Did you like Tremors? I absolutely loved that movie. What a great combination: characters who were rough around the edges but still funny and likable, jolting, fast-paced direction by Ron Underwood, and very decent special effects, all in service of a solid script by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock that didn't take itself too seriously. (Patrick Walsh wrote a loving appreciation last year.) Dozens of people have made modern versions of the 1950s-style monster movies -- the original "animals gone wild" flicks -- but Tremors is one of the very few that succeeded in capturing the right spirit on all counts.

Tremors inspired three sequels and a television series on the Sci-Fi Network. Now the key creative talent involved has decided to reunite to make a different type of action movie. Night Crew is described as "a fast-moving monster tale full of quirky characters, scary moments, and laugh-out-loud humor, but this time in an urban setting," according to production company Stampede Entertainment. Wilson and Maddock have written the script, Underwood is on board to return to the director's chair, and Nancy Roberts will produce, as she did the three sequels.

Obviously, the premise allows room for plenty of fun ideas. I'm always up for monstrous mayhem in urban settings; could we dare hope that this might riff on the Cloverfield / Godzilla movies, but with an actual sense of humor? I'm looking forward to hearing more, especially about the cast.

[ Via Bloody Disgusting ]

Starting tonight and running through December 17th, Edgar Wright is taking control of the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, is programming a festival of his favorite movies, and it's a wonderful and eclectic bunch. He's calling the fest "The Wright Stuff," (also the name of a universally beloved screenwriting column on this very site), and he will be on hand to introduce several screenings with special guests. As always at the New Beverly, one of Los Angeles' absolute treasures, every screening is a double feature.

I'll just tell you about the screenings with special guests, all of which start at 7:30. But don't forget to check the website for all show dates and times. Tonight, Edgar and songwriter Paul Williams will kick off the event with two musicals -- Bugsy Malone and Brian DePalma's Phantom of the Paradise. December 5th, the first feature is Flash Gordon, with special guest (and ex-Bond) Timothy Dalton. The second feature is Mario Bava's Danger Diabolik, introduced by Edgar and the great Joe Dante. On December 7th, Edgar will introduce The Last Boy Scout and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with one of the finest action screenplay writers of our time -- Shane Black. December 10 is John Landis' An American Werewolf in London and Tremors (which I spouted my love for here). Landis will help Wright introduce his film. December 12th is Top Secret! (almost as funny as Airplane and The Naked Gun, in my opinion) and Woody Allen's Bananas, with David Zucker on hand. December 14th is the Roger Ebert - penned Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, and Head, hosted by Wright and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees. And on December 16th, Wright will introduce Evil Dead 2 and an all time favorite of mine -- the Coen Brothers' Raising Arizona.

Here is a press release from Edgar with his thoughts on the included films. If you live in the Los Angeles area, there's really no excuse to miss this. See you there!

In Perfection, they say there's nothing new under the sun. But under the ground...

The horror/comedy film almost never works, because it requires a nearly impossible tone to nail. It's hard to be too scared if you're laughing, and it's hard to laugh if you're scared. When writers and directors do pull it off -- Gremlins 1 and 2, the Evil Dead series, the recent Slither -- it's an incredibly enjoyable genre. And to me, the shining example may just be the 1990 cult classic Tremors.

The film is about underground creatures that track their prey by sensing vibrations. It's a pretty genius idea for a horror flick, one of those perfect why-didn't-anyone-think-of-this-before concepts. Having the creatures come from below is something of a masterstroke for a low-budget film, because for large chunks of screen time the monster can be implied rather than shown.

The smaller budget of Tremors pushes the filmmakers to be as creative as possible with their monsters. In addition to the awesome cinematography, which includes Sam Raimi-style camera tricks and monster POV shots, just about every creature feature trick in the book is employed, including hand puppets! There are only a couple of moments that don't quite look believable, but the shagginess is a big part of the movie's massive charm.

And the monsters, when we do see them, are really pretty sweet. There's a great documentary on the DVD where, among other things, you learn that the original creature design was scrapped because everyone thought it looked exactly like a penis. So even if the effects might not be up to today's CGI-heavy standards, you can at least be thankful you're not watching Attack of the Dicks.

Now that Paramount has hired Louis Feola to head its direct-to-video (DTV) division, the studio is hoping for a lucrative business of cheap sequels. Paramount made a small attempt last year with Save the Last Dance 2, but it wasn't nearly as successful as the small-screen hits that Universal has been dumping out. Feola used to work for Universal Home Entertainment, where he oversaw DTV sequels to American Pie, Darkman and Tremors.

According to Variety, Feola will be mining through Paramount's back catalog, including the films of Paramount Classics, Paramount Vantage, MTV and Nickelodeon, to produce 4-6 sequels, each budgeted at less than $10 million. The first, which has yet to be determined, will be released in late 2008. Variety mentions sequels to Airplane! and The Naked Gun, but the trade is probably just speculating with these titles.

Although I hate the idea of DTV sequels, I have some ideas of Paramount films that could be exploited without upsetting too many fans. The following could be easily and cheaply made and could also provide guilty pleasures to the same kind of people who enjoy the American Pie spinoffs: Teen Wolf, Hiding Out, Summer School and Ladybugs -- of course, each of these would have to be made more R-rated than the originals. Maybe they can even restart the Meatballs franchise?