What should you know about Tremors?

Directed by Ron Underwood, and released in 1990, Tremors is an action-packed horror comedy, about four worm-like creatures that terrorise a small town in Nevada. The creatures, dubbed ‘graboids’, burrow under the ground to pick off their victims one by one, leading to 96 minutes of monster mayhem.

Tremors stars Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, and is a fantastically fun film, filled with great characters and some superb action set pieces. If you have never watched the movie, then I implore you to give it a go – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

But if you have watched Tremors, what do you know about the movie? And, would you like to know more?

Well, if you would like to learn a little more, then you have come to the right place. In this post, I am taking a look at the movie, by presenting twelve facts about Tremors.

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Team-up

Tremor’s was based on a screenplay by Brent Maddock, S. S. Wilson, and Ron Underwood. Underwood only stayed with the Tremors movie series for the first picture, but Maddock and Wilson continued with the franchise for follow-up features, Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996), Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001) and Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004), as well as the short-lived 2003 Tremors television series.

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What’s in a name?

During the development of Tremors, the movie ran under two different titles. Initially the film was conceived under the title, Land Sharks, before being changed to Beneath Perfection when it was developed into a screenplay. When the movie went into production, it was renamed Tremors.

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Perfect little town

The events of Tremors take place in the town of Perfection. According to the movie, the town has a population of just 14 people. Although, this number is reduced by the end of the picture.

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They came from… nowhere?

At no point in the movie does anyone give a clear explanation for where the graboids have come from.

Student seismologist Rhonda LeBeck, comments that seismic technology has been in operation in the local area for three years, but has never recorded any unusual activity. This suggests the graboids are just passing through the town.

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Gross point blank

Michael Gross plays the role of gun-toting survivalist, Burt Gummer in Tremors. To date, Gross is the only actor to have appeared in every Tremors movie. He also appeared in the television series.

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Little bit country

Country and Western singer, Reba McEntire plays the role of Burt’s wife, Heather Gummer. As well as acting in the movie, McEntire also performs the song, ‘Why Not Tonight’, which appears over the end credits.

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Monster mash

Actress Ariana Richards plays the role of Mindy Sterngood in Tremors. Richards is perhaps best known for playing the part of Lex Murphy in the dino-monster movies, Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).

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Practical magic

Unlike the majority of movies made today, which favour the use of computer-generated imagery, the gruesome graboids were created as practical effects. The monsters were designed by the animatronic and special effects company, Amalgamated Dynamics.

The company has worked on countless major motion pictures over the years, including Death Becomes Her (1992), Jumanji (1995), Spider-Man (2002), X-Men: First Class (2011) and Godzilla (2014), amongst others.

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The death count

In total, ten people die during the course of Tremors, including one victim who dies from dehydration after being too afraid to climb down from an electrical pylon. While almost all of the deaths take place on screen, two telephone repair people are killed off screen.

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Die another way

By the end of the movie, all four graboids are destroyed – and each is defeated in a different way.

The first graboid dies when it tunnels its way into a brick wall, while the second dies in a wave of gunfire. The third graboid is killed in an explosion, after it swallows a homemade pipe bomb, while the final graboid tunnels its way off a cliff edge and dies in the fall.

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Rating

When Tremors was submitted to the Motion Picture Association (MPA), it was initially given an R rating due to its use of strong language. Keen to open the movie up to a wider audience, the producers delayed the release of Tremors, in order to redub and remove some of the stronger language.

When the picture was resubmitted to the MPA, it was re-rated as PG-13. This meant, this once R-rated movie could now be enjoyed by families.

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The legacy

Although it was well received by critics, Tremors was only a mild hit when it opened in theatres. It was due to the film’s success on home video, that it became so widely known and loved, and was eventually expanded into a long-running franchise.

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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about Tremors. I hope you feel informed about this gruesome movie.

For more movie-related posts, take a look around this blog and be sure to check out the recommended reads below.

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