Tremors 4: The Legend Begins

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins is a prequel to the other Tremors films and the TV series.

I find the experience of watching this film to be a pleasant one. It has humour and mild threat, with some tense scenes. I certainly think this is a better entry to the franchise that Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, and far superior than the latest, Tremors 5: Bloodlines.

The Graboids are back to basics with almost no CGI, and they are convincing creations.

It features real characters who are portrayed well by the cast, and sheds an interesting light on the origins of Burt Gummer through the exploits of Hiram Gummer, both played by Tremors veteran Michael Gross.

This is a good watch; the story is well told, the monsters are fun to watch, the characters are likable, there's some effective moments of tension and traditional Tremors humour. Good film.

This film stays in the vein of campy, but brilliant action flick much like Tremors 3. It's humorous, scary, and always exciting.

Building on the success of Michael Gross as Burt Gummer, we have Gross as the ancestor of Burt, Hiram Gummer. Hiram is a wealthy owner of the local mine. He is snotty, cowardly, and can't shoot a gun to save his life. The townspeople really don't care for him and his greedy ways.

He arrives just as the mine is being abandoned. 17 miners have disappeared in the caves and everyone is scared to enter. The local Indian claims it to be spirits haunting the caves. Hiram needs the silver in the mine to remain wealthy and gathers a ragtag group of desperate miners to check it out. A brief attack by "dirt dragons" and Hiram is ready to abandon the town of Rejection and his mine. The few remaining townspeople are desperate for a solution.

If you enjoy the Tremors franchise you will love this new installment. The special effects are awesome, using giant "puppets" instead of cgi adding a real quality to the attacks. The origins of the graboids are somewhat revealed and the town of Perfection is born. There are many references to the first Tremors and fans will appreciate the thought put into the film. I truly enjoyed this Graboid attack. 7/10.

My Take: The best of the straight-to-video TREMORS sequels.

Next to the original, this third sequel is one of the best. It's wonderfully packed with laughs, outrageous B-monster movie horror and a western flavor. The results are great. Michael Gross returns for this sequel, playing Burt's great-grandfather Hiram Gummer, who goes to the town of Rejection to investigate the death of miners in his priceless gold mine. But when he discovers that it has been enslaved by hungry graboids, he must lead the town to fight the beasts and save Rejection.

The film is a "prequel" to the original, and it's very faithful to the original "Tremors". Showing how it happened and who are the characters. The creature effects have improved from the previous sequel and Jay Ferguson's music is interesting, appropriate to the film's western atmosphere. And, oh yeah! I forgot about Billy Drago. He stars here, giving the weird performance he once applied in Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables" and in the films by Cannon Films co. which he mostly starred in.

I really enjoyed this sequel, my line up for the series:

1. "Tremors" 2. "Tremors 4: The Legend Begins" 3. "Tremors 2: Aftershocks" 4. "Tremors 3: Back to Perfection

TV movie rating: *** out of 5.

Nevada 1889,a mining village called Rejection are happening mysterious events in the mine where die seventeen miners.There live a small group people(a habitual of native roles August Schellemberg,Sara Bostford,J.E Freeman, among others Chinese actors).Then comes Hiram Gummer(Burt's ancestor)played by the usual series Michael Gross.In the desolate plateau where are roaming a beasts,he arrives in the stage line and he brings a lot of luggage and a cycle.Later is hired a famous gunfighter called Black Hand Kelly(Billy Drago)to chase the strange creatures with three tongues.Then they confront against the West's most fearsome predator that savagely stalking its prey,the human group.The large wormlike burrow around in the underground looking for the human food.This time,Gummer will use a large rifle and a steam machine for battling the dreadful giant bugs called Graboids in an epic final fighting...And ultimately the town's name is changed by ¨Perfection¨.

It's an OK and entertaining juvenile entry of the series,is remarkable for FX recreating of the carnivorous and ferocious beasts developing a bloodthirsty hunger for men eating.The giant worms delivers the goods with hair-raising chills,screams,grisly horror when they spontaneously appear.The essential characteristics from the series are the following : A remote plateau in a desert location called Perfection, a solitary misfit group fighting against the astonishment monsters called Graboids and of course the Michael Gross presence as Gummer,besides all are produced by Brent Maddock,Nancy Roberts and SS Wilson.The best is the original directed by Ron Underwood(Fred Ward ,Kevin Bacon),it's followed by inferior sequels aimed to video market :¨Aftershock¨ directed by S.S Wilson (also with Fred Ward and Helen Shaver),¨III Back to Perfection¨ directed by Brent Maddock(Charlotte Stewart,Ariana Richards) and Television series with Gladys Jimenez,Victor Browne,Marcia Strassman and as always Michael Gross.

I enjoyed the original and felt the others (including the series, basically) were pleasant time wasters. The latest confuses the chronology a bit, but sequels often do tend not to be totally loyal to such things anyway. Still, its late 19th century setting gives it a bit of color, and is portrayed fairly well for a low budget film. The characters are pleasant with the usual diversified class of ordinary souls represented. There is not a lot of action per se, but enough is present so that it doesn't disappoint.

Sort of like an extended flashback episode of the series, and a fairly enjoyable one at that. For fans, that will be enough. I'd add that Michael Gross handles himself nicely here as the more "weenie" version of his descendant.