Horror Movie Review: Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)

Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell is the sixth and (currently) final movie in the Tremors franchise. One that begun way back in 1990. Dropping the number from the title, like many a series that has overstayed its welcome, Tremors 6 doesn’t try too hard but has enough positives to make it an enjoyable enough watch.

It depends what you expect at this stage. If you’re going in having not seen any of the sequels then you might be in for a rude awakening. However, followers up to this point will feel right at home.

You can read all our reviews of the series so far below:

1990 – Tremors
1996 – Tremors 2: Aftershocks
2001 – Tremors 3: Back to Perfection
2004 – Tremors 4: The Legend Begins
2015 – Tremors 5: Bloodlines

A Cold Day in Hell opens in the frozen land of Canada’s Nunavut Territory. There, a team of researchers are attacked by what seems to be a Graboid. That’s impossible, though…right? They stick to the Southern Hemisphere only.

Well that’s exactly what Burt (Michael Gross) says when Dr. Rita Sims (Tanya van Graan) and Valerie McKee (Jamie-Lee Money) call him to ask for his help. Of course, Burt refuses but by chance he has just had his property possessed by the IRS and his son, Travis (Jamie Kennedy) has just arrived back in town.

To the surprise of no-one the pair board a plane and head off to Canada to investigate the signs of Graboids. Once there, Burt is shocked by the level of Graboid knowledge young Valerie has until she reveals herself to be the daughter of Val (Kevin Bacon) and Rhonda (Finn Carter) from the first film. It’s the most direct reference to the original movie seen in a Tremors sequel since the third film but those hoping for a cameo or two will be disappointed.

Anyway, it turns out that global warming increased the Arctic conditions making them prime for Graboids. It’s a decent explanation and also allows the film-makers to explain away the non-snowy environment.

That in itself is really disappointing though. The description and cover suggest that we’re actually getting something potentially fresh in a pretty tired franchise. Graboids in snow and ice? Imagine what Burt and Travis will have to do to not only repel the attack but deal with the harsh conditions! Instead once they arrive at the research base we get the same Tremors movie.

The only difference here is that Burt is sick and it’s having an effect on his skills. This doesn’t stop him being a cantankerous arse though and for the first time, Michael Gross over does it. His frustration about being unable to lead as he normally does stops him being sympathetic and by the end you start to hope that this is supposed to be a passing of the torch for Travis to take over.

It’s not.

The plot is standard Tremors stuff but feeling far less inspired. You can tell there wasn’t much in the way of imagination here.

The main cast do the best they can though but there are a few too many characters. One or two end up involved in some pretty unfunny scenes though. Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell does not do comedy well but what it does do well is its CGI. The leaping Graboid style makes a return here and the confidence the film-makers have in how it looks sees them employ slow-motion resulting in some great looking shots.

That confidence starts to turn into over-confidence though as the slow-motion sequences keep coming and keep coming. They end up over-doing it to such an extent that it stops being cool looking and starts to become annoying.

Ultimately, Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell is a movie that doesn’t harm the franchise nor do anything to improve it. It has its moments but many more that disappoint. Not essential viewing.

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