Tremors 5: Bloodlines

I dug this freak-show! It's a old school popcorn movie with some bad-ass monsters. It honored the franchise, which I love, but brought it up to date and delivered some scares. Kudos. I really loved seeing Burt in action again. And the addition of Jamie Kennedy was spot on. The South African gang of actors really spiced things up. The character of Den Bravers was the Crocodile Dundee of South Africa. I'd love to see Burt and Den together again in the next one. And Brandon Auret was tons of fun to watch as Dreyer. And now to Ms. Pearl Thusi. What a find she was. Pretty and athletic with a depth of character. Everyone really stepped up and added to the movie. Burt Gummer was in good company and of course, now we have to talk about the Graboids and AssBlasters. The new designs are greeeeattt! Updated and fresh. Well done to all involved. Can't wait for the next one.

You may wonder why there would be another one of those? But then again, fans of other franchises could only dream of their favorite character coming back on screen. And Grummer seems to be just that. Impossible to kill off (no pun intended) and in all movies Tremors related (probably even in the TV spinoffs and whatnot).

This time his sidekick is someone most people will know from the Scream franchise. And/or from conventions - and if it is the latter, the character he portrays seems very close to his actual personality. Then again, maybe a fusion has taken place where you can't decipher if he's fooling around or actually that ... guy 24/7. Having said all that, some may find that intriguing and funny and others may find it very annoying. Up to you to decide, you should not be easily offended by the way.

Visually this is top notch and the effects are quite alright for mostly CGI (especially the first movie is known for its hands on effects which were awesome) ... funny or boring, depending on your threshold, but with a franchise to back it up and give it some life - just don't question the "wisdom" and the evolution ... and the coincidences and ... well you get the point(s)

I enjoyed the first "Tremors" movie a lot, and to some degree or another I enjoyed the next three entries (released straight to video) in the series. However, with "Tremors 5", it seems that Universal Pictures has gone to the well once too often. The move to South Africa does add a little freshness to the background, but film buffs will know that the real reason this entry moved to South Africa is that it's a lot cheaper to make movies there. Indeed, there are some parts of the movie that look like they were very cheaply (and quickly) filmed. This sloppiness also extends to the script - there are some sections that feel they were more or less made up right on the spot, and there are a number of plot turns that you'll be able to predict before they actually happen. The special effects and the attack scenes aren't that bad for a direct to video movie, but it's the material surrounding them that's weak. I feel I should mention that the movie is nowhere as bad as it could have been, but all the same it's a disappointment for fans of the franchise.

Tremors 5: Bloodlines (English) 6.5/10 Genre: Adventure/Action Director: Don Michael Paul Cast: Michael Gross, Jamie Kennedy, Natalie Becker Year: 2015

This movie certainly is a victim of bad marketing and promotion and will undoubtedly be one of the most underrated films of 2015 and honestly I never knew that there will be a fifth coming out from the Tremors franchise. This also happens to be the second film this year after Jurassic World which took me back to my childhood when I used to love these monster movies but surprisingly I felt this was better than Jurassic World considering the fact that it was probably made on one tenth of Jurassic World's budget, no theatrical release and above all I had no expectation from this film and watched it just for fun, turns out it's more than just fun. The special effects and creature effects were as good as any high budget film and since this one is just a direct-to-DVD B-grade film it somehow was the best as compared to other films made on low budget. The story this time moves to South Africa where Burt Gummer is back hunting down Graboids with the help of his unknown Son. Don Michael Paul who has directed quite a few B-grade films probably did his best job as director in regards to B-grade films. Acting was not bad if not brilliant which is pretty understandable for a film like this with Michael Gross reprising his role as Gummer for the fifth time and the only actor to appear in all the Tremors films along with Jamie Kennedy performing supporting duties as his son. The action, stunt and creature effects were pretty cool and the reason why I loved it so much. If you are fan of the Tremors franchise then you cannot afford to miss this one which might surprise you as well.

I really wanted to like it, but it was an enterprise doomed to failure. Not only the graboids have a complicated life cycle that involves a flying version that uses igneous farts to propel themselves, but the movie is now located in South Africa and filled with clichés of how Americans see the place.

The monsters were cool enough, but the tension was gone, as well as the classic Tremors feel, where an isolated community gets together to defeat unbeatable carnivore beasts. Instead we have big guns easily killing big dumb animals. It's not a totally bad film for the Tremors "series", but certainly it is a disgrace to the original film.

Bottom line: watching it for the melancholy and the fun. Had neither.