TREMORS
It's Hicks vs. Worms: The Final Conflict!
Around 1982 or so, the notion of people getting sucked into the sand became big. Most obviously there was Blood Beach, but it seemed like every other TV show was getting in on it too (remember Manimal?) It sometimes takes a while for good ideas to really come to fruition. Look how long it took for Bruce Dickinson to hook up with Adrian Smith again.
Tremors isn't very scary, or smart. It's got almost no plot, and no characters that are written as anything more than stereotypes. I don't think anybody wanted to see Michael Gross and Reba McEntyre as gun-totin' rednecks, and none of the other actors have exactly had a history of attaching themselves to topnotch projects, except arguably Kevin Bacon. It's a little too obviously family-oriented, with the needless inclusion of two kids (one of which is really annoying) and painful PG-13-ification of its vulgarity ("motherhumpers", for example; even the only use of the word "fuck" sounds more like "fuh"). The director is responsible for a few chick flicks and a Billy Crystal movie. The writers gave us Ghost Dad. It's also the first really great genre movie of the 1990's.
Bacon and Fred Ward star as a couple of desert-dwelling hick handymen in the town of Perfection, Nevada, population 14. This does not seem like a big enough town to support one handyman, let alone two; their pay comes more often in the form of beer than money. So understandably, they start to pack up their shit to head on to greener pastures, ignoring the ominous warnings of a seismology student (Finn Carter, who's adorable) who informs them that she's getting weird readings on her equipment. Soon enough, the find out just what's causing those readings: giant subterranean sandworms with snapping tongues who like to suck their prey right into the ground before eating them.
Ward and Bacon have never been better in their roles, bringing a dimbulb sensibility to the proceedings that seems to come so naturally that it makes one wonder how they could possibly inhabit other roles. Carter's appealing as hell, and thankfully is not so painstakingly made out to be the "babe-but-anti-babe" that is hinted at leading up to her entrance. And believe it or not, Gross and McEntyre are hilarious, playing it completely straight as if they have no idea that they're in such a silly movie (license plate: UZI 4U).
The creature effects are all topnotch, with the beasts big and menacing and just what you'd expect a giant sandworm to look and move like, unless you're looking for Dune. They're mostly done in miniature; I would never have known, really. Anyway, director Ron Underwood keeps them where they belong (under the ground) for most of their "appearances", which gives them the perfect "where are they now?" quality that a lesser director would have blown by showing them too much. And the action's a lot of fun, with everybody trying to keep off the ground, bringing memories of childhood games of tag where you could touch anything but the floor. It's never boring, and maintains its momentum right up to the end. This is pretty much the goofy monster movie at the peak of its form; I can't think of a finer example.
Yeah, it's a shade kiddie-fied, but for once that's not a bad thing. It's violent and sometimes intense, but it's the kind of thing I would have gobbled up as a kid, and find myself gobbling up anyway as an adult. And if I had kids, movies like this would form a substantial part of their cinematic diet, at least once they turned 8 or so, and I wouldn't even feel guilty the way I would if I were showing them Halloween (which I intend to do when they turn 12, to remind them of what should never be forgotten: that if you ever have sex, a scary man in a white mask will come and kill you).
The biggest problem I have with this movie is Billy Jacoby as an annoying young teenager, so cocky that he actually tries stealing from the store's cash register in plain sight of everybody. Sure, he's supposed to be annoying, but I don't think any sensible filmmaker would willingly put in a character THIS annoying, at least without having him die gruesomely early on. No dice. This kid is just plain painful to watch, and worse to listen to. But his screen time is minimal, and he doesn't distract that badly from what's so good about the film.
Gave rise to a sequel, which went straight to video and was a lot better than anybody could reasonably have expected, although they blew it with a (really bad) explanation for the origin of the creatures. Also gave rise to a few goofy monster movies, even the best of which (Anaconda and Deep Rising) don't have a patch on this one. Glorious filmmaking here from Underwood; there's a reason you've heard it praised so often. I wish I saw it on the big screen.
In Germany, they call it In The Land Of The Rocket-Worms. Features the world's longest-lasting car battery, and a pogo stick that stands up straight on its own. And can't you appreciate the irony of POV shots of creatures that can't even see? Doesn't this spell out "instant classic" to you?