Tremors 4: The Legend Begins
Growing up, there were a few "so bad, it's good" movies that I liked very much. Clue, Spaceballs, Three Amigos!, and Bloodsport pretty much defined my bad movie experiences as a kid. Another that joins that list is Tremors. With Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, and 4 graboids, this horror/action film had the right comedic touch to make it a cult hit for many fans, including myself. Soon, its creators saw the potential for moneymaking and went ahead to make two sequels and a TV series, which has really hurt the franchise since they've been so bad, it's really bad. Now, a fourth installment is upon us and like its two predecessors, this prequel is straight-to-video and DVD.

Michael Gross (someone who can't get a job since he's been part of every Tremors venture) plays Hiram Gummer, the late 1800s owner of a silver mine inherited to him by his father. He's summoned from the east coast to his Rejection, Nevada mine upon hearing that his mine is struggling. When he arrives, he finds that his mine has closed and the town is being abandoned, with only a handful of people staying behind. The only mine worker left, Juan (Brent Roam), tells him that men come in but never come back out and believes creatures are in there. Gummer believes this to be preposterous and hires some local folk to accompany him to the mine and investigate. When these local folk are killed, Gummer sees the quick worms that are burrowing out of the ground and hires an experienced quick-shot gunman to take care of it. By now though, the baby worms have turned into the large ones seen in the first installment of the series and are headed to the town, forcing the townspeople to make their own stand there.

The successful original had the ability to not take things seriously when dealing with these worms, extremely helped by the buddy antics of Bacon and Ward. However, future installments seem to have lost this comedic touch and focus entirely on the worms and its new evolutionary capabilities while in the process, taking things way too seriously. In this installment, the only comedy that can be found is of their surroundings, essentially making fun of the 19th century amenities and technology to take on a 20th or 21st century worm. Like all Tremors films, they've got the fright down to a t, with the graboids coming out every which way they can, but the unbelievable way the cast handles them gets them knocked down a few points. 1.5 stars