Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, out 16 November

Problems with genetically modified Graboids? Who else can you call in but Burt Gummer?

This seventh film in the Tremors franchise marks the series’ 30th anniversary and shows that there’s still a place for good old-fashioned B moviemaking – and that’s said in the nicest possible way. It’s a fun way to spend 100 minutes, with Michael Gross once again bringing Burt Gummer to the screen. Burt is reluctant to get involved, but once he does, he demonstrates exactly why the character’s got such a strong following, and why the actor playing him returns regularly. (There’s a bonus feature, narrated in character, that looks back over Burt’s involvement in the films.)

There’s plenty of action and some decent gags in the script – which does feel at times as if the writers are aiming to combine Tremors with the Jurassic Park franchise – but the budget feels lower for this than even the other direct to video entries, and I wonder if we might have reached the point of no return for the Tremors franchise. If that is the case, then this would be an appropriate one to finish with – the ending’s emotional power would be lost if there’s just a reset for film eight.

Verdict: An entertaining way to spend a lockdowned evening. 7/10

Paul Simpson

Tremors: Shrieker Island is out on Digital, Blu-ray™ and DVD on 16 November from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

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