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102-514: Tremors is a 1990 American monster comedy horror film directed by Ron Underwood , produced by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson , written by Maddock, Wilson, and Underwood and starring Kevin Bacon , Fred Ward , Finn Carter , Michael Gross , and Reba McEntire . In the film, handymen Val McKee (Bacon) and Earl Bassett (Ward) wish to leave the small desert town of Perfection, Nevada, as they are tired of their dull lives. However, they happen upon

204-533: A Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization in early 2020 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022–present) , survivalism has received renewed interest, even by those who are not traditionally considered preppers. Survivalism is approached by its adherents in different ways, depending on their circumstances, mindsets, and particular concerns for

306-668: A catastrophic failure of society. Use of the term survivalist dates from the early 1980s. The origins of the modern survivalist movement in the United Kingdom and the United States include government policies, threats of nuclear warfare , religious beliefs, and writers who warned of social or economic collapse in both non-fiction and apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction . The Cold War era civil defense programs promoted public atomic bomb shelters, personal fallout shelters , and training for children, such as

408-487: A cultural icon to the Japanese, as much as Superman is a cultural symbol to America, with a number of films presenting Godzilla as a sort of protagonist who helps protect humans from other, more malevolent monsters. The attempts of the humans to destroy the monster would at first be the usage of an opposing military force – an attempt that would antagonize the monster even more and prove useless (a cliché associated with

510-520: A mantrap foyer at survival retreats, an architectural element that he calls a "crushroom". Economic troubles emerging from the credit collapse triggered by the 2007 US subprime mortgage lending crisis and global grain shortages prompted a wider cross-section of the populace to prepare. The advent of H1N1 Swine Flu in 2009 piqued interest in survivalism, significantly boosting sales of preparedness books and making survivalism more mainstream. These developments led Gerald Celente , founder of

612-708: A personal identity or collective identity with a devoted lifestyle. Survivalism emphasises self-reliance, stockpiling supplies, and gaining survival knowledge and skills. The stockpiling of supplies is itself a wide spectrum, from survival kits (ready bags, bug-out bags) to entire bunkers in extreme cases. Survivalists often acquire first aid and emergency medical / paramedic / field medicine training, self-defense training ( martial arts , ad hoc weaponry , firearm safety ), and improvisation / self-sufficiency training, and they often build structures ( survival retreats , underground shelters , etc.) or modify/ fortify existing structures etc. that may help them survive

714-562: A cultural icon , and one of the most recognizable monsters in cinema history. It also inspired a wave of kaiju films, such as Rodan from this time. Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), a re-edited Americanized version of Godzilla for the North American market, notably inspired Steven Spielberg when he was a youth. He described Godzilla as "the most masterful of all the dinosaur movies" because "it made you believe it

816-534: A double homicide was committed by survivalist Peter Keller, who admitted to killing his wife and daughter in a video diary. He killed himself while evading capture in a bunker he built in Rattlesnake Ridge in King County, Washington . Both were cited by The Christian Science Monitor as examples of survivalism being tied to violence. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic , which was declared

918-454: A friendly dragon voiced by Sean Connery . Traditional monster movies re-emerged to a wider audience during the late 1990s. An American remake of Godzilla was made in 1998. The Godzilla featured in that film was considerably different from the original and many Godzilla fans disliked it, but it was a box office success. In 2002, a French monster film Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) became

1020-915: A heavy-duty greenhouse with canned non-hybrid seeds. This group considers an end to society as it exists today under possible scenarios including global warming , global cooling , environmental degradation , warming or cooling of gulf stream waters, or a period of severely cold winters caused by a supervolcano , an asteroid strike , or nuclear warfare . This group is concerned with the spread of fatal diseases, biological agents, and nerve gases, including COVID-19 , swine flu , E. coli , botulism , dengue fever , Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease , SARS , rabies , Hantavirus , anthrax , plague , cholera , HIV , ebola , Marburg virus , Lassa virus , sarin , and VX . In response, they might own NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) full-face respirators, polyethylene coveralls, PVC boots, nitrile gloves , plastic sheeting and duct tape . Monetary disaster investors believe

1122-484: A long time with no one ever seeing it, or released (or awakened) from a prison of some sort where it was being held. The monster is usually a villain, but can be a metaphor of humankind's continuous destruction; giant monsters since the introduction of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) have for a time been considered a symbol of atomic warfare , for instance. On the contrary, Godzilla began in this fashion yet as time moved on his reputation quickly grew into that of

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1224-472: A manner similar to Cloverfield , presented the story of a monster epidemic from the perspective of the humans affected by it. Although not entirely focused on monsters, blockbusters such as The Avengers and Prometheus included scenes that featured monsters posing threats to the protagonists. In 2013, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures released the Guillermo del Toro film Pacific Rim . Though

1326-503: A monetary collapse in 1967, with Don Stephens (an architect) providing input on how to build and equip a remote survival retreat . He gave a copy of his original Retreater's Bibliography to each seminar participant. Articles on the subject appeared in small-distribution libertarian publications such as The Innovator and Atlantis Quarterly . It was during this period that Robert D. Kephart began publishing Inflation Survival Letter (later renamed Personal Finance ). For several years

1428-588: A reboot of the Godzilla franchise directed by Gareth Edwards . Legendary originally intended to produce a trilogy with Edwards attached to direct all films. Shortly afterwards, Legendary announced a shared cinematic universe between Godzilla and King Kong, titled MonsterVerse . Two years later in 2016, Toho rebooted the Godzilla franchise with Shin Godzilla . Kong: Skull Island was released in March 2017,

1530-607: A reboot of the King Kong franchise and second film in Legendary's MonsterVerse. The third film in the MonsterVerse, Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released on May 31, 2019. Michael Dougherty directed the film and featured Rodan , Mothra , and King Ghidorah . The fourth film in the MonsterVerse, Godzilla vs. Kong , directed by Adam Wingard , was released on March 31, 2021. Survivalist Survivalism

1632-539: A retreat's exterior walls in any blind spots. Depending on the size of the group needing shelter, design elements of traditional European castle architecture, and Chinese Fujian Tulou and Mexican walled courtyard houses, have been suggested for survival retreats. Bruce D. Clayton and Joel Skousen have both written extensively on integrating fallout shelters into retreat homes, but they put less emphasis on ballistic protection and exterior perimeter security than Cooper and Rawles. Other newsletters and books followed in

1734-401: A scaring device. Just before the technological revolution that made possible to create digital special effects thanks to CGI , the last generation of SFX artists impressed many with the quality and realism of their creations: Rick Baker , Stan Winston and Rob Bottin are among the most remarkable names in the industry. 1993 saw the release of Jurassic Park , based on the 1990 novel of

1836-420: A serial killer is on the loose. Two construction workers ignore Val and Earl's warning and are killed by the same creature, causing a rock slide. Val and Earl try to find help after warning the residents, but find the phone lines are dead and that the rock slide has blocked the only road out of town. Out of sight, a snake-like creature wraps itself around their truck's rear axle, but is torn apart when Val stomps on

1938-471: A series of mysterious deaths and a concerned seismologist Rhonda (Carter) studying unnatural readings below the ground. With the help of eccentric survivalist couple Burt and Heather Gummer (Gross and McEntire), the group fights for survival against giant, prehistoric, worm-like monsters hungry for human flesh. Released by Universal Pictures , the film is the first installment of the Tremors franchise and

2040-580: A story in the vein of classic monster movies, focuses entirely on the perspective and reactions of the human cast and is regarded by some as a look at terrorism and the September 11 attacks metaphorically. The following year The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) was released, in which the legendary Loch Ness Monster is portrayed as a playful creature menaced by overly aggressive humans. The British Independent Film Award -winning film Monsters , in

2142-543: A three out of four rating, feeling that "horror/comedies often tread too far to one side or the other of that fine line; Tremors walks it like a tightrope". Roger Ebert said that he "liked it enough to recommend it, just barely" and described it as "a goofy, dumb, fun movie". Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly gave Tremors a B+, saying: " Tremors is the Slacker of monster movies: bemused, improvisatory, willfully low-key". Richard Harrington of The Washington Post called

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2244-490: Is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists , doomsday preppers or preppers ) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters , and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, civil disorder ) caused by political or economic crises. Preparations may anticipate short-term scenarios or long-term, on scales ranging from personal adversity, to local disruption of services, to international or global catastrophe . There

2346-435: Is considered a standard reference on stocking food and household supplies as a hedge against inflation and future shortages. In addition to hardcopy newsletters, in the 1970s survivalists established their first online presence with BBS and Usenet forums dedicated to survivalism and survival retreats. Further interest in the survivalist movement peaked in the early 1980s, with Howard Ruff's book How to Prosper During

2448-436: Is for us to watch", and Variety gave the film a C− on the basis that Tremors "...has a few clever twists and characters but ultimately can't decide on what it wants to be: flat-out funny, which it's usually not, or a scarefest, which it's usually not either." Gene Siskel initially gave the film a negative review, stating: "A little of it goes an awfully long way... There are just so many tricks, though, that you can do with

2550-522: Is no bright line dividing general emergency preparedness from prepping in the form of survivalism (these concepts are a spectrum), but a qualitative distinction is often recognized whereby preppers/survivalists prepare especially extensively because they have higher estimations of the risk of catastrophes happening. Nonetheless, prepping can be as limited as preparing for a personal emergency (such as losing one's job, storm damage to one's home, or getting lost in wooded terrain), or it can be as extensive as

2652-672: Is one of the earliest examples of film to include a creature . The German Expressionist Nosferatu in 1922, and the depiction of a dragon in Fritz Lang 's Die Nibelungen in 1924, followed tradition. In the 1930s, American film studios began to produce more successful films of this type, usually based on Gothic tales such as Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931, both heavily influenced by German Expressionism, followed by The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Classified as horror films, they included iconic monsters. Special effects animator Willis O'Brien worked on

2754-415: Is the struggle between a human collective of protagonists against one or more monsters, who often serve as the antagonistic force. In Japanese cinema , giant monsters known as kaiju often take up this role. The monster is often created by a folly of mankind – an experiment gone wrong, the effects of radiation or the destruction of habitat . Or the monster is from outer space , has been on Earth for

2856-506: The Velociraptor established themselves in the public psyche. The movies also helped generate renewed interest in paleontology . While the films showed allegedly authentic dinosaurs which had been recreated by genetic engineering and could be understood as science fiction, advanced contemporary animation technology made it also possible to revive medieval legends about dragons. The successful feature film Dragonheart (1996) showed

2958-584: The 2016 election and the events leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic . Instead of moving or making such preparations at home, many people also make plans to remain in their current locations until an actual breakdown occurs, when they will—in survivalist parlance—"bug out" or "get out of Dodge" to a safer location. Other survivalists have more specialized concerns, often related to an adherence to apocalyptic religious beliefs. Some evangelical Christians hold to an interpretation of Bible prophecy known as

3060-554: The Attack Pack was not released on Blu-ray; instead, the second, third, and fourth films were released on Blu-ray separately on August 5, 2013. It was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray by Arrow Video on December 15, 2020, based on a 4K restoration . The soundtrack for Tremors was composed by Ernest Troost and released in 2000. The album contained nine tracks from the film as well as four additional tracks, also composed by Troost, from Bloodrush . For promotional purposes,

3162-536: The Duck and Cover films. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has long directed its members to store a year's worth of food for themselves and their families in preparation for such possibilities, and the current teaching advises beginning with at least a three-month supply. The Great Depression that followed the Wall Street Crash of 1929 is cited by survivalists as an example of

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3264-686: The Federal Reserve system is fundamentally flawed. Newsletters suggest hard assets of gold and silver bullion, coins, and other precious-metal-oriented investments such as mining shares. Survivalists prepare for paper money to become worthless through hyperinflation. As of late 2009 this is a popular scenario. Many will stockpile bullion in preparation for a market crash that would destroy the value of global currencies. These individuals study End Times prophecy and believe that one of various scenarios might occur in their lifetime. While some Christians (and even people of other religions) believe that

3366-503: The National Geographic Channel 's Doomsday Preppers emerged to capitalize on what Los Angeles Times entertainment contributor Mary McNamara dubbed "today's zeitgeist of fear of a world-changing event". After the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting , the "prepper" community worried they would face public scrutiny after it was revealed the perpetrator's mother was a survivalist. Earlier that year,

3468-652: The OODA loop —observe, orient, decide and act), Combatives , martial arts, unarmed combat , Melee weapons, self-defense tactics and tools (both lethal and non-lethal). These survivalist tactics are often firearm-oriented, in order to ensure a method of defense against attackers or home invasion . This group consists of people who live in tornado, hurricane, flood, wildfire, earthquake or heavy snowfall-prone areas and want to be prepared for possible emergencies. They invest in material for fortifying structures and tools for rebuilding and constructing temporary shelters. While assuming

3570-740: The Rapture will follow a period of Tribulation , others believe that the Rapture is imminent and will precede the Tribulation ("Pre-Trib Rapture"). There is a wide range of beliefs and attitudes in this group. They run the gamut from pacifist to armed camp, and from having no food stockpiles (leaving their sustenance up to God's providence) to storing decades' worth of food. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are counseled to store up to two years' worth of food and supplies to aid in

3672-590: The September 11, 2001, attacks and subsequent bombings in Bali , Madrid , and London . This resurgence of interest in survivalism appears to be as strong as the 1970s era focus on the topic. The fear of war, avian influenza , energy shortages, environmental disasters , and global climate change , coupled with economic uncertainty and the apparent vulnerability of humanity after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina , have increased interest in survivalism topics. Many books were published in

3774-425: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , based on 51 reviews and an average score of 7.20/10. The critics consensus reads: "An affectionate throwback to 1950s creature features, Tremors reinvigorates its genre tropes with a finely balanced combination of horror and humor." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale. James Berardinelli praised Tremors with

3876-602: The "land sharks" into creatures that could realistically exist. After their script for Short Circuit spawned a major box office hit, Wilson and Maddock quickly began shopping around their idea for Tremors . The name "Land Sharks" was changed owing to a then-popular Saturday Night Live sketch featuring a character of the same name. The original screenplay, titled Beneath Perfection , was finished in June 1988. Filming began in early 1989 and lasted over 50 days. Principal photography took place around Lone Pine, California , and

3978-434: The 1925 fantasy adventure The Lost World , based on the novel of the same name . The book and film featured dinosaurs , the basis for many future movies . He began work on a similar film known as Creation in 1931, but the project was never completed. Two years later, O'Brien produced special effects for the 1933 RKO film King Kong , directed by Merian C. Cooper . Since then, King Kong has not only become one of

4080-579: The 1970s was the Personal Survival ("P.S.") Letter (circa 1977–1982). Published by Mel Tappan , who also authored the books Survival Guns and Tappan on Survival . The newsletter included columns from Tappan himself and notable survivalists such as Jeff Cooper , Al J Venter , Bruce D. Clayton , Nancy Mack Tappan , J.B. Wood (author of several gunsmithing books), Karl Hess , Janet Groene (travel author), Dean Ing , Reginald Bretnor , and C.G. Cobb (author of Bad Times Primer ). The majority of

4182-562: The Coming Bad Years and the publication in 1980 of Life After Doomsday by Bruce D. Clayton . Clayton's book, coinciding with a renewed arms race between the United States and Soviet Union , marked a shift in emphasis in preparations made by survivalists away from economic collapse, famine, and energy shortages—which were concerns in the 1970s—to nuclear war. In the early 1980s, science fiction writer Jerry Pournelle

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4284-485: The Coming Collapse , James Wesley Rawles describes in great detail retreat groups "upgrading" brick or other masonry houses to that of a security compound with steel reinforced window shutters and doors, excavating anti-vehicular ditches, installing gate locks , constructing concertina wire obstacles and fougasses , and setting up listening post/ observation posts (LP/OPs.) Rawles is a proponent of including

4386-528: The Trends Research Institute, to identify a trend that he calls "neo-survivalism". He explained this phenomenon in a radio interview with Jim Puplava on December 18, 2009: When you go back to the last depressing days when we were in a survival mode, the last one the Y2K of course, before the 1970s, what had happened was you only saw this one element of survivalist, you know, the caricature,

4488-599: The US box office, behind Born on the Fourth of July , Tango & Cash , The War of the Roses and Internal Affairs , grossing $ 3,731,520 in its opening weekend. It dropped to sixth in its second week but would stay in the top 10 for four weeks before finally dropping to eleventh in its fifth week. Tremors grossed $ 16 million against the budget of $ 6 million. In 2019, Kevin Bacon hinted that Tremors only made "a fifth of what

4590-443: The accelerator and drives away, and is discovered when they return to town. Val and Earl borrow horses to ride to Bixby for help. They come upon Wallace and his wife's buried station wagon near their trailer, but the couple is missing. As they press on, an enormous burrowing worm-like monster suddenly erupts out of the ground, revealing the snake-like creature to be one of the worm's many tentacled "tongues". Thrown from their horses,

4692-482: The action scenes to have a larger feel, hiring composer Robert Folk to write a few new pieces of score that would give the action greater heft. Despite his contributions, Folk ultimately went uncredited. Tremors was set for a November 1989 release. However, the MPAA gave the film an R rating owing to language, and the creators decided at the last minute to make the film more commercially available. Over 20 or so uses of

4794-492: The alarm because they thought Y2K code fixes were not being made quickly enough. While a range of authors responded to this wave of concern, two of the most survival-focused texts to emerge were Boston on Y2K (1998) by Kenneth W. Royce , and Mike Oehler's The Hippy Survival Guide to Y2K . Oehler is an underground living advocate, who also authored The $ 50 and Up Underground House Book , which has long been popular in survivalist circles. Another wave of survivalism began after

4896-609: The album was released as a limited edition CD . In 2020, La-La Land Records gave the score its first commercial release as a 2-CD set; CD 1 featured Troost's music, with CD 2 containing Robert Folk 's additional music. A sequel, Tremors 2: Aftershocks , was released in 1996. A second sequel, Tremors 3: Back to Perfection , was released in 2001, followed by a prequel, Tremors 4: The Legend Begins in 2004. These three sequels were all made with direct involvement from S. S. Wilson, Brent Maddock, and Ron Underwood at Stampede Entertainment. Following an 11-year gap, Tremors 5: Bloodlines

4998-487: The ban's subsequent passage in 1994. The interest peaked again in 1999 triggered by fears of the Y2K computer bug . Before extensive efforts were made to rewrite computer programming code to mitigate the effects, some writers such as Gary North , Ed Yourdon , James Howard Kunstler , and investments' advisor Ed Yardeni anticipated widespread power outages, food and gasoline shortages, and other emergencies. North and others raised

5100-414: The best comedy of the year". [ Tremors ] is very well cast, with [Fred] Ward and [Kevin] Bacon proving affable and enjoyable comedy leads [...] The special effects are first-rate [...] It may not top anyone's 10-best list, but Tremors is nevertheless solid entertainment. In some less enthusiastic reviews, Vincent Canby for The New York Times remarked that the film "was clearly more fun to make than it

5202-408: The charts at Universal said it would." Its creators blamed the subpar theatrical performance on its marketing campaign; S.S. Wilson felt that the film was not well promoted once its release date was delayed, while Brent Maddock stated the theatrical trailer was "cringeworthy" and likely deterred audiences. Tremors was hailed by critics for its diverse cast and humor. The film holds a rating of 88% at

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5304-400: The creatures after unwittingly luring it to their basement armory. In town, the two remaining worms attack the building foundations, knocking over a trailer belonging to Nestor before dragging him under and devouring him. Realizing they cannot stay in the town any longer, Earl, Rhonda, and Miguel distract the monsters while Val commandeers a track loader and chains a semi-trailer to the rear;

5406-409: The early 1980s, nuclear war became a common fear, and some survivalists constructed fallout shelters. In 1999, many people purchased electric generators , water purifiers, and several months or even years worth of food in anticipation of widespread power outages because of the Y2K computer-bug . Between 2013 and 2019, many people purchased those same items in anticipation of widespread chaos following

5508-407: The event of a natural disaster or long-term economic hardship, such as unemployment. This group believes that peak oil is a near term threat to Western civilization, and take appropriate measures, usually involving relocation to an agriculturally self-sufficient survival retreat. This group has a primary concern with maintaining some form of legal system and social cohesion after a breakdown in

5610-511: The ex-urbans. And it also means becoming more and more tightly committed to your neighbors, your neighborhood, working together and understanding that we're all in this together and that when we help each other out that's going to be the best way forward. This last aspect is highlighted in The Trends Research Journal : "Communal spirit intelligently deployed is the core value of Neo-Survivalism". Television shows such as

5712-450: The explosion destroys all but one of the remaining bombs. Val lures the final worm into chasing him to the edge of a cliff and throws the remaining bomb behind it, propelling the worm through the cliff face, where it plummets to its death onto the rocks below. The group returns to town, where they call in the authorities to begin an investigation while Earl encourages Val to pursue a romantic relationship with Rhonda. The concept of Tremors

5814-498: The film "a delightful throwback" that "evokes the populist spirit of '50s B-movies". Jeffery Anderson of the San Francisco Examiner gave the film a glowing four and a half out of five review, calling Tremors "effectively terrifying when it needs to be, effectively exciting when it needs to be, and effectively hilarious when it needs to be... Tremors may very well be the best horror film, the best action flick, and

5916-476: The film was heavily inspired by the kaiju and Mecha anime genres, del Toro wished to create something original with the film rather than to reference previous work. The film was a moderate success in the United States but a box office hit overseas. It received generally positive reviews with significant praise for the film's special effects. A sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising , was released in 2018. In 2014, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures released Godzilla ,

6018-767: The future. The following are characterizations, although most (if not all) survivalists fit into more than one category: While some survivalists believe in long-term viability of Western civilization, they learn principles and techniques needed for surviving life-threatening situations that can occur at any time and place. They prepare for such calamities that could result in physical harm or requiring immediate attention or defense from threats. These disasters could be biotic or abiotic. Survivalists combat disasters by attempting to prevent and mitigate damage caused by these factors. This group stresses being able to stay alive for indefinite periods in life-threatening wilderness scenarios, including plane crashes, shipwrecks, and being lost in

6120-526: The genre). The Godzilla series utilized the concept of a superweapon built by Japanese scientists to suppress him or any of the monsters he fights. Historically, monsters have been depicted using stop motion animation, puppets , or creature suits . In the modern day, many monster movies have used CGI monsters. The first feature-length films to include what are regarded as monsters were often classed as horror or science fiction films. The 1915 German silent film The Golem , directed by Paul Wegener ,

6222-508: The guy with the AK-47 heading to the hills with enough ammunition and pork and beans to ride out the storm. This is a very different one from that: you're seeing average people taking smart moves and moving in intelligent directions to prepare for the worst. (...) So survivalism in every way possible. Growing your own, self-sustaining, doing as much as you can to make it as best as you can on your own and it can happen in urban area, sub-urban area or

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6324-527: The isolated community of Darwin, California , which the crew liked because of its similitaries to the fictional town of Perfection, Nevada. The town, which was entirely a set, was built near Olancha, California . The mountains in the distance are the Sierra Nevada , and Owens Lake is visible in the background during the film's climax. The creature for Tremors was designed by Amalgamated Dynamics . The full-scale graboid seen after being dug up by Val

6426-409: The long-term continuity of society, some may have invested in a custom-built shelter, food, water, medicine, and enough supplies to get by until contact with the rest of the world resumes following a natural emergency. This group is concerned with weather cycles of 2–10 years, which have happened historically and can cause crop failures. They might stock several tons of food per family member and have

6528-420: The men flee with the monster in pursuit. The chase ends when the eyeless creature crashes through the concrete wall of an aqueduct , dying from the impact. Rhonda LeBeck, a graduate student conducting seismology tests in the area, stumbles onto the scene; she deduces from previous readings that three other worms are in the area. Rhonda, Val, and Earl become trapped overnight atop a cluster of boulders near one of

6630-424: The most famous examples of a monster movie, but also is considered a landmark film in the history of cinema . The monster King Kong became a cultural icon, being featured in many other films and media since then. King Kong went on to inspire many other films of its genre and aspiring animators. A notable example was Ray Harryhausen , who would work with Willis O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young in 1949. Following

6732-538: The most rented films of 1990. Because of this, it has gained a very large cult following over the years. Tremors debuted on VHS on April 1, 1990, on Laserdisc on April 16, 1996, and on DVD on April 28, 1998. The film was released on Blu-ray on November 9, 2010, and again on September 17, 2013, as part of the Tremors: Attack Pack for region 1 (U.S. and Canada). In the United Kingdom ,

6834-440: The nearest town. As they leave, they discover the dead body of another resident, Edgar Deems, perched atop an electrical tower , still grasping the tower's crossbeams and his rifle. Jim Wallace, the town's doctor, determines that Edgar died of dehydration , apparently having been too afraid to climb down. Later on, an unseen creature kills shepherd Fred and his flock of sheep. Val and Earl discover his severed head and believe that

6936-520: The need to be prepared. The increased inflation rate in the 1960s, the US monetary devaluation , the continued concern over a possible nuclear exchange between the US and the Soviet Union, and perceived increasing vulnerability of urban centers to supply shortages and other systems failures caused a number of primarily conservative and libertarian thinkers to promote individual preparations. Harry Browne began offering seminars on how to survive

7038-463: The newsletter included a continuing section on personal preparedness written by Stephens. It promoted expensive seminars around the US on similar cautionary topics. Stephens participated, along with James McKeever and other defensive investing, " hard money " advocates. In the next decade Howard Ruff warned about socio-economic collapse in his 1974 book Famine and Survival in America . Ruff's book

7140-461: The newsletter revolved around selecting, constructing, and logistically equipping survival retreats. Following Tappan's death in 1980, Karl Hess took over publishing the newsletter, eventually renaming it Survival Tomorrow . In 1980, John Pugsley published the book The Alpha Strategy . It was on The New York Times Best Seller list for nine weeks in 1981. After 28 years in circulation, The Alpha Strategy remains popular with survivalists, and

7242-480: The re-release of King Kong in 1952, Harryhausen would later work on The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in 1953. The film was about a fictional dinosaur, a Rhedosaurus, that was awakened from frozen ice in the Arctic Circle by an atomic bomb test. It is considered to be the film which kick-started the 1950s wave of “creature features” and the concept of combining nuclear paranoia with the genre. Such films at

7344-670: The same name by Michael Crichton and directed by Steven Spielberg, which set a new benchmark in the genre with innovative use of CGI and tried-and-tested animatronics to recreate dinosaurs. The film was also influenced by Godzilla . Jurassic Park was an enormous critical and commercial success and at one point held the title of the highest-grossing film of all time . The success of Jurassic Park and its five sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001), Jurassic World (2015), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022), made sure that dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and

7446-505: The same themes, such as How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years , a best-seller in 1979. Firearms instructor and survivalist Colonel Jeff Cooper wrote on hardening retreats against small arms fire. In an article titled "Notes on Tactical Residential Architecture" in Issue #30 of P.S. Letter (April 1982), Cooper suggested using the " Vauban Principle", whereby projecting bastion corners would prevent miscreants from being able to approach

7548-500: The second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades. In 2004, Godzilla was temporarily retired following Godzilla: Final Wars . Director Peter Jackson , inspired by the original King Kong and Ray Harryhausen films, remade King Kong in 2005, which was both a critical and commercial success. In 2006, a South Korean monster film, The Host , involved more political overtones than most of its genre. The 2008 monster movie, Cloverfield ,

7650-568: The stockpiling of non-perishable food, water (i.e. using water canisters ), water-purification equipment, clothing, seed, firewood, defensive or hunting weapons, ammunition, agricultural equipment , and medical supplies. Some survivalists do not make such extensive preparations, and simply incorporate a " Be Prepared " outlook into their everyday life. A bag of gear, often referred to as a " bug out bag " (BOB) or "get out of dodge" (G.O.O.D.) kit, can be created which contains basic necessities and useful items. It can be of any size, weighing as much as

7752-468: The success of selling the script of Short Circuit with his writing partner Brent Maddock. Nancy Roberts, who was their agent, suggested that they get out their old ideas and start trying to approach them for pitches, with the one she liked best being what became Tremors. Wilson and Maddock shared their idea to their friend Ron Underwood , who was working with National Geographic as a documentary director, and used his knowledge of zoology to better develop

7854-432: The survivors use it to try to escape to a nearby mountain range. En route, both worms create a sinkhole trap that disables the track loader, and the survivors flee to some nearby boulders for safety. Earl then has an idea to lure in the worms and trick them into swallowing Burt's homemade pipe bombs . The strategy successfully kills one worm, but the last one spits a bomb back towards the survivors, forcing them to disperse as

7956-479: The technical infrastructure of society. They are interested in works like The Postman by David Brin , Lewis Dartnell 's The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch , or Marcus B. Hatfield's The American Common Law: The Customary Law of the American Nation . Common preparations include the creation of a clandestine or defensible retreat, haven, or bug out location (BOL) in addition to

8058-410: The term retreater eventually fell into disuse, many who subscribed to it saw retreating as the more rational approach to conflict-avoidance and remote "invisibility". Survivalism , on the other hand, tended to take on a more media-sensationalized, combative, "shoot-it-out-with-the-looters" image. One newsletter deemed by some to be one of the most important on survivalism and survivalist retreats in

8160-483: The term retreater to describe those in the movement, referring to preparations to leave cities for remote havens or survival retreats should society break down. In 1976, before moving to the Inland Northwest , he and his wife authored and published The Survivor's Primer & Up-dated Retreater's Bibliography . For a time in the 1970s, the terms survivalist and retreater were used interchangeably. While

8262-550: The time included Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Them! (1954), It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), Tarantula! (1955), The Deadly Mantis (1957) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). The Giant Behemoth (1959) was an unacknowledged remake of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms . During the 1950s, Japanese film studio Toho produce their first successful kaiju films. Their first successful kaiju film

8364-450: The user is able to carry. Survivalists' concerns and preparations have changed over the years. During the 1970s, fears were economic collapse, hyperinflation, and famine . Preparations included food storage and survival retreats in the country which could be farmed. Some survivalists stockpiled precious metals and barterable goods (such as common-caliber ammunition) because they assumed that paper currency would become worthless. During

8466-511: The wake of Ruff's first publication. In 1975, Kurt Saxon began publishing a monthly tabloid-size newsletter called The Survivor , which combined Saxon's editorials with reprints of 19th century and early 20th century writings on various pioneer skills and old technologies. Kurt Saxon used the term survivalist to describe the movement, and he claims to have coined the term. In the previous decade, preparedness consultant, survival bookseller, and California-based author Don Stephens popularized

8568-628: The wake of the Great Recession from 2008 and later offering survival advice for various potential disasters, ranging from an energy shortage and crash to nuclear or biological terrorism . In addition to the 1970s-era books, blogs and Internet forums are popular ways of disseminating survivalism information. Online survival websites and blogs discuss survival vehicles, survival retreats, emerging threats, and list survivalist groups. In both his book Rawles on Retreats and Relocation and in his survivalist novel, Patriots: A Novel of Survival in

8670-482: The woods. Concerns are: thirst, hunger, climate, terrain, health, stress, and fear. The rule of 3 is often emphasized as common practice for wilderness survival. The rule states that a human can survive: 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food. This group focuses on surviving brief encounters of violent activity, including personal protection and its legal ramifications, danger awareness, John Boyd 's cycle (also known as

8772-629: The word "fuck" were either cut or redubbed with softer words; examples include "Can you fly, you sucker?" and "We killed that motherhumper", among several others. The film was pushed back to allow more time for editing, and the film was eventually released in January 1990 with a PG-13 rating. Wilson and Maddock later stated they were very happy with the decision to make Tremors appeal to a more family-friendly audience rather than an adult-oriented audience. Tremors opened on January 19, 1990, in 1,457 theaters against no new releases and debuted at number 5 at

8874-483: The worms, and surmise that the creatures hunt their prey by detecting seismic vibrations. The trio then finds some discarded poles, uses them to pole vault over to nearby boulders, and eventually reaches Rhonda's truck, narrowly escaping the creature. After the three return to town, the worms attack and kill general store owner Walter Chang, forcing everyone to hide on the town's various rooftops. Meanwhile, survivalist couple Burt and Heather Gummer manage to kill one of

8976-410: The worms. Tremors would make a cute short subject, it doesn't sustain itself for an entire film". Two years later he reevaluated the film, saying, "This picture has grown on me... I think it is worth a second viewing. There is a spirit of good fun there." While only a modest hit at the box office, Tremors went on to become a massive hit on home video purchases, rentals and television, becoming one of

9078-477: Was Godzilla (1954), which adapted the nuclear concept from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms from a Japanese perspective, rooted in real-life Japanese historical events, such as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and the Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident in 1954. The film's success spawned the Godzilla franchise, the longest-running film franchise in history. The titular monster has become

9180-437: Was a kaiju film produced by Toho featuring both Godzilla and King Kong. In 1965, Japanese studio Kadokawa Pictures started their own kaiju franchise to rival that of Godzilla, in the form of Gamera . Ray Harryhausen continued to work on a number of films such as The Valley of Gwangi (1969), while Toho continued production of Godzilla and other kaiju films like Mothra (1961). The Monster Times film magazine

9282-510: Was an aquatic monster movie influenced by earlier monster films such as King Kong and Godzilla . Jaws is one of the few monster movies based on a real incident: the New Jersey shark-attacks of 1916 (from which Peter Benchley got the idea for the story). Director John Guillermin remade King Kong in 1976 . The xenomorph alien had its first appearance in the 1979 science-fiction/horror film Alien , directed by Ridley Scott . That

9384-568: Was an editor and columnist for Survive , a survivalist magazine, and was influential in the survivalist movement. Ragnar Benson 's 1982 book Live Off The Land In The City And Country suggested rural survival retreats as both a preparedness measure and conscious lifestyle change. Interest in the movement picked up during the Clinton administration due in part to the debate surrounding the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and

9486-400: Was cast in lightweight foam. It was placed in a trench and buried and dug up again to achieve the desired "used" effect. Burt's elephant gun, an 8-gauge Darne shotgun, was rented from a private collector for use in the film. It "fired" dummy cartridges custom made from solid brass rod stock. Composer Ernest Troost's musical score for the film was atmospheric and suspenseful. The studio wanted

9588-467: Was followed by five direct-to-video sequels and one prequel : Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996), Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001), Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004), Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015), Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018), and Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020). A television series titled Tremors: The Series aired from March through August 2003. A second television series

9690-604: Was founded in 1972. In 1973, The Monster Times conducted a poll to determine the most popular screen monster. Godzilla was voted the most popular movie monster, beating Count Dracula , King Kong, the Wolf Man , the Mummy , the Creature from the Black Lagoon , and Frankenstein's monster . In 1975, Steven Spielberg directed Jaws , which while labeled as a "thriller", features a large, animatronic great white shark . Jaws

9792-473: Was originally conceived in the early 1980s, when writers S. S. Wilson was serving as an editor at a base for the United States Navy as a filmmaker. When hiking one time over large boulders that involved pole vaulting, he suddenly had the thought, “What if something was under the ground and I couldn’t get off this rock?” He tucked away the idea on a piece of paper and eventually came back to it after

9894-418: Was published during a period of rampant inflation in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis . Most of the elements of survivalism can be found there, including advice on food storage. The book championed the claim that precious metals, such as gold and silver , have an intrinsic worth that makes them more usable in the event of a socioeconomic collapse than fiat currency . Ruff later published milder variations of

9996-571: Was really happening." A parallel development during this era was the rise of the Z movie , films made outside the organized motion picture industry with ultra-low budgets. Grade-Z monster movies such as Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) and The Creeping Terror (1964) are often listed among the worst films ever made because of their inept acting and amateurish special effects. After 1960, American monster movies were less popular, yet were still produced. However, Japanese kaiju films were popular during this decade. In 1962, King Kong vs. Godzilla

10098-446: Was released in 2015, with the franchise's sixth inclusion, Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell , in 2018. These two films were made by Universal 1440 Entertainment without any involvement from Stampede Entertainment. All Tremors sequels thus far have been released direct-to-video without a theatrical release, though Tremors 2: Aftershocks did receive a brief limited theatrical run. Another direct-to-video sequel, Tremors: Shrieker Island ,

10200-521: Was released in October 2020. In 2003, the franchise spawned a television show titled Tremors: The Series . The show aired in 2003 on the Syfy Channel but was canceled after one season. A 60-minute pilot for a second television series also titled Tremors was filmed in 2017, but no further episodes of this show were ever filmed. Monster movie The most common aspect of a monster movie

10302-471: Was set to air in 2018 after a pilot had been shot with Bacon reprising his role for the first time since the original film, but multiple networks including Syfy passed on the series. Valentine "Val" McKee and Earl Bassett are handymen working in Perfection, Nevada, an isolated settlement in the high desert east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. They eventually get tired of their jobs and leave for Bixby,

10404-475: Was the same year when magazine Fangoria started being published, in response to the popularity of this genre . Since the mid-1970s, with Mel Brooks ' Young Frankenstein , and into the 1980s, monster movies like Larry Cohen 's Q, the Winged Serpent (1982), Tom Holland 's Fright Night (1985), George A. Romero 's Creepshow (1982) and Ron Underwood 's Tremors (1990) used comedy as

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