Tremors II: Aftershocks

Plot synopsis:
While Earl and Val became wealthy with their discovery of the Graboids, Earl lost most of his fortune through an ostrich farm and other investments. Earl is approached by two men, Grady Hoover and Señor Ortega. Ortega knows that Earl and Val dealt with the Graboids previously. He informs Earl that there are more of them killing workers at the Petromaya Oil Field; he needs help to dispose of them. Earl refuses, horrified at the prospect that there are more of the creatures that almost killed him. Grady tells him that Ortega will pay him $50,000 for each graboid. Earl agrees to eliminate the Graboids, and Grady accompanies him.On their way to the Petromaya Oil Field, Earl and Grady are introduced to Pedro, the company's chief engineer and Kate Reilly, a geologist. Ortega brings Earl and Grady a few cases of dynamite and an CAR-15. A man named Julio introduces a seismic monitor that will show Grady and Earl where the Graboids are. Grady builds a chain with a few empty aluminum cans attached to it to attract the Graboids.Earl and Grady kill 16 Graboids using dynamite strapped to remote-control toy cars. Another Graboid snags the chain Grady hooked to the back of the truck. The Graboid begins dragging them across the field. When the Graboid snaps the chain Earl sees more Graboids approaching on the seismic monitor. Earl calls up Burt Gummer, an old friend of his who helped him take down the Graboids with Val. Burt comes in with an army truck filled with explosives and weapons. The group splits up to kill more of the Graboids.Earl and Grady see another Graboid on the seismograph. Oddly, the Graboid is moving away from them, so Earl and Grady investigate. Upon reaching the top of a hill, the Graboid surfaces. In a panic Earl backs his truck down the side of the hill and into a pile of rocks, breaking an axle. They see the Graboid has not moved. Earl and Grady wait for Pedro to bring the Graboid back to the refinery. The Graboid makes loud, painful noises, and Grady and Earl see some of the insides of the Graboid are missing, leading Earl to believe that something emerged from it.While Earl tries contacting Kate over the radio, he notices that the radio's transmitter has been damaged, then he and Grady hear another Graboid making a noise just like that of the one they encountered earlier. Grady sees Pedro's truck coming up the road only to stop. When Earl and Grady walk to the truck, they see it is damaged and all that is left of Pedro are his severed arms. Earl decides to call for help by hiking to a nearby radio tower.Burt has become worried that his monitor is showing no Graboids and begins returning to the refinery. When Grady and Earl reach the radio tower they find it has been damaged. Earl spots a car near a small bar that Grady tries hotwiring. The two hear a strange noise coming from the bar, then see a creature resembling a smaller two-legged Graboid, dubbed a "Shrieker", emerge from the bar. Grady and Earl kill it, but three more Shriekers come for them. They drive the car back to the refinery. As Burt is trying to get back he is ambushed by Shriekers.Kate, unable to contact anyone, grows worried. Julio agrees to find them. As he is about to leave a Shrieker devours him. Grady and Earl kill the Shrieker that killed Julio and reunite with Kate. As they are about to leave another Shrieker appears and begins damaging their car's engine, but Earl kills it. Burt arrives with his truck damaged from the Shriekers that attacked him. He shows them a Shrieker he caught alive, unaware that another Shrieker has stowed away underneath his truck.The four discover that the Shrieker hunts by using a heat sensor on top of its head, explaining why the Shriekers attacked the cars and the radio tower. When it consumes a piece of food it creates another Shrieker. While enjoying this spectacle, Kate, Earl, Grady and Burt are ambushed by Shriekers. The group plans to drive off with Julio's car, but another Shrieker is blocking their path. Burt uses his .50 BMG rifle to kill it, but the bullet goes through the Shrieker and damages the engine block of Julio's car. More Shriekers trap Grady, Earl and Kate on top of an oil tower and Burt in the bucket of a tractor.The Shriekers start jumping onto each other's backs to reach Grady, Earl and Kate. Burt makes the Shriekers chase him into the storage compartment where his truck is. He is able to lock a door and close a garage, trapping them. However, this proves to be problematic as the garage is filled with food and allows the Shrikers to reproduce at a rapid rate. Earl sprays himself with a fire extinguisher to make him cold so that the Shriekers will not see him, so that he can reach Burt's bombs.As he is walking the frost from his body dissolves and the Shriekers see Earl in Burt's truck. Earl sets off a timed charge and throws it in the back of Burt's truck. Grady, Burt and Kate pull him out with a hose, and the four run from the refinery. The bomb detonates the explosives in Burt's truck and destroys the refinery, killing the Shriekers.Grady tells Earl that the Petromaya corporation owes them for 28 worms they killed. As they walk towards the remains of the refinery, Earl suggests they charge the corporation for the Shriekers they killed. When Grady says that they can open up their own Monster World, Earl says, "No way.", but Grady says, "Oh, C'mon, Earl. This could be like your big third chance".

Tags: cult

Review:
Fred Ward and Michael Gross return from the first movie.(Kevin Bacon not making a comeback shows a little elitism on his part I think.
The film takes the Graboids a little farther up the evolutional chain this time, and the effects are still good for the small budget.
I think everyone agrees with the statement that this second entry can't possibly live up to the original but, as far as the quality of sequels go, "Tremors II: Aftershocks" is a fairly pleasant B-movie that you definitely won't regret seeing.
It's obviously meant to please the enormous fan-base of the first movie, since it features the exact same type of humor and similar special effects, but at least it tries to add something new to the story of the giant carnivorous worms.
Several years have passed since the big fat "Graboid"-hunt in Perfection, Nevada and good old Earl Bassett (the cool and charismatic Fred Ward reprises his role) is asked to come to Mexico because a new plague of worms has already killed (and eaten) the staff of a large petrol field there.
This following begins in Petromay oil refinery (Mexico),there happen mysterious events,a giant killers predators are eating workers.After in the small village called Perfection is Earl(Fred Ward).He's hired for killing the horrible creatures,then he goes out towards Mexico along with a brave young named Hoover(Christopher Gartin).In the refinery they know to Kate(Helen Shaver),after comes Burt Gummer(Michael Gross)with a heavy weapons and explosives.They'll confront against an army of Graboids,the horrific and enormous worms that spontaneously appear from underground burrows.In this entry we learn the giant bugs are intelligent but they don't see neither ear.This is an entertaining sequel with noisy action,grisly horror,thrilling and some humor with tongue in check.It's remarkable for special effects with computer generator recreation made by Phil Tippet studio and Animatronics by Tom Gudruff and Alec Gillis.The film displays habitual characteristic from the series : A lonely location surrounded by the fantastic worms called Graboids and a solitary bunch battling with the horrible creatures, the usual appearance of Burt Gummer,always played by a likable Michael Gross,besides all movies are produced and directed by Ron Underwood,SS Wilson and Brent Maddock.It's followed by several sequels: Tremors III Back to Perfection with Ariana Richards,Charlotte Stewart; Tremors IV the legend begins,that tells the origin with August Schellemberg,Sara Bostford,Billy Drago ; and TV series with Gladys Jimenez,Victor Brown,Marcia Strassman and as always Michael Gross.The motion picture-with an appropriate musical score by Jay Ferguson -is professionally directed by S.S. Wilson.It's recommended for terror-action buffs and hardcore series fans..
After the huge love and deserved critical praise for Ron Underwood's 1990 film, Tremors, this in spite of poor box office and lead man Kevin Bacon disowning the film at the time, sequels were always likely.
And so it proved.Fred Ward and Michael Gross return from the first film and are joined by Christopher Gartin, Helen Shaver and Marcelo Tubert.
The characters there gave a believable sense of danger and fright, here it's just done for laughs, we never once think the principal players are remotely scared of the Graboids and their offspring.Story has advanced for Earl (Ward) and Burt (Gross), where this time it's Earl who is romancing (Shaver under used but lovely) and Burt is all on his lonesome as his Mrs (Heather played by Reba McEntire) has left him on account of his love of war and weapons, a joke which grows old very fast here.
Still, when the action isn't of the budget CGI kind, it's well staged and good fun, though Wilson's comic sequence shooting is flat, while Ward is a strong enough actor to carry the film to keep it above average.Passably enjoyable for fans of creature feature movies without ever being an essential viewing choice.
For all the griping I, myself, and others do about sequels failing to raise the stakes, here's a film that doesn't mind changing the rules late in the game because, hey, it was already told that Graboids themselves don't play fair.After opening with a stunningly suspenseful scene of an oil worker trying to avoid a Graboid, we are dropped right in the middle of the sleepy desert-town of Perfection, Nevada, once more, where Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) is now making his living as an ostrich farmer.
The three, in addition to Kate (Helen Shaver), a local paleontologist, work to complete Ortega's operation, which goes rather seamlessly until the worms wind up undergoing metamorphosis and subsequently transforming into something more dangerous and more ubiquitous.While the amiable and often hilarious chemistry of Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward is subtracted from the formula of this sequel, Gartin steps in to do an okay job at playing second banana to Fred Ward's always interesting Earl character.
Gartin does what he can within the screenplay of Wilson and Maddock and the result is fair but not totally destructive to the plot.Tremors II largely works because it doesn't settle to do the same thing twice; it keeps its story moving by not only changing the setting and adding a few more characters in the mix, but changing the entire biological spectrum of the monsters.
In addition, much like the original Tremors, this is a film that makes total use of its desert setting, spending considerable amounts of time in some settings, but always giving different locations their time of day in a manner that feels very regionally democratic.Tremors II: Aftershocks is a thoroughly pleasant sequel because it helps to revoke the spirit of the original film, whilst deviating course into something that expands upon the mythology of the monsters in the film and general likability of most of the film's characters.
Rarely has there been a franchise quite like Tremors that has proved its own longevity better than most established, financially successful franchises and rarely has there been an impressive sequel quite like Tremors II: Aftershocks.Starring: Fred Ward, Christopher Gartin, Michael Gross, Helen Slater, Marco Hernandez, and Marcelo Tubert.
Tremors 2 has both laughs and thrills, like the original it was worthy of theatrical release Despite the significantly lower budget, the monsters remain entirely convincing.I loved the first movie so much that I really enjoyed visiting with these characters again.
The young actor attempting to replace him gives a reasonable performance, but his character in the film is just a bit too streetwise and 'smart', and he doesn't make a convincing on-screen partnership with Fred Ward.The plot is different to Tremors, but still contains the Tremor-creating 'graboids' that were present in the original.
There they meet up with some new characters and the "secret origins" of the Graboids.Now, Ward and Gross can carry a movie, and they carry this one.
Shaver is a poor replacement for the female role but it is good to have Gross back in a funny role.The film is a little more effects focused this time which weakens it slightly.
I'm not surprised that Kevin Bacon didn't make it back for the sequel, but I was happy to see Fred Ward and Michael Gross back.There are a number of problems I have with the film, but one that stuck out more than any other is that they ACTUALLY referred to the animals as "Graboids".
I also liked that they were hermaphroditic, kind of an interesting twist there.I think the thing that made the movie to me is Michael Gross' character, Burt Gummer.
For a direct-to-video sequel to a successful cinematic monster movie this is great.Although somewhat less polished than the original, Fred Ward is back performing as Earl Bassett which couldn't possibly be bad, Michael Gross is back as Burt Gummer, the monsters are back and as convincing as ever, and there's a new addition to the monsters which was successfully carried out with a good design, interesting idea and a lot of fun puppets.The destruction in this film is monumental but at no point does it go too far.
Tremors: Part Two. When an army of Graboids - giant, carnivorous underground worms - threaten the Petromaya oil refinery in Mexico, its owners call on Earl Bassett (Fred Ward), who once helped kill four of the creatures in Perfection, Nevada.TV Guide wrote, "This movie is a rarity among direct-to-video sequels, one that's not only worthy of its theatrical predecessor but suggests that it too, belongs on the big screen...
This one, despite the low budget, offers a high-quality film with creative new (and good looking) monsters.Anyone who liked the first film definitely needs to see the second..
This one has two characters returning from the first movie: Fred Ward's Earl Bassett and Michael Gross' Burt Gummer.
Contacted due to his experience with the creatures in the first film, fearless Fred Ward (as Earl Bassett) heads back into action, with new partner Christopher Gartin (as Grady Hoover).
Not as good as the first, with a story that kinda hangs in the air at times, but I was positively surprised.It's a real smart script (as with the first), where they're even able to make fun of the fact that Kevin Bacon or Reba McEntire isn't returning to make the sequel, and in smart ways being able to get Fred Ward and Michael Gross into the action..But the most important is that they've been able to keep the fun (it's the thrills that's not as good as in the first) with exactly the right "mean" tone in the dialogue etc, and the spirit of the first..It isn't able to take it all the way, but..
Well this was a truly good try at making the sequel better than the original, but that is very very rare, but anyway....It was good to see Earl Basset in it again, played by Fred Ward.But all this needed to be a huge success was the presence of Kevin Bacon,the story line was at first a repeat of the first film but then the worms transformed into something completely different.I prefer Tremors the original, but this film has its own stand, and it was a galant effort to make it better.I give this a 6 out of 10, only because I had Aftershocks after I watched it!!!
It is missing Kevin Bacon and some of the character chemistry that worked so well, but it stands as a movie that is easily watchable, and often funny and thrilling.As the film begins, it features a rather low and depressed-looking Earl Bassett (Fred Ward), who, unlike his partner Valentine Mckee, didn't profit from the appearance of the giant worms, now known as graboids.
Tremors 2 is funny, thanks to Fred Ward's fine and entertaining performance, as well as Michael Gross's return.
Kevin Bacon is sadly missed, but the always reliable Fred Ward is a welcome return, as is Michael Gross as gun-packing survivalist Burt Gummer, who comes complete with everything from bullets to C4.
i really enjoyed the original Tremors.it worked on a lot of levels.unfortunately,this sequel doesn't.it seems to be mostly played for camp value,but i don't think it works very well.i found it very mostly very slow and boring.there were a few almost amusing moments,but overall,it was a disappointment.Kevin Bacon passed on this one,and it's easy to see why.he must have read the script.Fred Ward is back,but without Bacon,he his character just doesn't work as well.Michael Gross returns,and doesn't have much too do.also,i thought the dialogue was pretty cringe worthy at times.plus,the movie isn't really original.in fact it borrows heavily from another big movie that had come out a few years ago.i've seen worse movies,but this one still ranks as a major disappointment.for me,Tremors 2 is a 4/10..
As with most sequels, this doesn't quite measure up to the original, but it's still pretty good and fun to watch with most of the original cast returning sans Kevin Bacon.
Fred Ward and Michael Gross are the only two stars who returned for this direct-to-video sequel six years after the original.
Watched Tremors 2:Aftershocks Featuring Fred Ward(Miami Blues) as Earl Bassett , Christopher Gartin(Melrose Place) as Grady Hoover,Michael Gross(A Connecticut Yankee In Kings Arthurs Court) as Burt Gummer ,Helen Shaver(Born To Be Wild) as Kate Reilly, Marcelo Tubert(Dragnet) as Senor Carlos Ortega .
"Tremors II: Aftershocks"- The quintessential direct-to-video sequel, and a darned good follow-up to the cult-classic original!.
Boasting great production value for its lowered budget, a wickedly charming cast and a great sense of humor, in many ways it's a near-ideal follow-up to the cult classic original!A few years after the events of the original, Earl Basset (Fred Ward) is living alone on an Ostrich ranch, when he is approached by a Mexican oil-worker with an offer: hunt down a new rash of Graboids that are feeding on his men, and he will be handsomely compensated.
Together with giddy new sidekick Grady (Christopher Gartin) and former survivalist neighbor Burt Gummer (Michael Gross), Earl travels to Mexico and begins to blow the Graboids to kingdom come.
Despite costing less than half what the original ran, "Tremors II" consistently feels just as big and ambitious a film.The cast is great fun once again, and it's a joy to see some key returning characters mixed in with the fresh blood.
Fred Ward returns as Earl Basset(Kevin Bacon's character was absent) who is called upon by a Mexican oil refinery that is besieged by new "Graboids", needing the big money being offered, he accepts, and is aided in his fight by admirer Grady Hoover, as well as geologist Kate Reilly, whom he recognizes from somewhere...when more monsters appear than they can handle, they call upon the help of militarist/survivalist Burt Gummer(Michael Gross) who is more than happy to help out, and use his cache of weapons.Sequel is much better than expected, but it is just as breezy and fresh as the first, a rare accomplishment.
All in all, "Tremors 2; Aftershocks" is a really good follow-up to the hugely entertaining "Tremors", which itself was a surprise hit to begin with.The movie follows Earl's (Ward) second attempt at eliminating the Graboids who terrorized the small town of Perfection, Nevada, a few years earlier.
Script wise it's fairly good but nothing great.Fred Ward does well in his role, as do Gartin and Shaver but Michael Gross, as Gung HO survivalist Burt Gummer really steals the show.
Things are looking good for a while but soon our heroes are fighting for their lives against not only Graboids, but a new kind of creature (yet to be named until Tremors 3).Though not as scary as Tremors, the sequel is twice as funny.
Michael Gross returns , and he has some of the movies greatest one-liners you will ever hear,, I'm totally out of ammo,, that's never happened to me before,, this time the creatures evolve to something totally different, and yes they do get smarter,, this time Earl find himself in Mexico at a refinery where he enlists the help of Burt Gummer, who is eager to come to Earls' rescue,, Helen Shaver is also in this one and is very sexy to say the least.
Fourthly, the performances are engaging, Fred Ward reprises his role as charismatic and cool Earl and does a very good job, while Christopher Gartin is suitably chirpy as his assistant and Michael Gross is hilarious once again as Burt.
The giant underground creatures that terrorised a desert town in tremors and now pl-owing their way though Mexian Oil Fields, Gobbling up everything and everyone around them.Fred Ward and Micael Gross are the only two people to return to the sequel and Partnered with them are Christopher Gartin, a young man in need of kicks, cash and a career change and Helen Shaver who is a sexy and intrepid scientist.It's not as good as Tremours but it still a great sequel to it, (For those who have not seen it) I do not want to ruin it for you, I will say I did like how they changed the worms, it's was really good and they are just little more scary then the ones in tremors.It did have some really funny moments but not as funny as the first tremors movies and the acting was really good As it was 12 AKA 13PG it's not that scary or Gory, So the whole family could watch this movie.7/10.
This movie was good but the first movie is so much better then this movie and its a shame that Kevin Bacon did not come back to star in this film.Fred Ward and Michael Gross from the first movie came back to star in this movie witch was good and they both did a good job at acting and this movie stars other actors and actress like Christopher Gartin,Helen Shaver and Marcelo Tubert.The special effects in this movie where good but i have seen way better and way worse and i liked the new monster in this movie.Over all this movie is good with some flaws like not staring the great Kevin Bacon and my rating is 6 out of 10..
Tremors 2 is a really fun movie, starring Fred Ward as the main in this one, once again the underground monsters are back, Earl teams up with his old friend Burt Gummer played by Michael Gross, To try and get rid of all the killer worms,  Tremors 2 is even better then the first one, I hope they never stop making these films.10 out of 10.
Poor Follow Up. Tremors 2 (1996) * 1/2 (out of 4) Extremely poor follow up has the creatures attacking people at a Mexican oil rig so two surviving members of the first film (Fred Ward, Michael Gross) go down to clean things up.
Fred Ward and Michael Gross return from the original TREMORS to deal with the 30 foot earthworm-like creatures now named 'Graboids'.
With Earl, Grady, geologist Kate (Helen Shaver) & Earl's pal Bert Gummer (Michael Gross) trapped by the Shriekers they face a whole new set of problems escaping with heir lives...Co-written & directed by S.S. Wilson this was the first sequel to the rather excellent & likable 90's monster flick Tremors (1990), while not as good as the original Tremors this really isn't too bad & it worth a watch if you have any sort of fondness for the original or a liking for monster flicks in general.