The creative minds behind Tremors — director Ron Underwood, screenwriters S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock — never did anything before or after that would suggest where the near perfection (heh) of this droll, perfectly pitched horror comedy came from. That's OK — most careers never manage even one Tremors, a cheery, good-natured and hugely entertaining throwback to ’50s monster movies about prehistoric subterranean worms menacing the quirky inhabitants of a dustblown desert town.
So what makes it special? A lighthearted tone that never slips into camp or fake jocularity; genuinely cool monsters; shock scenes that don't violate the essentially comic spirit; a script that wrings clever situations from the premise that any kind of ground disturbance lures the worms (footsteps! cars! pogo sticks!). Above all, there's a delightful ensemble led by the comedy team of Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon, playing the local lunkheads trying to figure out how to survive in order to claim their new ticket to national fame.
The scene-stealer here among a choice cast, however, is one Reba McEntire. Who knows how she arrived at the decision to make her film debut playing an unflappable gun-toting survivalist with a basement stash of firepower, but her legendary career acumen didn't fail her here. The movie wasn't a hit in theaters, but on home video it proved such a smash that it spawned a fleet of sequels that never matched the original. It's taken on eternal life as a cable favorite — but it's way more fun in a theater.
This weekend's midnight Belcourt screenings coincide with the Country Music Hall of Fame's ongoing "Reba: All the Women I Am" exhibit. Catch 'em both — and tread lightly.
