Universal 1440 Entertainment
I am an avid Tremors fan. I’ll admit it. I swear up and down how the original Tremors film in this franchise is my favorite movie of all time. My inner five-year-old remembers the fascinatingly fun horror accompanied with subterranean worm monsters with explicit detail. I still remember the giant cardboard standee on display at movie theaters back in 1990 that was mechanically rigged to make the monster’s jaws move. Tremors imagery can stick with a kid! It’s hard to forget! Which is why it’s too bad that the majority of the films that followed in this series are completely and utterly forgettable. (Tremors gets a pass!)
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell marks the sixth film in the series and another attempt to capture that Graboid magic. Does it succeed? No. But it is a marked improvement over 2015’s Tremors 5: Bloodlines which was painful to watch at times.
There’s another Graboid infestation! This time in the colder Canadian region — a stark contrast to the desert biomes Graboids are accustomed to. Series veteran and survival expert Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) is called to help get to the bottom of this problem and reluctantly brings along his son from the last film Travis Welker (played by Jamie Kennedy). The real dilemma comes when it is discovered that Burt has been infected by Graboid venom and the only way to get an antidote is by extracting a special secretion from a live Graboid.
Without any major spoilers, this film wasn’t terrible. It’s a straight-to-video monster movie on par with the likes of a Sharknado or Whalewolf movie. I absolutely despised Tremors 5, most of that disdain stemming from Jamie Kennedy’s brand of humor and improv that really shifted the tone of the series’ humor. Well someone must’ve heeded some of those complaints because this time around Kennedy’s character is definitely reigned in a bit. Director Don Michael Paul also directed Tremors 5 and one can only wonder if fan complaints and backlash to the Travis Welker character led to his toning down. Or maybe it was just a really good editor? As the behind-the-scenes features still show Kennedy touting his ad-libbing prowess.
The film’s location was played up to be a major selling point of this film, taking Graboids from hot and arid locales to the arctic tundra didn’t really change much as far as the story this film told. There was only one scene with actual ‘snow’ (the sequence was shot in a South African desert and color-corrected to look like an endless winter wonderland). The rest of the film took place in more of a temperate looking region where the ‘cold’ barely played a factor into the film’s plot.
You can’t have a monster movie without a number of deaths and monster guts and A Cold Day in Hell doesn’t disappoint. Sure, the characters who bite it are completely useless and forgettable but that’s excusable for a film like this. This movie does support a Tremors series first though — an underwater Graboid attack! Sure, it looks like a scene from Jaws, but you can’t knock the movie for trying! And expect monsters to explode in this film (a series staple) and for there to be plenty of orange guts to go around.
The Blu-ray includes a small collection of bonus material:
- The Making of Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell: Filmmakers, cast, and crew discuss why Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell is the most bone-blasting Tremors movie yet.
- Anatomy of a Scene: Watch as we break down the various elements that need to come together to film the first underwater Graboid attack.
- Inside Chang’s Market: Chang’s Market is an iconic location in Tremors history. See how it was recreated and updated for this installment of the franchise.
The behind the scenes offered a short but sweet look into the making of the film. Most interesting was how the film was shot in South Africa like the last film and through the power of somewhat believable special effects they were able to make the film look like it took place in a more temperate environment. I really wish they could’ve included a commentary track to help sell me on the passion the filmmakers had in making this film as featurettes were too short to get any real satisfaction from, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Ultimately, I don’t feel bad having watched Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. Then again, following on the heels of Tremors 5 set the bar pretty low.
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment generously provided Hotchka with a Blu-ray versions of the film for reviewing purposes.
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