Communicating Fears in Film: Nightmarish Nature, Part 2 - Tremors (1990)

Send us Fan MailSpecial Topics in Media continues its trek into "Nightmarish Nature" in our Communicating Fears in Film season with a exploration of director Ron Underwood's cult classic Tremors (1990). Cohosts Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry unpack origins both filmic and ephemeral as this southwestern creature feature horror-comedy from Universal Studios occupies a unique space in cinema history. The dialogic duo delve deep into the collaborative industry practices that help make Tremors a film that is on one hand disposable while on the other hand unforgettable. From the script's construction (21:53) to its lineage in the buddy-action era (25:25), the hosts situate a cultural context that positions Tremors among the eerie anxieties associated with unpredictable earthquakes along Death Valley in the latter years of the twentieth century (36:25). Amidst their winding journey, Garret and Scott link Tremors to the American Western film genre (42:04) Of note, the hosts highlight several of the film's numerous tipped-hats to one of Hollywood's earliest and most successful genres that received considerable revisionist treatment from filmmakers in the 1990s (notably Clint Eastwood's bleak Unforgiven and George P. Cosmatos action ensembleTombstone) and outright deconstruction of its romantic mythology in film and television of the twenty-first century (including David Milch's Deadwood, P. T. Anderson's There Will Be Blood, and Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained among others). Ultimately, the duo remain split on ways in which Tremors communicates fear in film but agree on its gleeful romp through B-movie tropes (1:07:33).  Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurryProducers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)Recommended readings paired with Season Seven "Communicating Fears in Film":Kendall Phillips. Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture. Praeger, 2006.Stephen Prince. Apocalypse Cinema. Rutgers University Press, 2021.Murray Leeder. Horror Film: A Critical Introduction. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2018.Ron Underwood (Director). Tremors. California, USA: Universal Pictures, 1990.Ways to Connect with us online:Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics."Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/. Support the show