Tremors starts clunky. Jokes are crude, characters are piggish or dumb when they’re meant to be charming. However, I’ve seen this film a lot because once it gets going there isn’t a bad or unentertaining moment in it right through to the end. It has an unusual cast, including Finn Carter, whose career went nowhere after coming in with major movie star potential, Ariana Richards before Jurassic Park made her immortal, and the pairing of Michael Gross and Reba McEntire as lovable gun nuts who’ve been itching to use some of their hardware. (It’s a joke that should’ve aged poorly, but they’re so good it still plays.)
The script is pitched for maximum entertainment, with jokes blending into the monster story like folksy charm. The graboids themselves are a novel idea, always able to surprise from below, and the heavy use of puppetry effects with clever camerawork for creature POV shots are just some of the pleasures. The 50s throwback feel makes even the gore part of the fun.
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