4 Star

The Cult Film of Cult Films

Writers S.S. Wilson (Short Circuit, Tremors (TV Series)), Brent Maddock (*batteries not included, Wild Wild West) and Ron Underwood (Tremors 2: Aftershocks, Tremors: Shrieker Island) came up with the homage of homages in this love letter to the B-movies of the 1950s, and they spawned a franchise that is still going today. Also directing his first main stream movie Tremors, Ron Underwood (City Slickers, Mighty Joe Young) gets the feel of those old classic favourites right from the opening scenes and builds the terror as our heroes battle the monsters from nightmares in the bright sunlight of the desert. Now ‘Zavvi‘ have put it all together as a dual format limited edition Steelbook with loads of extras, see below.

The City of Perfection, Established 1902, population 14 and an elevation 2135. Two of those fourteen are Valentine McKee (Kevin Bacon, Footloose, Mystic River, You Should Have Left) and Earl Bassett (Fred Ward, Remo: Unarmed and Dangerous, Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult) who are the city’s handy men, doing everything from fencing out in the desert to emptying septic tanks, all for Walter Chang (Victor Wong, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Emperor) who runs the local market store.

Damn it Valentine, you never plan ahead, you never take the long view, I mean here it is Monday, and I’m already thinking of Wednesday… It is Monday, right?

After a disastrous time at Melvin Plug’s (Bobby Jacoby, Pearl Harbor, Night of The Demons II) house, our duo are fed up and want to leave Perfection, and head for the bright lights of Bixby thirty-eight miles away, where surely their lives will improve. They set off down the valley road, where they pass Carmine (John Pappas, Days of Our Lives (TV Series), Checkers) and Howard (John Goodwin, Whispers from a Shallow Grave, The Naked Monster) digging up the road. Further down the road they see a strange sight, Val spots Edgar (Sunshine Parker, Road House, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure) up an electricity pylon, high up and unconscious again, drunk most probably. No he is not, he is dead, and he has a Winchester rifle clutched in his dead hands.

Damn it, listen to me. I’m older and wiser.

Yeah, well, you’re half right.

They get him down and take him back to town where Dr Jim (Conrad Bachmann, Outbreak, Foxy Brown) say that Edgar died from dehydration, meaning he must have been up there for three or four days.

Out in the desert, university geology student Rhonda LeBeck (Finn Carter, As the World Turns (TV Series), How I Got Into College) has been seeing some strange readings on her seismographs, but she doesn’t know what is causing the results. The whole town is at Market, even the survivalists Burt (Michael Gross, Family Ties (TV Series), An American in China) and Heather Gummer (Reba McEntire, Reba (TV Series), Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) are there and wondering what had Edgar so scared that he would rather stay up there than go back down?

Is this a job for an intelligent man?

Well, show me one, and I’ll ask him.

Our duo head out again for Bixby but once again they are presented with another strange occurrence, Old Fred’s (Michael Dan Wagner, Roses Are for the Rich (TV Movie)) farm, all his sheep are dead and all they can see is old Fred’s hat in the middle of the vegetable patch. Hide behind your fingers time.

Food for five years, a thousand gallons of gas, air filtration, water filtration, Geiger counter. Bomb shelter! Underground… God-damn monsters.

Fred’s dead, Val and Earl picked a bad day to leave Perfection. What is killing the inhabitants of Perfection? Well it is a great big killing machine that follows vibrations, of course, and it now becomes a matter of survival as Perfection tries to stay alive. Monstrous fun. This 1990 homage to creature features of the silver screen is still right up at the top of our watch list, and with this 4K Zavvi exclusive this is the definitive release, as it comes with a plethora of extras. (see the long list below).

Run for it? Running’s not a plan! Running’s what you do, once a plan fails!

Tremors 4K UHD Steelbook is an exclusive from Zavvi

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:• New 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Ron Underwood and director of photography Alexander Gruszynski• 60-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing by Kim Newman and Jonathan Melville and selected archive materials• Large fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Frank• Small fold-out double-sided poster featuring new Graboid X-ray art by Matt Frank• Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards• Limited Edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt FrankDISC 1 – FEATURE & EXTRAS (4K UHD BLU-RAY):• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)• Restored DTS-HD MA original theatrical 2.0 stereo, 4.0 surround, and remixed 5.1 surround audio options• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing• New audio commentary by director Ron Underwood and writers/producers Brent Maddock & S.S.Wilson• New audio commentary by Jonathan Melville, author of Seeking Perfection: The Unofficial Guide to Tremors• Making Perfection, a brand-new documentary by Universal Pictures interviewing key cast and crew from the franchise (including Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross, Ariana Richards, Ron Underwood, Brent Maddock & S.S. Wilson, among many others) and revisiting the original locations• The Truth About Tremors, a newly filmed interview with co-producer Nancy Roberts on the film’s rocky road to the screen• Bad Vibrations, a newly filmed interview with director of photography Alexander Gruszynski• Aftershocks and Other Rumblings, newly filmed on-set stories from associate producer Ellen Collett• Digging in the Dirt, a new featurette interviewing the crews behind the film’s extensive visual effects• Music for Graboids, a new featurette on the film’s music with composers Ernest Troost and Robert Folk• Pardon My French!, a newly assembled compilation of overdubs from the edited-for television version• The Making of Tremors, an archive documentary from 1995 by Laurent Bouzereau, interviewing the filmmakers and special effects teams• Creature Featurette, an archive compilation of on-set camcorder footage showing the making of the Graboids• Electronic press kit featurette and interviews with Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross and Reba McEntire• Deleted scenes, including the original opening scene• Theatrical trailers, TV and radio spots for the original film as well as trailers for the entire Tremors franchise• Comprehensive image galleries, including rare behind-the-scenes stills, storyboards and two different drafts of the screenplayDISC 2 – INTERVIEWS & SHORT FILMS (BLU-RAY – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE):• Extended hour-long interviews from Making Perfection with Ron Underwood, Brent Maddock, S.S.Wilson, Nancy Roberts and creature designer Alec Gillis• Outtakes with optional introduction and commentary by S.S. Wilson• Three early short films by the makers of Tremors, remastered in high definition, including S.S.Wilson’s stop-motion horror/comedy classic Recorded Live (1975)