Goodtime Monster Movies: Tremors 4: The Legend Begins

What can you say about the Tremors movie series? It's one of those cinematic entries in our media society that you either love or hate, few people fall in between.

This 4th entry in the Tremors "franchise" is a good-natured, goofy monster movie that most people will agree is better than the third or the second entry in the series.

This prequel takes place in the wild west in the town of Rejection Valley. There's a mysterious problem with a local silver mine - miners seem to be having a hard time staying alive. Since the town of Rejection depends on this silver mine as its main source of income, this presents an economic difficulty for the residents. It also presents an economic difficulty for the owner who is "back east", one Hiram Gummer, played to the hilt by Michael Gross, who has been shouldering the burden of the Tremors franchise quite ably whenever he appears in them (he also appeared in the short lived television series). Personally, I find his style amusing as hell in the characters he plays in these productions.

Hiram arrives in town to see why his mine is failing. He's a dandy, a fop, and he gets mixed reactions which quickly turn negative from most of the townsfolk - for good reasons. He's a jerk. Even so, he's got some guts and he gathers some help and they go to investigate the mine.

They find nothing in the mine and Hiram declares it safe. But on the ride home they need to camp for the night, and you can guess what happens - they encounter a larval form of the worm, which the Asian in the group dubs a "dirt dragon". They manage to escape (most of them anyway), employing the usual method you may have seen before in other Tremors films.

After some debate Hiram decides to advertise for a gunslinger (he's not much of a shot, being a fop and all, in fact he's very uncomfortable with firearms - different from the other character he has portrayed, and it's a nice touch).

Enter Black Hand Kelly (played aptly by Billy Drago, who's not unfamiliar with this type of character acting). Hard bitten Billy ain't such bad sort and quickly brings Hiram up to the facts of guns and the importance of being pro-active with hot lead in the old west. Like Hiram, this character could have went another way and been obnoxious but Billy is a pro and has the perfect touch for this kind of cinematic confection, adding to the amusement value of the movie as a whole.

The plot unfolds in a very linear manner and doesn't drag. There are just enough "gotcha" moments to make it interesting even if you are familiar with the previous films. Sure, they use some cliche tactics but it works, so it doesn't detract from the experience.

Standard plot devices follow. Some you see coming a mile away. But it works for the movie. Sure, this is not cinematic gold, or something to brag about (or is it?). I won't ruin it by describing more.

This is a rare concoction of familiar plot, familiar characters, and a delicate touch by the actors, the writer, and the director that when combined result in a warm, feel-good kind of monster movie. That's a rare thing and few if any directors and producers ever manage to come close to this. And it's safe for children and the squeamish. In today's market of explosions, graphic violence, gallons of sticky gore and nonsense violence, it's truly a rare thing and qualifies as a gem on its own.