Landlocked desert horror rarely gets better than this. Tremors takes a simple, terrifying idea and executes it with near-perfect skill. As a result, it delivers a masterclass in monster movie tension, practical effects, and buddy-comedy chemistry. This film remains a high point for the entire creature feature genre.
Detailed Summary
Leaving Perfection
Valentine “Val” McKee and Earl Bassett are handymen in Perfection, Nevada, an isolated desert community with only 14 residents. Tired of their dead-end life, they finally decide to leave for the bigger city of Bixby. Their journey, however, is immediately cut short. They discover the corpse of a local drunk, Edgar Deems, perched atop an electrical tower, dead from dehydration.
Mysterious Deaths
On their way back to town, Val and Earl find a severed head belonging to farmer Old Fred. They subsequently encounter a flock of mauled sheep. Believing a serial killer is on the loose, they warn the other residents and attempt to ride for help. A strange, snake-like creature latches onto their truck’s axle, halting their escape before they kill it.
Meanwhile, seismology graduate student Rhonda LeBeck is conducting tests in the valley. Her equipment registers bizarre seismic readings. She soon meets Val and Earl, and together they discover several more of the strange tentacles, realizing they are attached to a much larger subterranean creature.
Under Siege
The gigantic, worm-like monsters emerge, killing a road crew and causing a rockslide that completely isolates Perfection Valley. The creatures, which are blind, hunt by sensing vibrations in the ground. One such monster attacks the town doctor’s truck, swallowing him and his wife whole and pulling their vehicle underground.
Val, Earl, and Rhonda race back to town on foot, learning they must stay quiet and move between patches of rock to survive. The survivors gather at Walter Chang’s general store. The creatures attack, pulling Walter through the floorboards just after he cleverly names them “Graboids”. The group is forced to flee to the various rooftops of the town’s buildings, where they become stranded.
Fighting Back
The survivors formulate a plan to reach a bulldozer and drive to the mountains. Using makeshift poles, they begin vaulting across patches of sand between buildings. A Graboid attacks during the attempt, leading to a tense standoff that they barely survive. This plan ultimately fails when the Graboids destroy the bulldozer’s tires.
Survivalists Burt and Heather Gummer, who were unaware of the crisis, manage to kill a Graboid that smashes into their basement armory. Val and Earl then use their truck to distract the remaining monsters. They successfully rescue the Gummers and hatch a new plan using Burt’s homemade pipe bombs.
Movie Ending
Trapped on a large rock outcropping, the group faces the last two Graboids. Earl has a clever idea to trick one of the creatures into swallowing one of Burt’s pipe bombs. This plan works perfectly, dispatching the first Graboid in a gory explosion. Only one highly intelligent monster remains.
This final Graboid, however, refuses to fall for the same trick. Instead, it begins spitting dirt at the bomb, pushing it away from itself. Val, realizing they are out of options, makes a desperate run for it, acting as bait. He uses the final bomb to startle the Graboid, causing it to chase him directly toward the edge of a sheer cliff.
At the last second, Val throws the bomb behind the creature. The explosion from behind panics the Graboid, propelling it forward at high speed. It bursts through the cliff’s edge and plummets to its death on the rocks below. With the threat eliminated, Val and Rhonda share a kiss, signaling a new beginning as the handymen decide to stay in Perfection after all.
Are There Post-Credits Scenes?
No, Tremors does not have any mid-credits or post-credits scenes. Once the credits begin to roll, the film is officially over.
Type of Movie
Tremors is a creature feature and a horror-comedy. It blends genuinely suspenseful monster movie elements with a light, comedic tone driven by its witty dialogue and character interactions. The film also functions as a modern western, substituting giant worms for traditional outlaws.
Cast
- Kevin Bacon – Valentine “Val” McKee
- Fred Ward – Earl Bassett
- Finn Carter – Rhonda LeBeck
- Michael Gross – Burt Gummer
- Reba McEntire – Heather Gummer
- Victor Wong – Walter Chang
- Bobby Jacoby – Melvin Plug
- Ariana Richards – Mindy Sterngood
Film Music and Composer
The score for Tremors was composed by Ernest Troost. The music skillfully mixes classic western motifs, complete with guitar and harmonica, with suspenseful orchestral cues. This unique blend perfectly captures the film’s hybrid tone, enhancing both its thrilling and humorous moments.
Filming Locations
Tremors was filmed primarily in and around Lone Pine, California. This location provided the vast, rocky landscape of the fictional Perfection Valley. In addition, the desolate environment was crucial for establishing the characters’ isolation and making the subterranean threat feel inescapable.
Awards and Nominations
While not a major award winner, Tremors received several nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. These included Saturn Award nominations for Best Science Fiction Film and Best Supporting Actress (Finn Carter). Its legacy, nonetheless, has far outgrown its initial awards recognition.
Behind the Scenes Insights
- The film’s original title was Beneath Perfection.
- The iconic Graboid tentacle that emerges from the ground and wraps around the truck’s axle was a large-scale hand puppet operated from a trench below.
- The full-scale Graboid prop, used for the scene where it crashes through the Gummers’ wall, weighed approximately two tons.
- Director Ron Underwood instructed the actors to improvise many of their reactions to the unseen monsters to create a more natural sense of surprise and fear.
- The famous pole-vaulting scene was executed by the actors themselves, as stunt doubles looked unconvincing from the wide camera angles required for the shot.
Inspirations and References
The film’s concept was born from an idea writers S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock had while working for the U.S. Navy in the Mojave Desert. Wilson imagined what it would be like if something was preventing him from getting off a large rock. This concept evolved into “land sharks,” heavily inspired by classic 1950s monster movies and the structure of Jaws.
Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes
The original opening scene, which was ultimately cut, depicted Old Man Fred being attacked and killed by a Graboid while repairing his windmill. The filmmakers removed it to build more mystery around the creatures. Another deleted scene involved Val fantasizing about various failed attempts to reach the bulldozer before the group settles on pole vaulting.
Book Adaptations and Differences
Tremors is an original work, not based on a book. The screenplay was written by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, who also co-wrote the story with director Ron Underwood.
Memorable Scenes and Quotes
Key Scenes
- The Pole Vault: The tense sequence where the survivors use metal poles to vault from one rock to another to avoid the Graboids hunting in the sand below.
- The Rec Room: Burt and Heather Gummer’s spectacular basement shootout against a Graboid that smashes through their concrete wall, where they unload their entire arsenal to kill it.
- The Final Kill: Val’s brilliant last-second maneuver to trick the final Graboid into launching itself off a cliff to its demise.
Iconic Quotes
- “Broke into the wrong goddamn rec room, didn’t you, you bastard!” – Burt Gummer
- “We’ve got to do something. I don’t know what it is, but we’ve got to do something.” – Earl Bassett
- “Can you fly, you sucker? Can you fly?” – Val McKee
- “Stampede! Stampede, Earl! Get out of the way!” – Val McKee
Easter Eggs and Hidden Details
- The sign for Walter’s store reads “Chang’s Market”. This is likely a reference to producer Gale Anne Hurd’s previous film, The Abyss, which featured a fictional company named “Benthic Petroleum,” founded by a character with the last name Chang.
- When Earl reads a newspaper at the beginning of the film, one of the headlines is a nod to the writers’ previous script, Short Circuit.
- The license plate on Val and Earl’s truck reads “U-HAUL,” a joke about their constant odd jobs and desire to leave town.
Trivia
- This film marked the feature acting debut of country music star Reba McEntire.
- The term “Graboid” was invented on-set by actor Victor Wong (Walter Chang) just before his character’s death scene. The writers liked it so much they kept it in the script.
- Kevin Bacon initially worried the film would be a career-ender but has since embraced it as a fan favorite.
- In early drafts of the script, the monsters were able to mimic sounds to lure their prey.
Why Watch?
This film is a perfectly balanced creature feature. It offers incredible practical effects, genuine suspense, and fantastic character chemistry. It is a smart, funny, and thrilling movie that stands the test of time as a genre masterpiece.
Director’s Other Movies
- City Slickers (1991)
- Heart and Souls (1993)
- Speechless (1994)
- Mighty Joe Young (1998)
Recommended Films for Fans
- Jaws (1975)
- Arachnophobia (1990)
- The Host (2006)
- A Quiet Place (2018)
- Love and Monsters (2020)
