Tremors

Summary

“Hungry? EAT THIS!”

When I was a kid, we didn’t have the same plethora of options that are now available to the younger generations. I remember that in my family once we gained cable we had something like fifty channels and, because my family was worried about objectionable content, none of them were HBO. At the time there was not even a television rating system that clearly said that a film was for adults. Instead, everything on television was just edited for content so that it would be innocuous to everyone. Growing up, one of the channels that pushed the boundaries was USA. It focused on showing edited action films alongside more “adult” fare like the shows Silk Stalkings and Baywatch. As a young man, I watched hours and hours of this network. One film that was constantly shown on that network was a little horror-comedy called Tremors. I am not sure exactly how many times I have seen the movie, but it seemed to always be on and I don’t recall changing the channel often when it was playing. My guess is that I have seen the movie about ten times. When I saw that Arrow Video was releasing the film in two limited editions – 4K UHD and Blu-ray – I felt eager to revisit my childhood and see it through the lens of adulthood.

In the isolated dessert town of Perfection, Nevada, Valentine “Val” McKee (Kevin Bacon) and Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) live their day to day lives as repairmen and working odd jobs around town. The two men both dream of leaving Perfection behind for the larger town of Bixby, but neither of them have been able to summon the courage. Val dreams of meeting a big breasted woman with tall legs and blonde hair. Instead, they meet a recent transplant to the area, a seismologist named Rhonda (Finn Carter.) She explains that she has been observing strange seismic activity in the area. After an incident cleaning a septic tank, Earl and Val decide to follow through on their goal to leave Perfection behind. On their way out of town they note that the town drunk Edgar has climbed up a telephone pole with a shotgun. Assuming he is on a bender, Val climbs up to help him down. Edgar has died, but strangely the cause of death appears to be dehydration. What could possibly have kept Edgar up there for days without coming down? The entire town of Perfection will soon face a terror that attacks from below the ground. They will need to band together to survive the strange creatures that can hear them through the soil.

Tremors was originally called “Beneath Perfection,” and was written by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock from a story they shaped with director Ron Underwood. The core idea at the center of the film was “what would you do if you could not come down from someplace without facing danger below?” This central question led them to create the graboids to serve as the danger beneath the ground. The pair of screenwriters had made a name for themselves with the success of the film Short Circuit. Tremors went through numerous drafts by the authors and the final film benefits from the amount of time they put into it. The goal of the writers was to make a film that was as funny as it was exciting. Blending horror and comedy is not an easy task, but I think that Tremors succeeds. It set itself apart by fitting the comedy and dialogue into the blue collar Southwest setting. The movie’s soundtrack features songs by Tanya Tucker and Reba McEntire which fit the characters and surroundings well. I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas where country music seemed to play at every event I attended, so hearing these songs I immediately understood who these characters were. I would be willing to make a wager that Tremors is probably the only film distributed by Arrow Video that was also a staple on CMT – Country Music Television. The down and out heartland characters are either the greatest strength or the greatest weakness of the film depending on the viewer. While some of the dialogue in the film is a little bit “unintelligent,” it was chosen very carefully to fit that purpose. The film has an off-the-wall concept that it executes very well, especially the problem solving elements of the script that are very cleverly done. It is easy to scoff at films featuring giant monsters, but the world building in the film is not poorly crafted.

The film boasts a pretty great cast. Kevin Bacon is well cast in the role of Val, although his Southern accent is a little bit on the exaggerated side. I really enjoyed Fred Ward in the role of Earl. Fred Ward has a voice and look that are perfect for the role of the tougher, older, slightly wiser partner to Val. Finn Carter is likable as Rhonda. The film boasts a surprisingly good performance by Reba McEntire who would go on to have her own sitcom and become a successful actress in her own right. Victor Wong is a nice addition as shop owner Walter Chang. The film’s limelight is effectively stolen once Michael Gross arrives on the scene as the NRA’s dream citizen, Burt Gummer. At the time Michael Gross was best known as the father on Family Ties and playing against type-casting. He was so effective in the role that his character would be featured in six sequels and a short-lived television series. When he shows up in the final third of the film, the entire movie is elevated.

The cinematography in the film by Alexander Gruszynski benefits from the beautiful natural surroundings of the filming location. The town of Perfection was erected in a remote area of California that was completely uninhabited. The panoramic views of the location lend the film a truly unique look that truly shines on the UHD format. The compositions by Ernest Troost are whimsical and a little silly at times, but they fit the film well. Ron Underwood directs the film without bombast, but pulls off the remarkable feat of bringing the graboids to life through well crafted practical effects. The special features on the disc reveal some sequences were pulled off with miniatures that were so well crafted that I assumed they were shot on a set in full-size. 

Tremors is by no means my favorite horror-comedy, but it is an enjoyably lighthearted horror film with an uncommon focus on small-town values. I never turned off Tremors when it was on television as a child, and I didn’t turn it off as an adult either. 

Video

Arrow provided the following information within the well-appointed 60 page booklet that comes with the set:

“Tremors has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with stereo, 4.0, and 5.1 sound. 

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at EFilm, Burbank. The film was graded and restored at Silver Salt Restoration, London. Grading was approved by director Ron Underwood and director of photography Alexander Gruszynski.“

Presented in Native 4K in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, Tremors has come a long way since its early days on the Blu-ray format. The original Universal Blu-ray suffered from softness and lack of detail. Watching either the limited edition Blu-ray or the UHD, there is an immediate difference. Colors still remain fairly true to the prior release, but background details of the dessert and mountain surroundings come to life much more vividly. The cinematography by Alexander Gruszynski takes full advantage of the location shooting. The film’s palette is geared towards brown, orange, red, and sky blue, so the HDR is not the most amazing that I have seen on the format, although it does make the red come through more vividly. Having looked at both the UHD and limited Blu-ray presentations from Arrow, I would opt for the UHD presentation, but it is not leagues ahead of the excellent Arrow Blu-ray presentation. Since the UHD has sold out, rest assured that the Arrow Blu-ray is an excellent presentation as well. Either way, these presentations are the best that Tremors has ever looked.

Audio

Arrow has gone above and beyond to offer three different audio selections. You can choose from stereo, 4.1, and DTS-HD MA 5.1. I opted for the 5.1 track and found that it was consistently engaging. The audio comes through very clearly. Dialogue is never hard to hear and the sound mixing itself is done very well. Fans will be pleased.

Supplements:

Disc One – (4K UHD) Feature & Extras

• Commentary by Ron Underwood, Brent Maddock & S.S. Wilson
• Commentary by Jonathan Melville
• Making Perfection – this brand new documentary produced by Universal features interviews with Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross, Ariana Richards, producer Nancy Roberts, and more. This is a really well made piece that highlights how the film was made, the lackluster box office reception, and the commercial rebirth on video of the film in relation to what the cast remembers of the film. One anecdote that stood out involved Kevin Bacon’s immediate departure from the film due to his familial responsibilities. This serves as a good supplemental piece to the fairly in-depth Making-Of feature on the disc.
• The Truth About Tremors – in this new interview, co-producer and talent agent Nancy Roberts discusses how she encouraged her clients to develop the film, the fairly difficult production of the film due to financial constraints, its poor box office performance, and its eventual success as a cult classic which spawned six sequels (thus far.) Nancy is a good raconteur and this piece is enjoyable.
• Bad Vibrations – director of photography Alexander Gruszynski discusses the unique challenges of shooting the film relying on practical effects in a remote area of the desert.
• Aftershocks and Other Rumblings – associate producer Ellen Collett discusses working on the film and how she met and married cinematographer Alexander Gruszynski during the filming.
• Digging the Dirt: The Visual Effects of Tremors
• Music for Graboids
• The Making of Tremors – this archival documentary gives a great amount of detail on the production and how the visual effects were created for the film. I liked this piece because it explained how the effects in the finale were created. 
• Creature Featurette
• Deleted Scenes 
• Pardon My French! – if you are eager to revisit how the film aired on television, this is a compilation of numerous overdubs created to hide the curse words from the film. Hilarious.
• Electronic Press Kit offers four featurettes that were produced by Universal Pictures to promote the film for its theatrical release in 1990:
  • Standard EPK Featurette
  • Kevin Bacon Profile
  • Michael Gross Profile
  • Reba McEntire
• Trailer Gallery
• Theatrical Trailers
• Radio Spots
• TV Spots 
• VHS Promo 
• Tremors Franchise Trailers
• Image Galleries

Disc Two (1080p Blu-ray) – Interviews & Short Films

• Extended Interviews from Making Perfection – each of which runs roughly an hour long
• Ron Underwood
• S.S. Wilson
• Brent Maddock
• Nancy Roberts
• Alec Gillis
• Arclight Hollywood 2015 Q & A
• Gag Reel 
• Early Short Films offers a trio of early pieces by S.S. Wilson, Brent Maddock and Ron Underwood, though with all three offering stop motion work by Wilson.
• Recorded Live
• Dictionary: The Adventure of Words
• Library Report

This limited edition release also features a large fold out poster with the theatrical art and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Frank, a small poster of Graboid X-ray art by Matt Frank, a coupon to Walter Chang’s market, and a well made 60 page booklet.

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Tremors was a staple of cable television when I was growing up, so I can’t even guess how many times I have seen it. Watching the new Arrow Video 4K UHD (or the limited edition Blu-ray also offered by Arrow,) it is obvious that Arrow wanted to give this release special attention. The leap visually from the fairly dated Universal Blu-ray to these new presentations is vast. It is easy to say that Tremors has never looked or sounded better. Fans of the film will be ecstatic to see that the limited edition release features hours and hours of supplemental material. The new feature done in conjunction with Universal Pictures that gathers Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross, and some of the other cast and crew is a real treat. Overall – this is a fantastic release of the cult film which set itself apart by its appeal to small town Americana.