It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Say the words "Direct to Video", "Direct to DVD and Blu-Ray" or "Direct to Digital" to a smattering of film-fans, and chances are, you'll hear some audible groans. For several decades now, the "Direct-to" market has been booming, with dozens and dozens of releases every year that skip theaters and go straight to store shelves. And why shouldn't this market flourish? The rise of DVD and subsequently Blu-Ray sales shows there's a huge audience potential for features that don't necessarily see a theatrical release, and the new trend in digital distribution makes it even easier for audiences to get instant access to the films they want to see. Well, the problem is that at a certain point, studios saw dollar signs, and the Direct-to market was flooded with cheap imposter titles and even cheaper franchise cash-in's that were thrown together in a slapdash effort to make a quick buck. For every good direct-to-video movie that grows a cult fan-base, there's a million pieces of crud like "Hollow-Man 2" or "Hellraiser 9" or "Cruel Intentions 3." Heck, just the other day I saw "Hard Target 2" sitting on a shelf at the local Wal-Mart...The flooding of the market with sub-par titles by greedy studios has lead to a pretty unfair generalization amongst many a movie-fan and general film-goers that when a film skips theaters, it almost always is of a low quality and doesn't deserve proper recognition or consideration. And this isn't always the case. There's definitely some high-quality releases every year, and "Tremors II: Aftershocks" might just be the quintessential example of a Direct-to-Video sequel done to near perfection. Boasting great production value for its lowered budget, a wickedly charming cast and a great sense of humor, in many ways it's a near-ideal follow-up to the cult classic original!A few years after the events of the original, Earl Basset (Fred Ward) is living alone on an Ostrich ranch, when he is approached by a Mexican oil-worker with an offer: hunt down a new rash of Graboids that are feeding on his men, and he will be handsomely compensated. Together with giddy new sidekick Grady (Christopher Gartin) and former survivalist neighbor Burt Gummer (Michael Gross), Earl travels to Mexico and begins to blow the Graboids to kingdom come. However, soon enough the rules are changed when the trio discover that the worms are changing... and have started to evolve into a deadly new form that cannot be stopped by traditional means...Directed by series co-creator S.S. Wilson from a script he co-wrote with Brent Maddock, the film does a very good job building upon the good-will and the great tone established by the first film. One thing the series has always done is to respect characters and continuity and to maintain a delightful light-hearted tone throughout each film, and that's very much the case here. The film strikes a fine balance of horror and humor and never sacrifices fun for grit or grime. It's also a very good-looking film with a nice sense of scope and composition. Wilson's camera-work is always very fun and fluid and he crafts the film in such a way that you can never feel it's slashed budget on-screen. Despite costing less than half what the original ran, "Tremors II" consistently feels just as big and ambitious a film.The cast is great fun once again, and it's a joy to see some key returning characters mixed in with the fresh blood. Ward is fantastic as always, and it's nice to see where Earl ended up after the ending of the last film. He's got a great gruff charm to him and it's always fun to see him on-screen. Gross- now the sort-of mascot of the franchise- is sheer perfection as the troubled, serious-to-a-fault Burt, and plays the role exquisitely. Newcomers Helen Shaver, Marcelo Tubert and Christopher Gartin round out the cast nicely and all give good performances. Though I did find Gartin's Grady a bit grating from time to time. (And I apologize for that unintended alliteration.) But ever still, he was a good addition.In the end, while it might never quite live up to the iconic status of the first film, "Tremors II" is still quite a bit of fun. It's charming cast, creative script and some solid visual direction help elevate it beyond the confines of its low budget and status as a "Direct to Video" follow-up. It's not perfect by any means... but it's a wonderfully entertaining sequel and a prime example of how to follow-up a cult-classic in a satisfying manner.I give it a very good 8 out of 10.

Usually I'm always very sceptical of sequels, and I'm sure most people are, uncertain of whether the movie is going to give us new and exciting material, give us new and terrible material, or just be a retread of the original movie. Tremors 2 thankfully is in the first category, adding new characters, new story lines, a new location and a new stage in the evolution of the horrible subterranean meanies!What's the Rye? In Mexico, an oil refinery comes under attack by the gigantic underground worms known as the Graboids, and the refinery's owner calls upon the assistance of Earl to help make them extinct once again. Although reluctant at first, Earl is penniless due to bad dealings, and thus takes up the challenge, with the help of his new friend, a taxi driver (interesting accomplice). Together they go down to Mexico and start blasting the worms to pieces, calling in the assistance of survivalist Burt Gummer when it's found that there are far more worms than they originally thought. However, things go awry when the worms suddenly start to die, with a new and even more terrifying set of creatures appearing to have burst from their carcasses!So, the good things. Pretty much everything if I'm honest! The film takes the story in a whole new direction with the introduction of the new creatures and the new location. Although many may find the lack of Val a downgrade, Earl seems to hold the movie up well on his own, with the assistance of Burt and his Taxi Driver friend. Indeed there is a rather convenient love story thrown abruptly into the mix, but there is a grounded chemistry between the two.The animatronics have been upgraded, and although what little CGI is used in this movie is rather ropey, it's clear a lot of effort went into this film.Overall, I love this movie! As an action packed thriller in pursuit of bloodthirsty worms, with all the explosions, expletives and good humour of the first movie, I'd call this a faithful retelling of a fun story!

Decent sequel to Tremors, one of my favorite movies from the '90s. This one has two characters returning from the first movie: Fred Ward's Earl Bassett and Michael Gross' Burt Gummer. The Graboids (the creatures from the first movie) are attacking an oil refinery in Mexico. Earl is called in to help get rid of the Graboids due to his experience with them. When things get tough, Earl calls in Burt to help.A big step down from the first movie but still entertaining. Ward and Gross are lots of fun. Christopher Gartin plays Ward's sidekick in this one. He's no Kevin Bacon. There's a little too much slapstick but overall it's an enjoyable movie. I can think of worse ways to pass 100 minutes.

Despite meager box office returns and only late success on home video, Tremors may be one of the only films to spawn a franchise out of a film that was never a big hit nor really intended to be a series. But unlike contemporary, flash-in-the-pan successes like The Hangover and Taken, the substance of the Tremors sequels is what kept their longevity and their quality at least in some ways comparable to the original masterwork. Tremors II: Aftershocks is a very strong sequel, and with the original film's screenwriter S.S. Wilson getting promoted to director and Brent Maddock assisting Wilson once again in the writing department, the original film's spirit is still captured in what is also a pleasantly different film than the first. For all the griping I, myself, and others do about sequels failing to raise the stakes, here's a film that doesn't mind changing the rules late in the game because, hey, it was already told that Graboids themselves don't play fair.After opening with a stunningly suspenseful scene of an oil worker trying to avoid a Graboid, we are dropped right in the middle of the sleepy desert-town of Perfection, Nevada, once more, where Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) is now making his living as an ostrich farmer. Despite him and his partner Valentine gaining unprecedented popularity from their discovery of Graboids, Earl hasn't received much, if any, royalties from the licensing of the beasts, from comic books to arcade games. He still makes his living as a humble handyman and is almost going to keep it that way until Señor Carlos Ortega (Marcelo Tubert) and Grady Hoover (Christopher Gartin) show up on his doorstep informing them of the most recent Graboid, large, subterranean worms that hunt by sounds and sonic vibrations in the ground, crisis. An oil rig in Mexico has been deemed a serious hazard to employees and occupants after numerous Graboid attacks have resulted in the deaths of innocent workers. Ortega is prepared to offer Earl $50,000 per each Graboid he kills whilst in Mexico, in addition to $100,000 if he can capture one alive.After much persuasion from Grady, Earl reluctantly agrees to make good use of his big "second chance," taking Grady along with him as his right-hand-man. When the two realize the Graboid operation is more dangerous and prolific than they thought, even after managing to blow up several using a remote-control car and dynamite, they enlist in the help of survivalist Burt Gummer (Michael Gross), who has spent his most recent days wallowing in self-pity and frustration after his wife Heather chose to leave him. The three, in addition to Kate (Helen Shaver), a local paleontologist, work to complete Ortega's operation, which goes rather seamlessly until the worms wind up undergoing metamorphosis and subsequently transforming into something more dangerous and more ubiquitous.While the amiable and often hilarious chemistry of Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward is subtracted from the formula of this sequel, Gartin steps in to do an okay job at playing second banana to Fred Ward's always interesting Earl character. Gartin's obnoxiousness is grating at times, and while his character is clearly the comic relief here, he comes off as a sign as being that a bit too obviously. The great thing about the original Tremors was no blatant comic relief was needed (even the listless teenager Melvin really didn't constitute as one, in my mind) because both leading men were capable of being funny without forgoing any element of seriousness and believability. Gartin does what he can within the screenplay of Wilson and Maddock and the result is fair but not totally destructive to the plot.Tremors II largely works because it doesn't settle to do the same thing twice; it keeps its story moving by not only changing the setting and adding a few more characters in the mix, but changing the entire biological spectrum of the monsters. Wilson and Maddock put a lot of thought into the mindset of these Graboids, biologically, physically, and conceptually, which results in a fairly elaborate and well-played detailing of the next wave of monsters sure to plague our characters. In addition, much like the original Tremors, this is a film that makes total use of its desert setting, spending considerable amounts of time in some settings, but always giving different locations their time of day in a manner that feels very regionally democratic.Tremors II: Aftershocks is a thoroughly pleasant sequel because it helps to revoke the spirit of the original film, whilst deviating course into something that expands upon the mythology of the monsters in the film and general likability of most of the film's characters. Rarely has there been a franchise quite like Tremors that has proved its own longevity better than most established, financially successful franchises and rarely has there been an impressive sequel quite like Tremors II: Aftershocks.Starring: Fred Ward, Christopher Gartin, Michael Gross, Helen Slater, Marco Hernandez, and Marcelo Tubert. Directed by: S.S. Wilson.