The Graboids are back for round seven in Tremors: Shrieker Island

Some franchises will just never die, no matter how terrible they may be. While many films seek to create the ultimate trilogy, it takes a truly iconic trashy film – like most horror movies – to push well beyond that number and keep producing sequels no matter how ridiculous they may be. The Tremors franchise is one of those, and I honestly can’t believe it is still going on.

Back in 1990, Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Reba McEntire and Michael Gross all starred in the first Tremors film, which was not a great film by any means, but had a decent enough blend of horror and humour to provide some average entertainment and it went on to become a cult hit. Somehow, despite films that subsequently just got worse in quality (including the last two which were filmed in South Africa and were so awful that no one cared to watch them), Tremors is coming back for an incredible seventh iteration. Here’s the trailer for Tremors: Shrieker Island:

I guess if this franchise has existed for any purpose, it’s to give Michel Gross a salary with which he pay his bills, as the actor has starred in every film in this franchise up to this point. Gross is joined by Jon Heder, Jackie Cruz and Richard Brake, and if there’s anything positive I can say about this trailer, it’s that it is definitely a step up in terms of production quality from the last two films. Even if the franchise exists more for comic relief now, it looks like it might at least restore some of the luster the franchise has long since lost.

Shrieker Island (named after the creatures on it) looks like one of those films that will do enough to entertain, even if it adds no value beyond that. It’ll probably be the kind of movie that e-TV will be showing for the next year repeatedly on their Friday Action Nights.

Another person who appears to not get enough of this franchise is director Don Michael Paul who is now directing his third film in the franchise. I guess there is not just a following for watching bad films, but a career skill in making them too. If you are someone – like the rest of us – with nothing better to do and want to waste a few hours of your life, Tremors: Shrieker Island is releasing directly to home, On-Demand and possible streaming services on October 20.

Last Updated: August 31, 2020