Tremors II: Aftershocks – 1996 – Comedy, Horror
Directed by: S.S. Wilson
Written by: Brent Maddock; S.S. Wilson
Main Players: Fred Ward; Chris Gartin; Helen Shaver; Michael Gross; Marcelo Tubert
Melodic music welcomes us back to the Tremors world and the Petromaya Oil Field in Chiapas, Mexico. An unhappy and struggling man dangles above the ground, crawling on a pipeline. Behind him… the ground stirs! He lets out a shriek. We know where this is all headed, but if he could only get to the van! Over oil barrels he goes, but unfortunately, they clang loudly as he stomps over them, attracting our wormy friends.
Back in Perfection Valley, Nevada, Earl Basset (Ward) is up to his usual shenanigans, and trying to rustle an ostrich named Wildfire. The other ostrich Susie looks onward. He is moving up in the world, and this is what he spent his money that came with quick fame after saving the small town a few years ago.
As new characters roll into town, they have knowledge of large underground animals at a Mexican plant. Earl confirms they were dubbed Graboids during his first encounter. Company owner Señor Ortega (Tubert) is looking for an expert to eliminate the creatures. Earl wonders about going Graboid hunting. His old partner Val has married a good woman and moved on, and already said no. The offer though is $50,000 per Graboid.
Earl still says no, despite Grady Hoover (Gartin), his biggest fan, buttering him up. But that money… It sounds fairly good, plus the Mexican army will give him any munitions he needs. Dynamiteeee!!! Plus, double the price for a live beast. Uh oh.
Maybe this is his big second chance. Okay, Earl decides there is a deal after all. The crew takes off, meeting the oil company geologist Kate ‘White’ Reilly (Shaver) on the way. Earl can dig it. Time to go meet some monsters, and evolve the plot a bit.
While Tremors II: Aftershocks is a level or so below the original, and does not have as strong a cast, it is an okay low budget sequel and follow up. Grady Hoover is not a good replacement for Bacon’s missing character from the first, but the movie remains watchable and silly in a fun way. This one is def more yeehaw and explosion-y than the first, and contains plenty of monster action.
See This If You Liked:
Tremors; Gremlins; Lake Placid; The Meg; Meg 2: The Trench; Black Sheep (2006); Feast; Slither; The Evil Dead; Evil Dead II; An American Werewolf in London; The Cabin in the Woods; Arachnophobia; Eight Legged Freaks; Piranha (1978; 2010)
Score:
6.5