Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996) Review
I love the original Tremors. It's one of my absolute favorite movies, and one of the rare films that I consider to be perfect. I can watch it any time, and have seen dozens to times. But did you know there are 4 sequels to Tremors? While they have no chance of matching the original, are they worth watching? I'll let you know. This piece will explore the second Tremors film: Aftershocks.
The graboids, massive worms that hunt by sound and have a taste for people, start attacking an oil field in rural Mexico. One of the heroes of the first movie, Earl Basset (Fred Ward), is depressed that he didn't capitalize more on the opportunity and the fame he received after the events of the first film. He is approached by one of the executives of the oil field, who wants to hire him to kill the graboids. Reluctantly, Earl agrees. He teams up with his old pal, Bert, (Michael Gross), a paranoid gun nut, as well as fanboy, Grady (Christopher Gartin). The three of them head to Mexico to hunt the graboids, but they quickly find out that worms have changed on them, and all their plans, and several people, are torn to shreds.
What works:
Aftershocks works because it doesn't try to do the same thing the original movie did. It's original. This isn't just about another group of people trying to survive the same old monsters, like a typical horror sequel would do. This is about people arming up and going out to kill monsters. The location and the start of the story are different, and I appreciate the movie trying something new.
Another that works is our characters. Our heroes know what they are getting in to, they have a plan, they have a equipment, and when they get to Mexico, they rack up their graboid kills quickly and easily. But when the worms transform into new creatures, their plans go out the window, and their equipment either runs out or becomes useless and they have to try new and different ideas out to solve their problem and defeat the creatures. These characters are smart. They don't just start shooting. They solve the problems in a creative manner, which makes movies much more fun to watch.
Finally, Aftershocks is simply a fun movie. This could have been a total cash-grab sequel. But you can tell that people actually cared about this film and worked hard to make it good. It has heart, and that's more than most straight-to-video, horror sequels have.
What sucks:
Aftershocks had a pretty small budget, so there aren't many kills in the movie. And one of them is completely off screen. The others are still decent, but nowhere near as good as the kills in the original film. I get it. They do what they could with what they had, but it's still kind of a bummer.
Verdict:
While it's nowhere near as the original, I still thoroughly enjoy Tremors 2. It's a solid creature-feature, with great survival-horror elements, smart characters, some cool effects, and some solid laughs. Plus Michael Gross' Burt Gummer is a personal hero of mine, and he shines in this film. For a creature-feature sequel, you can't do much better.
8/10: Really Good
The graboids, massive worms that hunt by sound and have a taste for people, start attacking an oil field in rural Mexico. One of the heroes of the first movie, Earl Basset (Fred Ward), is depressed that he didn't capitalize more on the opportunity and the fame he received after the events of the first film. He is approached by one of the executives of the oil field, who wants to hire him to kill the graboids. Reluctantly, Earl agrees. He teams up with his old pal, Bert, (Michael Gross), a paranoid gun nut, as well as fanboy, Grady (Christopher Gartin). The three of them head to Mexico to hunt the graboids, but they quickly find out that worms have changed on them, and all their plans, and several people, are torn to shreds.
What works:
Aftershocks works because it doesn't try to do the same thing the original movie did. It's original. This isn't just about another group of people trying to survive the same old monsters, like a typical horror sequel would do. This is about people arming up and going out to kill monsters. The location and the start of the story are different, and I appreciate the movie trying something new.
Another that works is our characters. Our heroes know what they are getting in to, they have a plan, they have a equipment, and when they get to Mexico, they rack up their graboid kills quickly and easily. But when the worms transform into new creatures, their plans go out the window, and their equipment either runs out or becomes useless and they have to try new and different ideas out to solve their problem and defeat the creatures. These characters are smart. They don't just start shooting. They solve the problems in a creative manner, which makes movies much more fun to watch.
Finally, Aftershocks is simply a fun movie. This could have been a total cash-grab sequel. But you can tell that people actually cared about this film and worked hard to make it good. It has heart, and that's more than most straight-to-video, horror sequels have.
What sucks:
Aftershocks had a pretty small budget, so there aren't many kills in the movie. And one of them is completely off screen. The others are still decent, but nowhere near as good as the kills in the original film. I get it. They do what they could with what they had, but it's still kind of a bummer.
Verdict:
While it's nowhere near as the original, I still thoroughly enjoy Tremors 2. It's a solid creature-feature, with great survival-horror elements, smart characters, some cool effects, and some solid laughs. Plus Michael Gross' Burt Gummer is a personal hero of mine, and he shines in this film. For a creature-feature sequel, you can't do much better.
8/10: Really Good
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