Tremors is a refreshing, energetic, genre-bending farce which pays homage to 1950s B-movies the likes of The Blob (1958), Them! (1954), and Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954). Working from a clever script, director Ron Underwood perfectly captures the dim, pulpy tone of the horror-adventures, without ever resorting to patronizing parody. Tremors retains enough of the genre's conventions to make the film work on a genuinely suspenseful level -- he elicits effective B-movie thrills while poking fun at them. A good deal of credit for the wry tone should go to Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, who deliver marvelously whimsical, "straight" performances as the film's bumpkin heroes. The special effects and stunts are impressive: despite their intentional preposterousness, the giant worms are appropriately scary. The film was enough of a cult hit to warrant a direct-to-video sequel in 1995, named Tremors II: Aftershocks.