Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)

Number Rolled: 37

Movie Name/Year: Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)

Tagline: None

Genre: Action, Comedy, Horror

Length: 97 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Production Companies: Universal 1440 Entertainment

Producer: Carma Le Roux, Carmen Lötz, Cindy Sasman, Colin Robert Tomas, Chad Webber

Director: Don Michael Paul

Writer: John Whelpley

Actors: Jamie Kennedy, Tanya van Graan, Jamie-Lee Money, Kiroshan Naidoo, Keeno Lee Hector, Rob van Vuuren, Adrienne Pearce, Francesco Nassimbeni, Paul du Toit, Christie Peruso, Jay Anstey, Michael Gross, Danny Keogh, Greg Kriek, Alistair Moulton Black, Oscar Petersen, Stephanie Schildknecht, Jenna Upton

Blurb from Netflix: The subterranean, worm-like creatures are back, and Graboid-hunter Burt Gummer suspects they’ve been weaponized.

Selina’s Point of View:

The Tremors series (1990-2018) is a huge guilty pleasure for me. I just adore it.

I don’t think it gets enough credit. That first one became a cult movie, not so much for the rest… but there really hasn’t been one that’s followed that I’ve disliked. Sure, the stories are corny and it’s definitely the kind of B-movie that you don’t go into expecting something huge from. Never-the-less, the movies always stay true to the universe and the characterizations are kind of great.

I love Burt Gummer, played by Michael Gross (C Street, Camp Cool Kids, The Stanley Dynamic), as a character. He feels like a real person – especially in this conspiracy-theory age where people suddenly think the world is flat and vaccines cause autism. The character of Gummer shines a light on the ridiculous and frightening aspects of that kind of person while still humanizing him so that he can be related to on a basic level.

By the end of each film, it doesn’t matter what you think of his gun-toting, ‘government is out to get me’ ideas, you can still empathize with him as the main protagonist. He flawed and very real.

The first Tremors (1990) was more about the story. It was pre-Jurassic Park (1993) and creature features were kind of stuck on things like Godzilla (1954) and King Kong (1933). There was no real belief that a creature-based film could do much of anything outside of those kind of plots. You have to respect Tremors for trying.

Despite that, I almost like the sequels better. The movies fully gave in to what they were after Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick, The Darkness, Black Mass) left. They embraced that B-vibe to such an extent that I feel they get it. They’re not trying to beat the big budget films, they’re trying to honor their cult following.

I enjoyed Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell. I think the characterizations were still awesome, and I laughed a hell of a lot. The plot was a little on the weak side and I don’t think I saw the graboids as much I expected to. Still, I’d watch it again.

Tremors will always be among my guilty pleasure.

Cat’s Point of View:

This movie was an interesting excursion into the world of ‘graboids.’ The giant subterranean worms-of-doom have gone global, as of the last installment so why not bring them to the Arctic Circle?

As hokey as some of the concepts in this franchise may be, they never fail to be entertaining at the very least. I don’t know that any of the sequels have captured the same magic of the original – but this one was fairly swimming in nostalgic moments that hearkened back to that first Tremors that started it all.

Michael Gross (Quackerz, C Street, Camp Cool Kids) and Jamie Kennedy (Ghost Whisperer, Fanboy & Chum Chum, Gloom) still work well as an ‘odd couple’ pairing of old school meets new. Burt Gummer’s stubborn personality is a driving force that has carried through all of these movies and doesn’t let us down with this one.

I’ll be the first to admit that seeing Gross on the screen in anything gives me a bit of a nostalgic rush. It was that very thing that had me actually giggling during the very first movie because the dad from Family Ties (1982-1989) was a gun-nut prepper. (Of course, back then, I don’t think ‘prepper’ was even a thing yet.) 

Honestly, though, his role as Gummer couldn’t be carried by anyone else. I think Gross is the reason that these films have what success they do – he’s the veritable glue that holds them all together.

I have to wonder if this one was setting up Kennedy’s character to carry the torch. If they make any more, I hope that they keep the duo together a while longer yet. Anything else just wouldn’t quite be the same Perfection.

Languages

Speech Available: English

Subtitles Available: English

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 34%

Metascore - None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 5.3/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3/5

Movie Trailer: