Last year, between the two of us, we watched an average of 317 movies.
This year our goal is to top that by watching at least one a day.
And as an extra special torture, we've decided to write about all of them.

10 May 2008

Tremors, dir. Ron Underwood (1990)

NIKKI says:
We just wanted something fun this afternoon. We tossed around a few titles -- I was up for Wayne's World or something like that. Just something to kick back to, with our fish and chips, in the hours before I had to go to work.

Tremors turned out to be a good choice. We both hadn't seen it in ages, and it was still as funny and cool as it always was. We basically sat through it pointing out all the reasons why we like it, from the music right up to the decent non-digital effects. I, of course, love it for Kevin Bacon's hair, but who doesn't?

The movie just reminds of the simple days, when movies were fun, Fred Ward got leads, and the Jacoby brothers were go-to-guys whenever a movie needed a teenage brat.

I do think we should pick up the three sequels -- all of which my video store has. Steven Keaton takes over as the lead worm rustler in the fourth one, and you know that has to be good.

3.5/5

STEVE says:
I always kinda dug this movie. Must have watched it 50 times with my brother, quoting lines from it all the time. Our favorite came from Kevin Bacon: "See, we plan ahead, that way we don't do anything right now. Earl explained it to me."

I didn't realize at the time that it was a throwback to 50s monster movies, largely because I hadn't seen many at the time. In the 80s and early 90s I was stuck on slasher flicks and Universal horrors from the 40s. I'd yet to be acquainted with the likes of Them!, It Came from Outer Space or The Monolith Monsters.

Tremors works as more than just an homage to those movies; it's a good movie on its own. Well-written by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, with characters that you don't want to see killed and eaten straight out the gate (except for Bobby Jacoby), it's the rarest of animals in the horror genre - the horror-comedy done well.

But that still doesn't make me want to rush out and see the sequels. Or the TV show. Sometimes you just have to quit while you're ahead.

3.5/5