Tremors 6 - Ein kalter Tag in der Hölle

Well, you know what you are getting yourself into when you sit down to watch this kind of movie. Especially since the "Tremors" franchise doesn't seem to lay down to die. The recent movies haven't been outstanding and "Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell" is no different.

This is an enjoyable enough movie for what it is, which is mediocre entertainment.

Michael Gross revisits the role of Burt Gummer, and he alone well and the worms of course are the sole instrument from the original movie that keeps this franchise afloat. And believe you me, they are boiling soup on a very weak broth by now.

The special effects and the creature effects are good, though and they definitely make the movie more watchable. As for the story, well let's just say that this movie offers nothing that haven't already been seen in the franchise, except for it being set in a colder climate.

If you enjoy the "Tremors" movie, then you will enjoy this movie. But if you are new to the franchise, I would strongly recommend that you start with the first movie. Yeah, the one with Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon.

I have to concede to be an old "Tremors" fan from the gitgo. However, I approached this iteration with some anxiety: I appreciate "Burt" fro the beginning and really appreciated the chemistry in the first two issues, yet was this one going to be worth my time?

Happily, this one measures up to a solid B film status and if you are a "Tremors" fan such as I am, then you will appreciate this one.

Part of the joy of this series is its capability of knowing exactly what it is. There is no pretense of anything beyond what you see: a romp with some cheesy effects.

I appreciate that this one also is aware of where it fits in the cycle: there are references to Reba and Kevin in this one that I enjoyed.

There are huge plot holes and obvious flaws in character development. The effects are splatters and that is about it. Got those viewers of a post CGI generation, this miststep will diseffect you.

If, however, you know this franchise and you appreciated the first ones, then you'd enjoy this pleasant way to spend an evening with old friends.

There are two types of people in this world; namely the ones agreeing with the statement that "Tremors" is the most entertaining monster-movie ever accomplished, and the ones who are just plain wrong for disagreeing! Say what you want about all the sequels, but the 1990-original is a bona-fide classic. How deeply you worship the original also determines how much you can tolerate the long list of sequels, or at least that is what yours truly firmly believes. In case you consider the original film to be a fun but largely insignificant flick, you will not care at all for any or the sequels, or probably not even know they are at number 6 already. If, however, you love the original and know all the dialogues between Val and Earl by heart, you'll also be appreciative of the sequels.

"A Cold Day in Hell" isn't a particularly good film. None of the sequels are, in fact, but they surely always deliver in the entertainment departure, and this sixth film in the series isn't an exception. What I respect is that every new entry in the series tries to add one or two new and innovative aspects to "Tremors"-universe, but also inserts at least one throwback-aspect to the original. The additions to "A Cold Day in Hell" are the Arctic setting, and the plot-twist of good old Burt Gummer needs a transfusion with blood from a living Graboid. The throwback is that one of the supportive characters, Valerie, supposedly is the daughter of Valentine McKee and Rhonda LeBeck of the original adventure. I noticed a 7th instalment - entitled "Shrieker Island" - is out already as well, which I'll surely watch sooner or later.

It's incredible what Tremors has accomplished over the years, 6 movies, a television series and almost a second. Who'd have thought that we'd still be seeing them released in 2018 and it hasn't even been rebooted!

Burt Gummer returns again to tackle a Graboid infestation and for the second movie in a row his son is along for the ride. This time however instead of desert these giant worms have taken residence in snow.

Great gimmick right? Shaking things up, trouble is it's not. We have one scene involving snow and the rest is...............desert basically. That's right they've squandered the entire gimmick and because of that we just have yet another Tremors film.

Now I really enjoyed Tremors 5 and would consider it second only to the original movie, that's why it saddens me to say that perhaps this should be it. The last movie felt fresh, this felt more than stale and brought absolutely nothing new to the table at all. Each previous movie had an identity, brought new creatures, new interesting characters, new gimmicks. Here, there's nothing despite the broken promise of the snow setting.

With Michael Gross being the only recurring star to have been in every movie I have to tip my hat to him for being excellent as always. Jamie Kennedy, less so but I'm slightly bias on that front.

A Cold Day in Hell isn't bad, it's just reminder that some things really should come to an end.

The Good:

Michael Gross

Script has its moments

The Bad:

Jamie Kennedy

When will they learn? Practical effects > CGI

Very paint by numbers stuff

The Tremors series started so well but began to go downhill after the first two or three movies. The good news about Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell is it's not appreciably worse than the movie before it, Tremors 5.

It's also not any better.

As in the previous movie, Tremors is focused primarily on Burt Gummer, with most of the rest of the cast made up of generic background players. The movie is very poorly written, with dull banter and cliched situations.

While the first half of the film is fairly tedious, things pick up as the human drama gives way to monster fighting. There's nothing new or original, but the movie follows the Tremors playbook with a modicum of success.

I suspect this is how it will be from here on in; just a series of watchable TV movies that get just enough viewers to justify making the next one. If you're a fan of the series with some time to kill, go ahead and check this out. Just don't expect much.