Horror Movie Review: Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)

After two good films in the franchise, they just couldn’t leave it alone. Tremors 3: Back to Perfection is a disappointing and unnecessary entry. However, it’s not without some of the classic charm thanks to a returning cast. I mean, it’s called Back to Perfection after all.

You can read our review of the first film here and the second film here.

Taking over as the lead, Michael Gross’ gun-toting Burt returns to his hometown of Perfection, Nevada. There, many of the original townspeople have remained including Nancy (Charlotte Stewart) and her now teenage daughter, Mindy (Ariana Richards). As well Miguel (Tony Genaro) and newcomers Jodi (Susan Chaung) and Jack (Shawn Christian). The latter has been creating Graboid experience tours for gullible tourists.

There are no Graboids in perfection anymore. Or at least that is what the townspeople believe having let their tracking equipment fall into disrepair.

Perfection is on its last legs, something a now grown-up Melvin (Robert Jayne) wishes to take advantage of. He is buying up the land, planning to develop it but only Burt and his refusal to sell stands in his way.

Well, that and the re-emergence of three Graboids. No problem though, Burt is here, right? Well, he sets out to take care of the problem but is interrupted by government agents who tell him that he can’t kill them as they are now an endangered species.

That doesn’t go over well with Burt obviously as he is all too aware of the next stage of their evolution. What Burt doesn’t know is that they’re far from finished evolving though. From Graboid, to Shrieker to…Ass-blaster. Yeah, the name is pretty bad but it fits the new creature. Able to fly by using explosive gases in their stomach that shoots out of their butts. Perfection is not prepared for this new monster.

It’s all feeling a bit tired now. It’s all feeling a bit formulaic and repetitive. In fact, the first half of the movie feels far too familiar with only the returning cast offering series viewers any kind of reason to feel connected with this particular film. Considering the time-frame, the actors play off each other well and even the new characters sparkle alongside them. It’s hard to not feel some affinity towards Burt by now and credit to Michael Gross for constantly playing the character with such vigour. It’s just a pity a lot of his jokes are recycled.

The biggest flaw with Tremors 3 is the introduction of *sigh* Ass-blasters. There is no ‘wow’ factor with these monsters and as soon as they’re introduced you can predict the finale with ease.

It also doesn’t help that a lot more CGI is used here and it doesn’t look good. It’s even used for some of the actual Graboids, something that is very disappointing to see.

It’s not that Tremors 3: Back to Perfection is a bad movie. More that it really didn’t need to be made and certainly doesn’t enhance the series as a whole. A forgettable entry that is only really worth watching to see the characters you remember from the first interact again!

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