Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015)

What to Expect

Tremors 5 was a relaunch of the franchise, released 11 years after Tremors 4: The Legend Begins. The fact that it took over a decade for anyone to have faith in continuing the series was no real surprise. Tremors 4 was probably one of the top 10 worst movies ever. Also no surprise was the fact they flipped the style of the movie on its head. Gone is the small group of townies who have to work together to rid their little corner of the desert of giant sand worms. Tremors now moves onto another continent where we follow two groups of people, one chasing Grabiods and the other being chased by them. The production value is also sky high compared to all the rest. They utilized CGI to make the Graboid and Ass Blasters look intense, a big diversion from previous movies where everything was practical effects. I'm a big fan of practical effects, but the effects in both Tremors 3 and 4 were just embarrassing, so the CGI was a definite improvement.

Tremors 5 kicks off just like the original Tremors did 25 years prior, with a dude pissing in the desert. It also shared the same title sequence and gave a few nods to original one liners which were a nice touch. The pissing dude gets eaten by a Graboid and good 'ol Burt Gummer gets word and hops on the first plane to South Africa to do what he does best. In tow is a new sidekick, Travis, played by Jamie Kennedy. He provides the comic relief that all Tremors sidekicks are known for.

The gist of the story is a big game poacher masquerading as a government official hires Burt and Travis to capture an Ass Blaster. Only problem is these Ass Blasters are way bigger and harder to kill than the ones Burt's crossed paths with before. He's also tasked with taking care of way more people than ever before. Oh, and he gets trapped and left for dead out in the African wilderness. And a territorial lion pees all over him. So, he's actually saddled with a lot of problems.

Overall, Bloodlines is a cool creature feature done right.