04/13: Tremors 2: Aftershock

I thought I'd watch and continue with the Tremors series franchise so I watched this one on Crackle last night. Coming into it, I knew this would be a somewhat cheap imitator of its first one. And who can blame me, since this was direct-to-video? After watching it, I decided it wasn't that bad :).

Michael Gross and Fred Ward are the only ones who reprise their roles as Burt and Earl, respectively. The movie takes place some years after the townspeople of Perfection, Nevada get rid of what they called 'graboids'. They apparently enjoyed fame and recognition for their heroism and all. However, Earl reveals to his biggest fan, Grady, that he didn't get compensated fairly for certain rights to the 'graboids' name. A wealthy man named Carlos gives him a second chance at defeating the 'graboids' because of them being the cause of deaths among his refinery workers. At first, he hesitates, but after being talked into a large amounts of money repeatedly, he surrenders and goes on his mission in Mexico with Grady. Earl recruits his redneck weapon-loving friend, Burt, when he gets there. At first, killing the graboids seems an easy task until they learn that the evil, smart eyeless creatures mutate into smaller and more deadlier life forms. It is up to the team to figure out the creatures' weaknesses and survive, again, in the middle of nowhere.

Despite of the loss of Kevin Bacon, Reba McEntire and some of its stars and characters from the first one, this sequel continues its legacy. I forgot to mention that yes, a loving relationship, occurs as well. One interesting part is close to the end when they collaborate on their scientific theories on the mini graboids. And it's always funny to see Michael Gross away from his straight dad role on 'Family Ties' to a seemingly dumb and carefree Southerner in this movie. I'm not sure what it was that got him to do this role.

Well, time for 'Tremors 3'!

My rating: 6 out of 10

03/21: Tremors

The first year of the 90s brought us this Southwestern horror film, set in a desert hick town. Underground big and little monsters threaten to kill and take over the town as the town's residents crawl to the highest ground whenever available. A little campy here and there, but a nice monster flick.

The cast seemed a bit weird, with Kevin Bacon as the frontman (in a hillbilly role). Also you have Finn Carter (the young female lead), country singer Reba McEntire and Michael Gross. Nonetheless, they pulled it together. Valentine (Bacon) and his best friend Earl set out to leave the town when they discover dead people on the road and they figure out what's going on until its proven some sort of 'snake' killed them. With help from the seismologist (Carter) they discover its strengths and weaknesses. It all comes down to everyone trying to find ways to survive, while being cut off from the rest of the world.

As mentioned above, a bit campy and Bacon trying to be a redneck is a little funny. Part of the movie should be taken seriously, though, as we see people get killed. Sure, this can be classified as a 'horror' movie, but it also can be difficult what kind of genre to put this in. The only real bad thing about this movie is the sequels, which I haven't seen yet. I'm assuming they were the typical direct-to-video ones, where they recycle the plot, but who knows.

My rating: 7 out of 10