When you follow a beloved movie into DTV territory, you should know to bring along some diminished expectations. While this remains true for theTremors series, its three sequels have all managed to retain some of the original’s goofy magic to one degree or another. The first sequel benefited from the charm of returning actors Fred Ward and Michael Gross. Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, the best sequel, lacked Ward, but had a multitude of fun and unexpected ties to the first film. The prequel film is pretty rough overall but gains points for its goofy concept and at least offering something refreshingly different.
That was eleven years and one TV series ago. Now we inexplicably have a fifth film, one with designs to kickstart a Tremors resurgence. And though that goal seems wildly optimistic given what’s offered here, Tremors 5: Bloodlines contains just enough charm to keep die hard fans (who else would even watch this?) from cursing the two hours it cost them to watch. But that’s about all it does.
Tremors 5 begins with series hero Burt Gummer starring in his own low-budget survivalist TV show, probably not a successful one since his entire production staff is one disgruntled camera man who, to start things of on seriously the wrong foot, gets replaced at the beginning of the film by a pudgy and gross, motorcycle-flipping Jamie Kennedy - completely with “woo-hoos” and obnoxious “rock” music.
Meanwhile, some people get killed by an Ass-Blaster in Africa, and before you know it Burt and his new cameraman are headed to the “Cradle of Humankind.” There, they find a whole new breed of Ass-Blasters and Graboids (but no Shriekers) to battle.
The film-by-film evolution of these monsters remains a key to the Tremorsseries’ endurance, though it’s not so exciting this time. The African Ass-Blasters and Graboids are uglier, spikier, and made way more out of lame CG than we’re used to. The Ass-Blasters now hunt nocturnally, while the new Graboid can jump through the air and detach its little worm tongue things. Hypothetically, they appear more threatening, something matched by the higher blood quotient on display, but this stuff only feels like new paint rather than any natural evolutionary progression.
Series mainstays SS Wilson and Brent Maddock had nothing to do with this one, and it shows. You could still feel their presence in part four, to which they created the story, but the attempts to utilize their winning humor and invention fall flat. Burt gets some good lines here and there, and we meet a crazy helicopter pilot who isn’t in the film nearly enough, but most fans will spend a large amount of the running time shaking their head. To offer an example, there is one bit where in the span of five minutes, a caged Burt rubs himself with his own urine as an insect repellant, drinks his own urine to stave off dehydration, and gets peed on by a lion.
And then there’s Jamie Kennedy. Without spoiling anything, Kennedy introduces a character reveal late in the film that will both flat-out irritate people and keep him in the series, should they make any more. At least Burt hates him too. There’s one part where he calls Kennedy “Just another pimple on the ass of progress.” That’s an especially deep insult.
But it’s still a Tremors movie, probably even a better one than the prequel. That’s not especially high praise, I know, but if you’re drunk enough on a lonely night, it’s not so bad seeing Burt Gummer again. Drinking his own pee.