Tremors: Shrieker Island (DVD) [2020]

While this is a spectacular film in the Tremors series I was actually dissapointed. The first four are among my favourite films. They are simple, exciting, full of humour and set on a sparse landscape with concentrates the action.In those we see the creatures clearly and the action is right there in front of the viewer.In this film there is too much hidden in the jungle. there are too many small side issues and also some larger ones. so we not only have the conflict with the Graboids and Shriekers but with the HUnters and that rivalry.I also have a bit of a problem with the islands. They seem to be great pinnacles of rock sticking out of the sea. Graboids can't move through rock.So, while it is a Tremors film it lacks the simple clarity of the orginals . In short it is a bit of a mess.

(MINOR SPOILERS) The Tremors franchise is, if you'll pardon the pun, a strange beast at this point having managed to stay around since '89/'90 keeping it's low budget 50's inspired aesthetic until Part 5 when, much like the worms involved, it has now evolved into low budget action horror flicks.They never threaten to reinvent the wheel or move out of the monster movie inspiration shadow, nor should they.This latest entry, now steals from Jurassic Park with the Graboids now being genetically enhanced for big game hunter holidays, things go wrong, and Graboid hunter extraordinaire Burt Gummer is needed to battle the beasts.As ever Michael Gross is extremely game, even if at this point Burt is a long way from the Burt Gummer of Tremors '89, here though he's aided by a decent cast of character actors Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) replaces Jamie Kennedy and adds a sense of fun in his high spirited comic side kick.Richard Brake (who horror fans will know from Rob Zombie's movies, though his biggest movie maybe 2005's Doom) is for once a villain (ok nothing new there) but given a bit of nuance to his character and he plays it perfectly.Also joining the cast is Cassie Clare (From the director Don Michael Paul's earlier effort Death Race Beyond Anarchy and given more to do here) as a badass bow using cohort of Brake's character, the effects are as with the last two instalments, mainly CG but decent enough.The whole thing plays out as you'd imagine, and as ever is just about being fun, though it pays off things set up in Bloodlines and manages to be surprisingly poignant as well.If your new to Tremors, don't start here, if you're a seasoned Graboid addict, dive in.

I think we all know what to expect from a Tremors movie at this point but it just feels like its missing something. The acting isn't too bad, depends on the character really but nothing terrible. I would have liked to see the graboids a bit more, its pretty much all CG and there's a lot of times where you don't even see anything just an explosion or some moving dirt so its a shame we didn't really get to see much. Would have liked a bit more gore as well, wasn't really much in this aside from a few orange chunks here and there. The story is nothing special, bout the same as the other films go. The best parts of the film are Burt as always and probably just the setting, the visuals are quite nice, the water, the islands and the jungles are pretty cool, definitely a lot of budget went in there. The camera work is alright, nothing too bad, the lighting and everything is fine, some parts seem to be cut weird but otherwise no issues really. Yeah its not bad but nothing great especially compared to the original films from back in the day. Would have liked something new from the graboids and would have liked some more gore but it gets the job done. 3/5

I love Tremors, and all that goes with it. You know it's not going to stimulate your intelect in any way, but will simply give you a much needed blast of corny dialogue, cheesy plot, improbable situations and orange goo.With the above expectations, Shrieker Island ticks all those boxes. Not the strongest in the franchise by any means, but there isn't much competition. The CGI is defiantely better than the last one.Let's not critique... lets just go along for the ride.

Poor. Awful script, uninteresting characters, the editting is at times amateur; shocking for anyone involved.The first Tremors film was an absolute gem. Funny, well edited, with great practical effects that still stand up today and (most importantly) with likable characters.*This was reduced to £1.99 on Amazon Prime rental, and I am noticing they more often than not, they offer these prices on the 'knowingly bad films' on release. This is no bargain though.In these gloomy lockdown days it has become harder to find anything decent to watch but unless you are a 7 year old who has never seen another film, then really don't bother with this one. This offers nothing but cliches, painfully over trodden tropes, some spectacularly hammy acting, and awkward drawn out conversations presumably written by the aforementioned 7 year old. What makes it especially painful to endure is how characters 'explain everything' over and over, assuming the audience is drifting out of consciousness every 10 mins thus requiring constant refreshers of what has happened and what they will do next.Granted some of the CGI is well rendered (hence the extra 'one' star) but during these scenes whereby it is used , no one does anything but stands around chatting. And chatting. And doing nothing to avoid becoming the next meal. There is never any urgency or tension created or sustained. As mentioned before the script is just bad.Do yourself a favour and pick up a good book instead, your brain cells will thank you later.

Probably worth 4 stars for Tremors fans.The original is a bit of a minor classic. I've not really kept up with the franchise after the 2nd film but rented this more out of curiosity than anything else.There's nothing really new here, and it is still a B movie...but it was a lot of fun. More so than I expected.Well worth a look as long as you're not expecting too much.