The Science of Monsters

On its release in 1990, Tremors was not a hit. It premiered in fifth place, performing well below industry predictions. Yet, Tremors sparked a franchise that includes five sequels, one prequel, and a television series. This could best be explained by the original film’s humorous take on the genre, as well as its terrific reviews. Film critic James Berardinelli applauded Tremors; “horror-comedies often tread too far to one side or the other of that fine line; Tremors walks it like a tightrope.”¹

Set in the fictional town of Perfection, Nevada, Tremors is the story of two buddies, Val McKee (Kevin Bacon) and Earl Bassett (Fred Ward), who have grown bored of their small, desert community. As they are headed out of town they happen upon several peculiar scenes, what we later come to understand are the effects of a subterranean worm wreaking havoc on the citizens of Perfection. Things soon develop into a classic creature feature when the worms, hungry for humans, reach the surface.

Science is at the forefront of Tremors thanks to the addition of Rhonda LeBeck (Finn Carter). Rhonda, a graduate student, happens to be studying seismology, the study of earthquakes, in the area. There are unusual findings in her equipment because of the huge worms’ thunderous movements. The waves on her seismograph look similar to the undulating lines of an EKG machine, and by studying these, Rhonda can tell there is something beneath the desert floor.

The sandworms in Tremors are called graboids. Do sandworms exist? Sandworms permeate fiction and horror movies and are seen in many well-known franchises. The sandworms in Dune (1965) protect the coveted spice of melange in the fictional desert of Arrakis. They, like the graboids in Tremors, are big enough to swallow a vehicle whole. Sandworms in the movie Beetlejuice (1988) are large enough to ride and seem to prevent the dead from leaving their homes. In real life? Sandworms the size of those mentioned don’t exist (thankfully). Worms are defined by having long, tube-like bodies with no limbs. These include microscopic worms that we can’t see with the naked eye but also include a twenty-two-foot African earthworm and a 190-foot bootlace worm that lives in the sea.

Can creatures live underground like the graboids? We spoke to Allen Lipke, a former science teacher who worked at an underground lab to ask him what it’s like being half a mile underground.

Kelly:“How is life different that deep underground? Is there any water?”

Allen Lipke: “The water seeps in here and there. Some of it is coming from above. It comes down the shaft. And other water is extremely salty.”

Meg:“Salty? Why?”

Allen Lipke: “It’s been underground for millions of years. It’s the saltwater leftover from an inland sea. It’s ancient, ancient water, and so there’s bacteria there. Recently, I was sitting around with some friends and one of them brought up an article about multicellular nematodes existing in some of these underground mines that are feeding on the bacteria down there. That just blows my mind.”

Meg:“So, there is life underground?”

Allen Lipke: “There are indications of life deep underground that you just wouldn’t expect to have gotten there. The bacteria were there because water from the inland sea seeped down and carried bacteria with it. They’re a lithotrophic type of bacteria that break down rock and get their energy from the molecules that they break down. That leads to the idea of what will we find when we are able to do more research or look at Mars or the moons of Jupiter or the moons of Saturn. Some of these moons really look like they’re possible for life to exist.”

Bacteria can survive deep underground.

The article Mr. Lipke was referring to explains that rocks more than two miles underground were discovered to be over two hundred million years old, older than the dinosaurs, and were teeming with bacteria. These rocks provided proof that life can and does exist in places thought previously impossible to support life. Signs of life have been found everywhere from mines to the Arctic and under pressures and temperatures exceeding what were thought to be uninhabitable environments. The creatures of the deep are diverse and range from single-celled archaea to multicellular nematodes.² Nematodes can range in size from less than a millimeter long to as long as twenty-six feet when living inside of a sperm whale. Most species of nematodes have no effect on humans and their endeavors. They feed on bacteria, fungi, protozoans, and even other nematodes, and play a very important role in nutrient cycling and release of nutrients for plant growth. Other nematodes attack insects, and help to control insect pests.