Tremors

"They say there's nothing new under the sun. But under the ground…"

1990 1h 36m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 3,732

ComedyHorrorScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Val McKee and Earl Bassett are in a fight for their lives when they discover that their desolate town has been infested with gigantic, man-eating creatures that live below the ground.

“They say there's nothing new under the sun. But under the ground…”

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Cast

Kevin Bacon
Valentine McKee
Fred Ward
Earl Bassett
Finn Carter
Rhonda LeBeck
Michael Gross
Burt Gummer
Reba McEntire
Heather Gummer
Victor Wong
Walter Chang
Robert Jayne
Melvin Plug
Ariana Richards
Mindy Sterngood

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ron Underwood
Writers: Brent Maddock, S.S. Wilson, S.S. Wilson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Tremors Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ron Underwood, shot by Alexander Gruszynski. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ernest Troost. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor O. Nicholas Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward and Finn Carter carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "They say there's nothing new under the sun. But under the ground…".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ron Underwood directs. Alexander Gruszynski behind the camera. Ernest Troost scores. O. Nicholas Brown cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.4× over at the box office.
236 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Tremors Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Ron Underwood, shot by Alexander Gruszynski. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Ernest Troost. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor O. Nicholas Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward and Finn Carter carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "They say there's nothing new under the sun. But under the ground…".
9IMDB entry: tt0100814 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "small town", "nevada", "old town", "stranded".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Alexander Gruszynski
Original score: Ernest Troost
Editing: O. Nicholas Brown
Production design: Ivo Cristante
Costume design: Abigail Murray
Makeup / hair: Annette E. Fabrizi
VFX supervisor: Gene Warren Jr.
Sound: Jeffrey J. Haboush
Stunt coordinator: Gary Jensen
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $11,000,000
Box office: $48,572,000
Return: 442% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Tremors (1990)

Part of

Tremors Collection

This monster movie series centers on the vicious attacks of subterranean worm-like creatures known as Graboids.

Also by

Ron Underwood

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-09-19
★ 8/10
This valley is just one long smörgåsbord. Finally deciding to break free of their small town existence, handymen Val and Earl find that it's easier said than done. The reason? Giant underground worms are attacking the place and they are now needed more than ever. The 50s ream of sci-fi schlockers and creaky creature features are, depending on your persuasion, either genius fun or tacky nuisances. Since I belong to the first group, Tremors is possibly one of the finest homages to a most wonderful time in cinema. What is often ignored is that those 50s film's deal with the paranoia of the time, with nuclear testing and a wondering appertaining to Roswell like alien visits being very prominent in honest Joe's thoughts. So it be that Tremors is ideally set out in the desert, a place from where all manner of terrifying things have come forward to announce a threat to the American way of life. We are in the small town of Perfection, a place that may be small on residents, but very much large on character. We have dim wits, annoying kid, cutesy single mom types, Mr and Mrs Rambo and courtesy of Finn Carter's seismologist Rhonda LeBeck, a romantic and charmingly fun filled thread. Containing dashes of gore and reams of cheeky suspense, Tremors proudly wears its "B" movie heart on its sleeve. While in Fred Ward (Earl) and Kevin Bacon (Val) the genre possibly has its greatest pairing. As male buddy buddy combos go, these pair take the cake. Funny and full of devilish derring do, Tremors deserves to be watched for this partnership if nothing else - yes they are that good! The creatures are well designed and prove to be a scary and enjoyable foe, whilst the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California location is perfectly utilised by cinematographer Alexander Gruszynski. Directed by Ron Underwood on his feature film debut, Tremors also sees Reba McEntire, Michael Gross and Victor Wong also along for this fun packed ride. 8/10
Wuchak2020-08-26
★ 6/10
Underground monstrosities in the desert prey on the folks of a remote town Two handymen working in a Southwest town (Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward) team-up with a seismologist (Finn Carter) and the townspeople (e.g. Michael Gross & Reba McEntire) to take on huge creatures that live underground and like to eat people. “Tremors” (1990) is a desert creature feature similar to “Gargoyles” (1972), but with a less grave tone; there’s a somewhat light air, but it’s not a comedy. The cast is spirited and likable while the creatures are inventive and interesting. Unfortunately, they’re also unbelievable since the hard desert ground would have to have the texture of thick mud for these behemoths to so easily travel through. If you can overlook this, however, it’s a fun monster flick with magnificent desert cinematography. Yet it’s nothing more than that and so plays tediously on repeat viewings. “Gargoyles” is all-around superior because it’s more cryptic, grave and streamlined. Finn Carter is a highlight in a girl-next-door kind of way, particularly her brief de-panted scene (lol). Meanwhile Gross is reminiscent of Dennis Weaver while McEntire is a natural as the gun-toting hick woman. The film performed modestly at the box office, but eventually became a cult hit, followed by several sequels. It runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Olancha & Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California. GRADE: B-
Repo Jack2020-10-30
★ 8/10
"Tremors" joins "Gremlins" as one of a handful of family friendly creature features. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward have great chemistry as two bickering handymen in Perfection Nevada, population 14 when an invasion of subterranean "graboids' (I know, I know ... that sounds ridiculous, but in the context of the movie it clicks). Spawning an abundance of bad sequels, "Tremors" solid cast, story and excellent practical effects stands the test of time.