2015 film by Don Michael Paul
Tremors 5: Bloodlines
is a
direct-to-video
horror
monster film
directed by
Don Michael Paul
and produced by
Ogden Gavanski
. Released on October 6, 2015, it is the fifth film of the
Tremors
franchise
.
The film came 11 years after
Tremors 4: The Legend Begins
, serving as
Universal Pictures
’ re-launch of the franchise. This was the first entry in the series made without participation of
Stampede Entertainment
, the production company formed by the writing team that created the series; Universal chose instead to maintain all creative control.
The film received mixed reaction from professional critics, but received more positive reviews from fans of the franchise.
Plot
[
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]
Burt Gummer, now a star in his own
survivalist
web-series, and his new cameraman, Travis Welker, are approached by South African Wildlife Ministry agents Erick Van Wyk and Johan Dreyer, who hire them to deal with Ass-Blasters in
South Africa
. Flying to the location, Burt befriends their pilot, Den Bravers. When Burt's heavy weaponry is impounded due to South African gun laws, Erick provides them with a small collection of guns he has gathered – though Burt protests that their calibre is far too small to kill the monsters. The team set up their quarters at an animal refuge, where Travis befriends a little girl named Amahle and soon falls for Dr. Nandi Montabu, the girl's mother. This starts a rivalry with a local named Baruti, who is also in love with Nandi.
Two paleontologists celebrate after finding the fossilized remains of a Graboid at a dig, but they are attacked and eaten. Investigating the scene, Burt sees the fossil and realizes that it is a different breed of Graboid. While Travis attends a local
tribal
dance with Nandi, a refuge worker named Thaba is attacked by an Ass-Blaster and carried off. Burt orders the refuge to be evacuated then heads out with Erick and Dreyer. They find the Ass-Blaster in a cave, and Burt kills the flying monster, which kills Dreyer when it falls from the sky. When Burt finds that the Ass-Blasters have been laying Graboid eggs, Erick reveals himself to be a poacher, planning to sell the eggs on the black market. He locks Burt in a metal cage, and leaves with the eggs.
Travis finds Burt the next day, but when their truck breaks down, they head back to the refuge on foot. In the desert, they find Erick's truck has crashed, with Erick fleeing from a massive Graboid with detachable and independent tentacles, which Burt dubs "The Queen Bitch". Burt shoots the tentacles, but the Queen Bitch eats Erick. Burt agrees to let Travis go back in the cave to destroy the nest with a grenade, while he contacts pilot Den for transport. In the cave, Travis kills an Ass-Blaster with the grenade, but fails to destroy the nest. When Den arrives, Burt manages to use his helicopter's rockets to destroy the nest.
Den flies them back to their truck and helps repair the damage. Driving back to the refuge, Travis tells Burt that he is his son, the child of a one-night stand in Florida 40 years earlier; having heard of Burt's exploits, Travis wanted to be like his father. At the refuge, the workers are attacked by Ass-Blasters. Nandi, Amahle, and Baruti manage to kill several Ass-Blasters and a Graboid. They head for the village, where they discover that Amahle is hiding a Graboid egg, which was why the creatures kept attacking. The trio is attacked again and during the confusion, Amahle wanders away with the egg. Burt and Travis arrive, finding the village under siege by the Queen Bitch's tentacles. Travis retrieves the egg, and Baruti gets Amahle to safety.
When the Queen Bitch arrives, Nandi suggests using the daily thunderstorm to kill it. Travis distracts it as the villagers construct a trap. When the storm erupts, Nandi lures the Queen Bitch in with the egg. Lightning bolts, attracted by the metal trap, destroy the egg and the Queen Bitch Graboid. Afterwards, Burt accepts Travis as his son, inviting him to join him in his work. A mid-credits scene shows Burt and Travis now co-host Burt's reality show, and they kill a variety of monsters around the globe.
Cast
[
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]
Production
[
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]
Development
[
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]
Following the completion of
Tremors 4: The Legend Begins
, series creators
S.S. Wilson
and
Brent Maddock
had finished a script for a proposed fifth installment that would take place in
Australia
, originally titled
Gummer Down Under
.
[1]
Based on the unused original script for
Tremors 2: Aftershocks
, the film would've involved Burt Gummer traveling to Australia to fight graboids while he also tackles subconcious themes, such as his age, depression, and loneliness; Wilson and Maddock stated the script was "a Tremors movie where Burt was his own villain and not the worms...the graboids were more of a secondary threat."
[2]
In 2008, a fifth film titled
Tremors: The Thunder from Down Under
was reported to be in development but entered dormancy due to budgetary concerns; S.S. Wilson stated that Universal "liked the script and thought it was ambitious, but didn't want to fund it because it was too ambitious."
[3]
In July 2014, development resumed but without the involvement of Stampede Entertainment and with
Don Michael Paul
taking reigns as director.
[4]
Series veteran
Michael Gross
had signed on to return as Burt Gummer by the end of the month, with production slating to begin in September in
South Africa
.
[5]
Wilson, Maddock,
Nancy Roberts
, and
Ron Underwood
of
Stampede Entertainment
were offered executive producer credits, but were given no creative control or involvement with the film, leading to all four turning the offer down.
[6]
Ogden Gavanski
was set to produce while John Whelpley, screenwriter of
Tremors 3: Back to Perfection
wrote the script, using Wilson and Maddock's initial draft as his template but with more comedy and creature attack scenes and less scenes about Gummer's psyche.
[7]
[8]
In October,
Jamie Kennedy
was cast the film's co-lead, alongside Gross.
[9]
Filming
[
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]
Production began on September 22, 2014 in
South Africa
.
[10]
An inspection of the cave used in the film by a team from the
University of the Witwatersrand
found
hominid
fossils. The first fossil found was in a rock on the cave floor below some graffiti left by the film crew.
[11]
Music
[
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]
- He's Frank -
Iggy Pop
- Bad Bad Man -
Geoff Everett
- Fresh Air - Quicksilver Messenger Service
- Lips of the Apocalypse - Rob Wafford
- Calling all destroyers -
Marc Bolan
- Three Dark Days - Sam Getz
Release
[
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]
Tremors 5: Bloodlines
was released through
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
on October 6, 2015 on
Blu-ray
,
DVD
and Digital HD.
[12]
The film premiered on
Syfy
in early to mid-2016.
[13]
Reception
[
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]
On
review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
,
Tremors 5: Bloodlines
holds an approval rating of 33% based on 3 reviews.
[14]
Heather Wixson of
DailyDead
called the film "a worthy sequel and gives the long dormant series a much-needed jolt".
[15]
Matt Donato for
WeGotThisCovered
called the film a "beyond-generic reboot" and that "it brings absolutely nothing noteworthy to the table".
[16]
Evan Saathoff for
Birth.Movies.Death.
noted the lack of involvement of
S.S. Wilson
and
Brent Maddock
, stating "the attempts to utilize their winning humor and invention fall flat".
[17]
It earned $2,704,810 from domestic home video sales.
[18]
Sequel
[
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]
A sequel,
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell
, was released on May 1, 2018, with Michael Gross and Jamie Kennedy continuing in their newfound father-son roles as Burt and Travis.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Wilson, Steve (August 24, 2015).
"Can You Reveal the Title of the Script for
Tremors 5
?"
.
Stampede Entertainment
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
"Tremors 5: FAQ"
.
Stampede Entertainment
.
- ^
Wilson, Steve (August 22, 2015).
"Was there any truth to the net rumors (ca 2008) about the Tremors 5 script being resurrected for production?"
.
Stampede Entertainment
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Miska, Brad (July 22, 2014).
"
Tremors
Remake Still Rumbling At Universal"
.
Bloody Disgusting
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Miska, Brad (July 30, 2014).
"There's One Reason to Be Excited for the New
Tremors
!"
.
Bloody Disgusting
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Wilson, Steve (July 25, 2015).
"
Tremors 5
Statement"
.
Stampede Entertainment
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Woods, Kevin (October 15, 2014).
"First Pic & Synopsis for
Tremors 5
, Starring Michael Gross & Jamie Kennedy"
.
JoBlo
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Wilson, Steve (July 25, 2015).
"
Tremors 5
Statement"
.
Stampede Entertainment
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Gallagher, Brian (October 16, 2014).
"First Look at
Tremors 5
!"
.
MovieWeb
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
"From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment:
Tremors 5
"
.
PR Newswire
. October 15, 2014
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Smillie, Shaun.
"Fossil Find on Cave Site of B-Grade Horror Movie Set"
.
iol.co.za
. Retrieved
October 25,
2020
.
- ^
"Tremors 5 lands a new title and image, starring Michael Gross"
.
joblo.com
.
- ^
Movies News Desk.
"Sci-fi Comedy Adventure TREMORS 5 Coming to DVD & Digital HD in 2016"
.
broadwayworld.com
. Archived from
the original
on October 19, 2014.
- ^
"
Tremors 5: Bloodlines
(2015)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Wixson, Heather (October 6, 2015).
"Review:
Tremors 5: Bloodlines
is Big-Time B-Movie Monster Fun"
.
DailyDead
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Donato, Matt (October 21, 2015).
"
Tremors 5: Bloodlines
Review"
.
WeGotThisCovered
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
Saathoff, Evan (October 26, 2015).
"Movie Review:
Tremors 5: Bloodlines
Exists, Barely"
.
Birth.Movies.Death
. Retrieved
March 22,
2022
.
- ^
"Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015) - Financial Information"
.
The Numbers
. Retrieved
December 4,
2020
.
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