Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell is a 2018 action thriller about a remote research station, where scientists must go up against monsters that have been converted into living weapons.
The Tremors franchise is a wily beast, lasting well beyond not only expectation but all viable reason to exist. After becoming a surprise sleeper hit in 1990 with Kevin Bacon, it went on to spawn five other films, four sequels, one prequel, and a short-lived television series … none with Bacon. While all have fallen well short of the original’s playful creativity and joyful mayhem, dipping into drippy, cheesy sci-fi fare, they have at least had one constant that’s made them more than a step above watchable, Michael Gross, who has been in everything with a Graboid since the start.
With the sixth film, directed by Don Michael Paul, the once famous desert-swelling monsters shift north to the arctic circle. Heading north to hunt them is Burt Gummer (Gross), who is having a bit of tax trouble back in the states, called up by some scientist at the top of the world who are experiencing some rather unusual problems: creatures are burrowing through the ice and snatching up researchers. Along with Travis (Jamie Kennedy), a hold-over from the last film, Burt takes to battling a new breed of Graboids, but how and why they are here might not be entirely natural.
If you’re tuning in for the first time with the Tremors series, you’re in for a lot of head scratching, as Paul and the filmmakers have no intention of holding your newbie hand if you are. The film starts straight away with a pretty cool attack that sets the tone for the action that follows, skipping any exposition in favor of monster madness. If you are a fan of the series, you know that the films have long pushed the monsters aside in favor of more Burt, he chewing up more scenery than any of the creatures. In all fairness, that’s a good thing as Gross has fully committed himself to Gummer in ways few actors might, and once again turns the dial up to 11 and a half. The guy is endless good times.
READ MORE: That Moment In Tremors When The Monsters Come
You might be thinking the new environment would give the franchise a new snowy playground in which to have some fun, but even though Gummer breaks out his snow fatigues, he finds himself in an arctic lacking a winter wonderland, a throwaway commentary on global warming. We then meet Valerie McKee (Jamie-Lee Money), who is the daughter of Val (Bacon) from the first film, herself a Graboid enthusiast who takes to helping Burt in his latest adventure. From there, we find ourselves amid a host of others, mostly fodder, who are paper thin, spouting all the usual over-the-top dialogue that fills the gaps between attacks, the story hardly a departure for the franchise. There’s a cute little callback to the first though with a girl and her pants.
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell is pretty much exactly what you expect in a Tremors movie, the whole series tethered to its tricks, something all monster movies end up trapped by when trying to get lightning to strike twice. What’s too bad is how these sequels just can’t catch the spirit of the original, the repetitive nature of it all it’s ultimate deadweight. Still, if you are a fan and have, like many of us, become compelled to get your Burt Gummer fix, this will scratch the itch.