Burt would definitely view destroying a man’s fences as the greater sin. A much more invasive act than damaging a vehicle.
Archives
Do all the concussion grenades Burt throws @ El Blanco damage his ears, inhibiting his hunting ability?
Interesting question. However, it is likely that graboids sense vibration by some organ other than actual ears, as sound doesn’t travel well through dirt. They may have nerve endings all over their skin, for example. That said, it is also likely that some would lobby for Burt to discontinue the practice on the assumption it’d be bad for El Blanco long term.
Where was the “Carson City” set located? I’m about 99.9999% it was at the Calico Ghost Town. (I was stationed at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow, which included the railhead in Yermo)
You are 100% correct. Calico Ghost Town.
Not trying to complain about the name but I was just wondering. Within the universe of Tremors, what would be the formal name used for Ass-Blasters? I imagine that science articles, zoology journals, and children’s animal books would prefer to use a different name. Could it be Flying Shriekers? Bombardier Graboids? Thinking back to Tremors 4, Tecopa suggests Native Americans encountered Graboids in the past. Could ABs be the possible basis for the legendary Thunderbirds?
Long question, but certainly valid! Yes, the press and the scientific community would definitely have had to tone down Jodi’s graphic impromptu name. It’s not something we thought about even going into the TV series. Internally we just call them ABs, but it does seem folks would have wanted something more descriptive. Not sure shrieker or graboid in the name works. Thunderbird might be an option, but one would have to check how that would square with Native Americans. At the moment we confess we’re stumped for something better. Maybe more fans can chime in?
If some graboid ends up on a solid surface like a concrete floor would it be able to move itself forward like a caterpillar? Or maybe its tentacles have enough strength to drag the graboid forward if they grab onto some anchor? Or this poor worm will be completely helpless out of its lovely dirt?
We actually got into this question in T-1. I wanted to show that, as you suggest, the graboid in Burt and Heather’s basement was partially helpless, not completely. We had shots of its spikes slipping on the linoleum floor but the director and editor decided not to use them. Love the idea of a graboid pulling itself forward with its tentacles. Wish we’d thought of it! BTW, the rig we built to shoot the spike shots will be featured in an upcoming Tremors: The Lost Tapes episode on S.S.Wilson’s youtube channel. [This answer is being posted August 2021]
Old Stumpy vs El Blanco. Whose your money on?
Someday fans will have to explain to us what the fascination is with various creatures battling various other creatures. There are other permutations of this question all over the faq area. But we’ll take a stab at this one. Stumpy, the injured graboid from T-1, would possibly be at a disadvantage in a battle with El Blanco from T-3. On the other hand, El Blanco from being an atypical graboid, might be fearful of a confrontation with a “normal” one and try to flee. There. No answer.
Why was the original film a lot darker than the others?
It’s an evolution. And it came from our surprise at learning how family-friendly Tremors proved to be, even with the violence, swearing, and smoking. We were like, “Parents are showing Tremors to their kids??” When we got the opportunities to make 2, 3, and 4 we felt a responsibility to go in a slightly lighter direction, hopefully not too far.
I’m coming from a Reddit thread where I heard Universal took the rights from the original creators of Tremors, and I just wanna know, is there anything I can do to help? Is there a petition I can sign? Do I need to contact my local senator? What can I do to get the original “Tremors” guys to have the rights again?
This is a comment/question we’ve been getting a lot since Tremors 5 came out. We very much appreciate how many fans have been riled up by our being taken off the movies. But there’s not much anyone can do about it. It’s standard old school Hollywood legal. You sell the rights to your screenplay outright forever. After that the studio can do whatever it wants.
Why, after such amazing special effects and puppeteering in the first two movies, was CGI used in the third?
It was partly a budget question and partly a “reality” question. The full scale graboids take a very long time to set up and work with (with your full crew standing around getting paid). We had less than half the budget and time for Tremors 3 than we had on Tremors 1. So we decided to experiment with some CGI because it could be done after the main shoot and would allow us to, for example, see El Blanco come further out of the ground, or have an AB burst through a door into the middle of the room all in one shot. That said, it was early CG days and we know fans weren’t thrilled with how some of the shots came out.
Did you guys have it in the script for Jodi to let a graboid swallow her with a chainsaw in her hand just to cut herself out?
Uh… nope. That idea never crossed our minds.
I can’t believe Melvin gets the honor of being the 1st person to be grabbed by a graboid and survive.
It’s one of many twists on movie cliches we enjoyed doing. Most people seeing the movie the first time are POSITIVE Melvin will get eaten.
Do you think the Perfectionists play fetch with their pet El Blanco?
We were working on ideas like that. We had one where El Blanco starts coming by the store regularly, and reaching a white tentacle in through the window for snacks from Jodi Chang.
Can I make a t-shirt with a quote from the movie and a graphic of my own design (based on a Graboid), or would that get me in copyright trouble? Not for sale; just for my own, personal use.
We can’t offer legal advice, so don’t quote us, but we think if it’s your own creation and you don’t try to market it or sell it, you’d be on pretty safe ground.
Tabletop games have started making a pretty big comeback recently and several Horror Franchises have gotten in on it. I was wondering if a Tremors Table Top game would be of any interest?
As we sadly have to keep pointing out, we are interested in anything that takes advantage of Tremors’ notoriety. But we do not have any say in what Universal studios does with the property. Over the years they have never followed up on the many ideas like this that have been proposed.
Do you think Black Hand Kelly would have survived if Michael Gross wasn’t in Tremors 4?
I think this means if Black Hand had not been hired by Hiram Gummer. If so, then yes, it was unfortunate for him that he took that particular assignment. He likely would have continued being a successful gunfighter.
When Burt is swallowed by the graboid, why did he take his boots off? Did he get comfortable?
Burt is holding one of his boots when he emerges from the cut-open graboid, but the idea (perhaps not totally clear) was that it got pulled off in the violence of being swallowed, not that he took it off on purpose. But, Burt being Burt, he wasn’t going to leave a good mil-spec boot behind in there.
Why did the graboid resurface with Buford instead of just swallowing him underground? Was it just to tell the Perferctionists “We’re back”?
Yes, of course it is partly for dramatic impact. After all, it’s a movie. But we do have logic; when a graboid gets large prey like a person, it often (not always) surfaces so as to be able to swallow its meal without also gulping an unpleasant amount of dirt.
How well do you think graboids/shriekers would fare in a zombie apocalypse?
Here is another of those genre-crunching question, but we’ll tackle it. Assuming an apocalypse in which the zombies are caused by a virus and noting that, generally, animals are not usually harmed by human diseases, it is probable that graboids would have a field day. Lumbering noisy zombies would be very easy prey. Once shriekers emerged, they’d have hordes of zombies to eat and, with virtually unlimited food, would proliferate astronomically. So a zombie apocalypse would quickly become an shrieker apocalypse, and then an AB apocalypse. Presumably, any remaining humans who had been fighting zombies would have no chance at all.
Could a graboid decide to “have” its shriekers underground?
No. Like any animal, graboids will do what they must to ensure the best start for their offspring. A graboid about to morph into shriekers will always come to the surface unless for some reason it can’t do so.
Do assblasters really not have tongues, or are they hidden? If not, why don’t they; and how do they taste [food]?
ABs don’t need as much food as shriekers, and don’t live as long. They have to survive only long enough to find a good spot to lay their single graboid egg. So while there could be a vestigial remnant of the long shrieker tongue somewhere down in an ABs throat, they have to rely solely on their infrared vision to find prey.
Do you think Agent K from Men in Black would tell a graboid to “Eat me!” to get his gun back like he did that bug?
We seem to be having a run on franchise-blending questions. While it is true that a graboid might inadvertently swallow a gun, we did not write Men in Black and cannot predict what Agent K might do if faced with that situation.
Ok. How funny do you think it would be if a graboid swallowed Bruce Banner?
Well, not funny for the graboid, which would surely lose in that situation, given that Banner (The Hulk) is a much more powerful, if far more unrealistic, comic book creation.
Does Jodi know martial arts?
No. As a born and bred American she has only distant ties to her ancestral heritage.
Do you guys think Rhonda had severe PTSD from seeing Walter get eaten?
She would have been deeply affected, certainly, but we don’t think to the point of it being debilitating or preventing her from continuing her scientific work, as she mentions she’ll be doing at the end of the movie.
Do you guys think the character of Nancy died since Marcia Strassman passed away in reality? Or would Charlotte Stewart reprise her if they did another film?
We originally went to Charlotte Stewart for the TV series, but she had a prior contract she could not get out of, so that’s why Marcia got the role. That being the case, while we were very saddened by Marcia’s passing we would assume the character would live on and, yes, if Charlotte were available she’d be our choice for the part (but we remind all readers we have no control over what is done with Tremors).