Tremors

Tremors is a delightful monster movie from the 90’s, where a small town in the middle of nowhere is suddenly dealing with subterranean creatures. Hungry creatures …

Tremors (1990) starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward

Tremors is a fun, delightful shout-out to the old style monster movies. It’s populated with interesting characters, living in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Tremors is absolutely delightful. It’s not cheesy — it has a great blend of drama, pathos, human interaction …. And deadly monsters. Monsters with an insatiable appetite.

Product Description

Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward star as two country handymen who lead a cast of zany characters to safety in this exciting sci-fi creature comedy. Just as Val McKee (Bacon) and Earl Basset (Ward) decide to leave Perfection, Nevada, strange rumblings prevent their departure. With the help of a shapely seismology student (Finn Carter), they discover their desolate town is infested with gigantic man-eating creatures that live below the ground. The race is on to overcome these slimy subterraneans and find a way to higher ground, in this enjoyable thriller co-starring Michael Gross and Reba McEntire.

Cast of characters

• Kevin Bacon (Footloose) … Valentine McKee. Handyman partner with his older friend, Earl. They’re good friends, who tend to fight with each other over minors things. As best friends will do. A “good old boy” who has a written list of the attributes of the perfect woman. Until he meets Rhonda …
• Fred Ward (Tremors 2) … Earl Bassett. Slightly older than Valentine, and slightly more farsighted. But only slightly. They’re both likable, good natured workers. They both dream of better things. And one day, the pair decides that, to make that happen, they need to leave their hometown of Perfection. But, they’ve picked the worst possible day to do it!
• Finn Carter (As the World Turns) … Rhonda LeBeck. Bright young woman, graduate student doing seismology tests. She’s pretty, but doesn’t have any of the attribute’s of Valentine’s “perfect woman”. But, he starts falling in love with her anyway. It’s both sweet & funny. It’s a running joke where people keep asking her questions about the Grabouids, which nobody’s ever seen before.
• Michael Gross (Tremors 5, Meant to Be) … Burt Gummer. A “survival nut”, living in the middle of nowhere with his wife. They’re both perfectly content with their lives together, and don’t care what their neighbors think.
• Reba McEntire (Reba) … Heather Gummer. Burt’s wife, who’s as much of a survivalist as he is. Supportive and loving, very well acted.
• Bobby Jacoby (Tremors 3) … Melvin Plug. The very annoying young man. Who goes out of his way to be annoying, to entertain himself.
• Charlotte Stewart (Little House on the Prairie) … Nancy. Artist living in Perfection with her daughter Mindy.
• Tony Genaro (The Mask of Zorro) … Miguel. Nice fellow, kind and reliable. He survives for several installments of the franchise.

Additional characters

• Ariana Richards (Jurassic Park) … Mindy
• Richard Marcus (The Pretender) … Nestor. During the Graboids’ attack in town, they knock over his tractor, and drag him to his death.
• Victor Wong (Big Trouble in Little China) … Walter Chang. The penny-pinching proprietor of the local restaurant / store. A very enjoyable character, until he’s eaten by a Graboid.
• Sunshine Parker (Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure) … Edgar. In a sense, the first victim of the Graboids. He’s climbed atop an electrical tower, to be safe from them. But, died from dehydration.
• Michael Dan Wagner … Old Fred. Shepherd, who along with his herd are killed by an unseen creature. Later on, it’s obvious what it was.
• Conrad Bachmann (The Astronaut’s Wife) … Jim – The Doctor
• Bibi Besch (The Beast Within) … Megan – The Doctor’s Wife
• John Goodwin … Howard – Roadworker. He and Carmine ignore Earl & Valentine’s warning to get off the road. Soon after they’re killed by Graboids — and a rock slide traps everyone in town from leaving.
• John Pappas (Days of Our Lives) … Carmine – Roadworker
• Tom Woodruff Jr. … Grabboid (uncredited)