. It amazes me how much better the TV show is at scaring the audience than the third movie is. You wanted the characters to die in this one. I don't know if that's such a good thing. Human life is so precious and it's devastating that someone would sink that low to make a living (they never fully state what it is, but whatever it is costs $20 million, and it's top secret, underground and BAD). One of the characters escapes at the very end of the episode and then the episode ends. It's the first time they're hinting at doing a continuing storyline for the TV series, which excites me greatly. It's another good episode.

Tremors: Blast from the Past Review

The third episode Blast from the Past originally aired on April 11, 2003. What's fascinating about the first three episodes of this TV series is that each creature gets it's own special episode and it's even in the order that the first three movies are in. The best of the three episodes so far is this one...by far. The exact opposite of the movie that the ABs came from which is the worst thing in the series to date. It is amazing to see that the TV series is a direct continuation of the third movie. It almost makes the third movie worth seeing if you're going to watch the TV series as well. What this episode specifically got that no other entry in the series got so far was mourning a character's death. Nancy (who sold the AB to some magicians) blames herself for the death of someone who is never identified and wants to find out all she can about him. Granted, this doesn't go very far past two scenes, but it is a great change of pace for this series. This is the best the TV series has done so far and I'm actually excited to see what else is in store.

Tremors: Shriek and Destroy Review

The second episode on the DVD set is in all actuality the final episode aired. Tremors: Shriek and Destroy aired on August 8, 2003. The unfortunate reality of the Tremors TV series is that the episodes were aired out of order. The TV show never stood a chance. This however, was a very good episode. The pacing was impeccable and it was funny. That's completely shocking because Tremors humor has been incredibly hit or miss, but this particular episode was funny. I was really annoyed by the CGI shriekers, especially when you see a head of a practical shrieker on set. It's so obvious which ones are real and which ones are fake and that's just distracting. After a while though, the CGI didn't bother me as much. Here's the thing though: the shriekers DESTROY humans like the cenebites in Hellraiser. It was actually scary and creepy, but they didn't kill like that before, so it's a continuity error that cannot be overlooked. Michael Gross seems made for television. He couldn't carry Tremors 3 to save his life, but this TV show he carries with class. It's quite amazing truly. The characters are still very bland aside from Burt, but if this was the last episode people saw on the air, I think that's a pretty good finale. It definitely doesn't feel like the end of a story, but it's a very good episode.

Tremors: Feeding Frenzy Review

Tremors: Feeding Frenzy premiered on March 28, 2003. The first episode of the TV series surprised me. I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I had anticipated. Burt doesn't seem to be as annoying in this episode than he did in the previous movie. Burt did seem unredeemable at the end of Tremors 3. That's still true to some extent, but my expectations were so low that I was surprised when it was better than dirt. Perhaps the fact that you know this is made for television makes the corniness of this episode all the more easy to watch. The creature effects are not done by the team that worked on the first three films and it shows. A CGI grabboid's tongues stretch out way too far, farther than we've ever seen before. That was one of the few times during the episode that it seemed completely implausible and that detracted from what was set up previously. Unlike the Planet of the Apes TV series that destroyed what was set up in the movie series within the first scene, the first episode of Tremors does nothing to detract from what was set up. Is it necessary? Absolutely not. The third film was a lot more offensive to the series than this episode is. It's a nice addition that continues the story from the third film that doesn't add a lot of new story, but in no way detracts from, or is offensive to the series that it is spun off from.

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection Review

On October 2, 2001, the second direct-to-video sequel to Tremors was released and began the slow process to the demise of a once great franchise. Tremors was an all-right movie, while Tremors II was a fantastic movie. Tremors 3 (yes, they switched from Roman numerals in the second sequel) is one of the most boring films ever made.

Where to begin? Let's start with the trailer as always. What a crap trailer! Why make a big deal about your characters? Why take 30 seconds out of your trailer to name your characters? It felt like a Disney Channel TV promo introducing the characters. Also, an interesting point about the trailer is that it promotes the movie to be PG-13. The actual film is simply PG. It's a harsh PG if you ask me, but it amazes me that the movie started out with a PG-13 rating yet ended up with a PG rating on the shelves. Maybe the ratings board realized how bad the film was and gave them a gift of a PG rating in hopes of more sales for them. The poster once again looks nothing like the creature, but at least it looks like the creature in the first film's poster.

On a side note, saying that a single grabboid produces 6 shriekers in the first scene in the film is in direct contradiction with the previous film when only 3 shriekers were produced by a single grabboid. This starts off the film on a bad foot considering the original writers didn't respect the series enough to go back and watch the first two before they started writing the third film. The original writers only wrote the story this time around. It is an all new screenwriter, an issue that might explain all my complaints about this film.

The biggest problem with this film is Michael Gross returning. Making Burt Gummer the star of the movie killed his character. Gross is overacting like crazy. Gross can play a leading man. He can carry that weight like he did on Family Ties, but Burt Gummer should never have been the star. What was interesting about Burt in the first two films was he was a quirky character, not the leading man. The new character additions didn't help the film much either: both Jodi and Jack are bland and dull. They're not necessarily bad at playing their roles, or lack there of, but it's just so bland. The flavor that Burt gave to the first two films is completely gone by making him the star.

Another major problem this time around and I hate to say it is the creature. The creature was definitely a selling point in the first two films, but is rather lackluster the third time around. Yes, there is another scene where they name the creature. I'm sorry, but calling your terrifying creature an 'ass-blaster' destroys any tension you may have created in the first place. It makes the creature a joke. Yes, the way the creature is is jokey to begin with this time around, but with a name like that all credibility is completely shot.

That leads us to the problem the invades the entire film...it's too jokey. The first film almost crossed that line, but it never let the humor get in the way of the creature. This time the humor stops tension in the tracks. Also, trying to make grabboids scary again after they were so easily disposed of in the second film doesn't help the film at all.

There are two things that are good about this film: the returning town's characters and Burt's 'death' scene. The returning town's characters after 11 years is awesome. The place the writer took the characters was very smart and quite believable. It's a shame that we spend so much time with Burt and the new characters as opposed to these others. I would have loved to see more of them.

Burt's death scene is staggering and is the only moment of tension the film gives. Having Burt get eaten by a grabboid within the first 40 minutes was a bold move. I remember watching this film for the first time and being speechless after I watched that. What makes the scene even better is having him come out of the creature alive after putting a chainsaw to it's gut. It's such striking imagery that made the first two so enjoyable. If only they had taken more serious and less jokey risks...this might have been a solid flick, but we shall never know what might have been all we have now is the film itself.

Unless you feel attached to the series as I unfortunately do, avoid this film at all costs. It is not enjoyable, it is not scary, it is just a boring, contrite mess. Messing up Burt's character is a big offense in this franchise. Something that they never got over. There is no known amount of money this entry received. I have a feeling the worst is yet to come.

Tremors II: Aftershocks Review

On April 6, 1996 the first direct-to-video sequel to Tremors was released. All of America groaned. While a good number of people wanted a sequel, the idea of a direct-to-video sequel being any good was very slim. However, Tremors II shocked home viewers around the globe by providing a film that was not only as good as the original film, but dare I say it, an even better film.

Let's start with the trailer. Unlike the bizarre contrast between the two trailers for the first film, the second film's trailer is straight forward. It shows you what you're going to get. It easily teases the audience without revealing too much. Again, the creatures look nothing like they do on the poster, and the poster doesn't look anything like the creature on the first poster...how bizarre is that?

Sequels are really tricky. What works about this film is two-fold: first returning characters are a must, and second it adds to the creature without repeating unashamedly. Fred Ward and Michael Gross return for this sequel and once again Burt Gummer, Michael Gross's character is not overexposed. He is in the film long enough and adds to his quirkiness that so defined his character in the first film. Fred Ward has a much stronger character in this film and is much more enjoyable than he is in the previous film.

The worms have turned. A simple tagline that could have been a total lie. Thankfully it wasn't a lie. What's great about the film is that it never attempts to make the grabboids scary again. The writer's know that the audience knows how to defeat the creatures. They even make killing the grabboids within the first 40 minutes very easy. This was a bold move on their part. There is very little tension if any at all in the first half of the picture. Once they change into their second life form is where the film gets interesting. They throw the rug out from under the audience. The whole time from when the character's realize that the grabboid is hollow to when they first see the new creature is the most tense sequence in the entire series. The audience really has no idea what is happening. This however was a great risk. Nothing truly horrific happens after the first scene until halfway through the film. It makes one wonder if multiple people stopped watching the film because it wasn't scary. But once again, the creatures look fantastic. I was afraid that the heat seeking mechanism was going to be too closely resembling Predator, but it didn't, it held it's own. Although they are smaller, they resemble the big creature enough and have enough menace to keep you tense during that part of the film.

This film is much more serious as well. The tone is darker, the characters are much smarter which makes the creatures all the more terrifying. They establish in this film that the creatures date as old as one-celled organisms. If this were true, how come any species survived from these creatures? Why aren't they all around the world? Although, considering that they first appear in Nevada and are now in Mexico, I guess the film hints that they are all around, but we just don't notice them...? I think that's a bit of a stretch. Due to the more serious tone and smarter writing, feel free to ask questions during this film. It's a lot smarter than it's predecessor.

I'll be honest, I had very low expectations walking into this film. I loved it when I was 14, but that was a long time ago. My tastes are much more refined and I'm much more critical of films. Surprisingly, Tremors wasn't as great as I remembered it being, but Tremors II was.

Tremors II made an estimated $4 million when it was released to video. That seems pretty good for a direct-to-video release if you ask me. Although Tremors II surprised me by how good the film was, I still have really low expectations for III, the TV series, and IV. I'm afraid the series is only going to go downhill from here.