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valancy_janeI recently caught Tremors on TV and I was astonished by how much I enjoyed it. I stayed to watch it because I knew I was fond of it, but even still. (This would be especially amusing to my family, who recall it as the first movie that absolutely terrified me. I think I was 9.)
It's imperfect, of course; kills off the non-white guy, white guys prevail, questionable "Texas" accents, etc. But it's also purely good popcorn fun, the perfect guilty pleasure, with the added bonus of characters who are tough, smart, and work together to defeat the monster. (Have you ever had such fun as when gun enthusiasts Reba McEntire & hubby empty their entire arsenal into the evil worm monster? I always rewind that scene.) It's that rare horror (well, comedy/horror) film where the characters are rewarded for thinking things through, being smart, preparing appropriately, and working together.
I struggle with most horror movies - not only because I'm a wimp with visual horror (horror I can read, but watching is tough), but also because I get so frustrated. I'll never forgot watching The Grudge with my mother - in the theater, no less - and at the end, when the heroine watches her beloved boyfriend/fiance/whatever he was being murdered by the most pathetic looking monster you have ever seen while standing about five feet from her, my mother - who never speaks during movies - spoke out, "Do something! I'm nearly 70 years old and *I* could take that thing out!" Gotta say, really broke the tension. (For the record, we almost had the theater to ourselves.)
And Tremors doesn't do that. In fact, they come up not with one or two team plans, but plan after plan after plan as they adjust to contingincies. Monsters are underground? Go somewhere that dulls the vibrations and be quiet while we plan. Monsters figure out we're here? Get up on the roof. Monsters starting to tear down the building? Distract it with a tractor while you get a giant piece of construction equipment too big for even the monsters to eat and get everyone on it. Monster builds a trap to stop their progress? Ok, time to go fishing with dynamite...and on and on.
At the end, it's Kevin Bacon (gotta love him) and his plan of running to the edge of a cliff so the monster blindly tunnels off it to careen to its death that wins the day; not self-sacrifice or stupidity or sheer dumb luck. When do we get to see that anymore? I did see Chronicle this weekend and absolutely loved it. Not perfect, but some really gorgeous interaction, great dialogue, and superb performances by all the young stars. (And such a pleasure to see FNL's Michael B. Jordan again.) Come to think of it, it may be the best superhero movie I've seen; one of the most thoughtful, certainly. But even that movie focused on mostly bad decisions - albeit ones I could completely see the characters making. I sometimes feel I'd be willing to trade a little quality for a little teamwork.
It's imperfect, of course; kills off the non-white guy, white guys prevail, questionable "Texas" accents, etc. But it's also purely good popcorn fun, the perfect guilty pleasure, with the added bonus of characters who are tough, smart, and work together to defeat the monster. (Have you ever had such fun as when gun enthusiasts Reba McEntire & hubby empty their entire arsenal into the evil worm monster? I always rewind that scene.) It's that rare horror (well, comedy/horror) film where the characters are rewarded for thinking things through, being smart, preparing appropriately, and working together.
I struggle with most horror movies - not only because I'm a wimp with visual horror (horror I can read, but watching is tough), but also because I get so frustrated. I'll never forgot watching The Grudge with my mother - in the theater, no less - and at the end, when the heroine watches her beloved boyfriend/fiance/whatever he was being murdered by the most pathetic looking monster you have ever seen while standing about five feet from her, my mother - who never speaks during movies - spoke out, "Do something! I'm nearly 70 years old and *I* could take that thing out!" Gotta say, really broke the tension. (For the record, we almost had the theater to ourselves.)
And Tremors doesn't do that. In fact, they come up not with one or two team plans, but plan after plan after plan as they adjust to contingincies. Monsters are underground? Go somewhere that dulls the vibrations and be quiet while we plan. Monsters figure out we're here? Get up on the roof. Monsters starting to tear down the building? Distract it with a tractor while you get a giant piece of construction equipment too big for even the monsters to eat and get everyone on it. Monster builds a trap to stop their progress? Ok, time to go fishing with dynamite...and on and on.
At the end, it's Kevin Bacon (gotta love him) and his plan of running to the edge of a cliff so the monster blindly tunnels off it to careen to its death that wins the day; not self-sacrifice or stupidity or sheer dumb luck. When do we get to see that anymore? I did see Chronicle this weekend and absolutely loved it. Not perfect, but some really gorgeous interaction, great dialogue, and superb performances by all the young stars. (And such a pleasure to see FNL's Michael B. Jordan again.) Come to think of it, it may be the best superhero movie I've seen; one of the most thoughtful, certainly. But even that movie focused on mostly bad decisions - albeit ones I could completely see the characters making. I sometimes feel I'd be willing to trade a little quality for a little teamwork.