Tremors: Night of the Shriekers Review

Night of the Shriekers originally aired on April 4, 2003. This episode added nothing more to the Tremors landscape, but just more cliche situations. Who hasn't heard the story about how the government attempts to harness the killer creature's ability for their own purposes and it later comes to bite them in the butt. This one has the distinction of they truly tried to use the shriekers for good, not just to destroy an enemy population, but it ends just the same. What was truly weird with this episode was that Melinda Clarke was the primary guest star. She went on to play Julie Cooper in The O.C. and well that's a whole 'nother study altogether. This would have been just before The O.C. aired. Weird! This episode had 2 references to events in Tremors 3. I want to know more about the underground lab, although it's nice to go back to the main creatures of this franchise, please add something new to the story or don't do an episode at all.

Tremors: Ghost Dance Review

Ghost Dance originally aired along with the pilot on March 28, 2003. This was truly a spectacular episode. The ghost creature, which in all reality is bacteria gone wild, is the MOST horrifying thing the series, both television and movies has ever come up with. The episode continues the story from the previous episode Project 4-12. There's truly a hidden lab in the valley. Granted, it's stupid, but it adds something new to the series which I didn't think the TV series would be able to pull off. This has been something I've been hoping for for the series. The way the people died from the bacteria sucking the water out of their bodies, it's so striking and gut wrenching to watch. It's utterly phenomenal. The down side is this was supposed to be the sixth episode to air...the station aired it second. In the place of it's original airing the episode makes no sense. Christopher Llyod gets introduced way after he's been shown, the prospect of an underground lab is completely foreign. Although, I don't know if the TV series ever had a chance, the studio killed a truly fun TV spin off. They did mend it however by putting the episodes in their proper order on the DVD release.

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.