Released: January 19, 1990

Directed By: Ron Underwood

Screenplay By: Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson

Stars: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, Reba McEntire and a bunch of other graboids.

Plot: Natives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.

Taglines: The monster movie that breaks new ground.

How did this movie do?
Budget: $10 Million
Box Office: $17 Million

• Michael Gross began filming only 1 day after shooting the last episode of Family Ties (1982).
  
  
• Almost all of the actors were cast through open auditions, a rare practice for studio films. There were offers, however, for the role of Valentine McKee to Bill Paxton, Matthew Modine, and Bruce Campbell, among others, before Universal cast Kevin Bacon due to his star power.
  
  
• Jack Palance was considered for the part of Earl Bassett but Ron Underwood was too afraid to reach out and ask if he was interested; Underwood would work with Palance on his next project.
  
  
• Brent Maddock said that while writing the script, he imagined Burt Gummer being played by Chuck Norris or Clint Eastwood.
  
  
• Ron Underwood said that he was uninterested when Reba McEntire asked to audition for the film, saying he had grown tired of seeing celebrities trying to become actors even if they cannot act, and that it was “gimmicky” casting. However, after begrudgingly letting her audition, he was blown away by her performance and realized she was a great natural actress, immediately knowing she was perfect for Heather Gummer.

• The concept of Tremors was originally conceived in the early 1980s, when writers S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock were working for the United States Navy as filmmakers in charge of creating educational safety videos. While getting footage, the two climbed a large desert boulder and asked the question “What if there was something that wouldn’t let us off of this rock?” This inspired the two to start brainstorming ideas for a monster movie, which was eventually dubbed “Land Sharks”.
  
  
• Tremors opened on January 19, 1990, in 1,457 theaters against no new releases and debuted at the #5 spot, behind Born on the Fourth of July, Tango & Cash, The War of the Roses, and Internal Affairs, grossing $3,731,520 in its opening weekend.
  
  
• Its creators blamed the subpar theatrical performance on its marketing campaign; S. S. Wilson felt that the film was not well promoted once its release date was delayed, while Brent Maddock stated the theatrical trailer was “cringeworthy” and likely deterred audiences.
  
  
• While only a modest hit at the box office, Tremors went on to become a massive hit on home video purchases, rentals, and television, becoming one of the most rented films of 1990. Because of this, it has gained a very large cult following over the years.
  
  
• Kevin Bacon originally resented being in Tremors, only agreeing to do it because he needed money for his new marriage and upcoming newborn child. When the film was not financially successful, Bacon feared his career was over, and in following years would refuse to acknowledge the film’s existence and even called it the “worst thing I ever did.” However, Bacon would eventually come around to Tremors, calling the filming of Tremors to be “the single most fun time I’ve ever had making a movie in my entire career” in 2012, and later admitting in a 2020 interview “When I was making Tremors, I was very depressed and at a low-point in my life, and I kinda blamed Tremors for all that. I was bitter against it, I thought it was a career-killer…I never watch my movies more than once, some of my movies I’ve never even seen before and have no desire to, but I’ve watched Tremors a dozen times. I love it so much, and I spent years trying to capture the same energy we had on the set of Tremors. It’s one of my favorite films of all time.”
  
  
• One idea by the special effects crew was for the worms to have an outer shell. When above the dirt, the shell would retract to reveal a slimier ‘inner worm’. However, many production members started to giggle at the ‘phallic’ resemblance it had with a foreskin, so this was changed to the big worm sprouting several smaller worms from its mouth.
  
  
• The gag at the beginning of the film where Val misses a staple 8 times with his hammer was not entirely scripted, and was Kevin Bacon’s spontaneous idea. Fred Ward’s reaction was completely genuine.
  
  
• Was originally given an R-rating by the MPAA not for violence, but for language. The film included as many as twenty f-bombs. As an appeal, producers removed all utterances of the “f” word, with the exception of two. Many of the swears were dubbed over with other words, including “can you fly you sucker?”, “we killed that motherhumper,” and “what the s***” when Val is overlooking the dead sheep.
  
  
• The various sounds made by the graboids have become popular to reuse in other films, and can be heard in films such as Predator 2 (1990), Starship Troopers (1997), Antz (1998), Mosquito (1994), Eight Legged Freaks (2002), and Kong: Skull Island (2017), among others.
  
  
• In each contest of Rock-Paper-Scissors, Earl throws Scissors.
  
  
• The “wave” effect where the creature is moving beneath the surface and rolling the dirt or porch boards was accomplished by towing a boat buoy behind a pickup truck.
  
  
• Test audiences loved the film but would repeatedly chant “kiss her! kiss her!” at the end. The studio paid for a quick reshoot featuring Valentine McKee and Rhonda LeBeck kissing.