I was wary of Tremors 5: Bloodlines when I had heard it was made without Stampede Entertainment being involved. That big of a shake up behind the scenes tends to make a less than spectacular movie. Imagine my surprise that Bloodlines is a lot of fun. I’ll readily admit that it isn’t the best movie but if I’m going into a Tremors movie all I want is a fun monster movie. Bloodlines introduces new characters and concepts while not changing much about what people love about the franchise.
I was hesitant when I saw John Whelpley as a writer because he wrote my least favorite entry in the Tremors franchise. He wrote Bloodlines with M.A. Deuce and William Truesmith. The script they wrote was based on a story by Deuce, Truesmith, and C.J. Strebor. Don Michael Paul directed the movie. He has a weird variety of credits in his career, and this adds even more weirdness to it. Everyone involved ended up making a movie that fits in with the rest of the franchise.
Michael Gross once again returned as Burt Gummer. He’s supported in this new adventure by Jamie Kennedy, Pearl Thusi, Brandon Auret, Ian Roberts, and Natalie Becker. Gross and Kennedy have the most fun interactions in the movie. Pearl Thusi is also amazing in her role as a badass veterinarian. All of the new characters mix well with the returning character.
The introduction of new graboid species gives us new designs for both graboids and assblasters. Shriekers don’t show up, so no new design for them in this movie. The new designs add a new level of horror to both monsters. The new designs are because of the switch to CG only effects. That switch allowed for the monsters to do more than they would be able to do previously. While not always great looking they do look have a standard quality that’s so much higher than what was in Back to Perfection, which there was a lot of advancement in the years between the two movies.
Tremors 5: Bloodlines has a lot of new and interesting things while staying true to what makes the Tremors franchise so much fun. I’m not sure what I’m getting into with the next two movies, but I feel like the series is in good hands after how much fun this one was. I do know that it would be completely possible that I’m wrong about that. You can stream Tremors 5: Bloodlines on the Starz app. I give Tremors 5: Bloodlines 7 seismic trackers out of 10.
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