This month in the Movieland Spotlight we have Brent Maddock – Writer, Director and one half of Stampede Entertainment a film production company responsible for the creation of Tremors, Short Circuit and production credits for Batteries Not Included, Ghost Dad, The Land Before Time and Wild Wild West.
“Get on your roof. There’s something under the ground. Big monsters. They’re coming your way right now. Get out—hurry!”
Was it 1997? Somewhere around there. All I know is: I was not prepared for Tremors 2 to blow my mind and stay with me for the rest of my life.
I was at a party. I wasn’t in the mood for a movie. But someone threw one on, and suddenly—I was hooked. The party disappeared. All I could see was that screen. I’d never even seen the first Tremors, and honestly, that made it better. It added mystery. What happened before? What are they so afraid of? And then—bam! Tremors 2 hits with the perfect blend of horror and comedy.
I was in it. I cared about these characters. I felt like I was crammed in the backseat of their beat-up truck, Graboids hot on our tail.
What’s a Graboid, you ask? As Tremors co-writer Brent Maddock once told me: “Big fat turds under the ground”—or whatever you want them to be. There’s no origin story. They’re ancient? Aliens? Who knows. That’s the beauty—they’re a mystery, and everyone’s free to speculate.
Looking back, if I could tell my younger self that one day I’d actually get to talk to Brent Maddock—the guy who wrote this wild, brilliant film—I’d be making so much noise the Graboids would rocket off this planet. Mars? Maybe. Probably not.
For the uninitiated, Tremors (1990) stars Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward and is basically a land-shark movie: giant creatures burrow beneath a tiny desert town, striking from below. The ground is their ocean. It’s absurd. It’s awesome. It works. Just go with it. The floor is lava. Get on the couch—now.
Since then, Tremors has spawned seven films, a TV series, and even a pilot for a rebooted show. But here’s the kicker: Brent Maddock (yes, he’s here with me) is currently working on a new sequel. Not a reboot. Not a remake. A sequel.
Join me as we pole-vault five miles that way to his rock, and dive into the world of Graboids, desert survival, and what’s next for this legendary franchise.