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The sequel brings us back to good old Perfection Valley, Nevada and smack dab into Earl Bassette’s (Fred Ward) lap. Poor Earl didn’t see much money from the Graboid craze but what he did make; he spent on an Ostrich farm. Earl is definitely a tad hard up or at the very least in need of a haircut.
During a comedic Ostrich incident Earl receives a visit from Senior Ortega (Marcelo Tubert) and Grady Hoover (Christopher Gartin). He’s informed that the Graboids have been menacing a Mexican oil outfit and Senior Ortega is interested in hiring Earl on to rid the company of their Graboid situation. Initially Earl resists but the offer of $50,000 per Graboid exterminated and $100,000 for a live Graboid captured is just too sweet for Earl to pass on. There’s, of course, a snag…Earl has a new partner, Grady. It’s fairly obvious Grady is the comedy relief.
Equipped with explosives and weapons from the Mexican Army, Earl and Grady are introduced to the remaining oil company staff still alive in the area, Julio (Marco Hernandez), Pedro (Joe Rosario) and Kate Reilly (Helen Shaver). They’re a friendly lot but any horror fan worth his salt can spot the Graboid victims before they’re even screaming and soiling themselves.
Earl and Grady set out to start the “big game” hunting using remote control monster trucks strapped with remote explosives. Nifty little idea and the Graboids don’t get wise to it as fast as they learned in the first film. Things do end up getting a bit hectic though and Earl calls in reinforcements…Burt Gummer (Michael Gross). Good Old Burt, sans Reba, is still holed up with his guns waiting for the Graboids and the U.S. Government. When the chips are down Burt rolls in with enough hardware to put Ugandan Warlords to shame.
What would a sequel be though without some kind of a nasty development, right? The worms are changing and not in a good way. They appear to be “evolving” into a chicken-like, above ground Graboid that hunt by detecting heat signatures instead of sound like the worms. This is definitely a whole new ball game for the fellows when they learn these Graboids, dubbed Shriekers, are hermaphroditic and reproduce by simply eating a certain amount of food! Once they’ve reached their capacity, they cough up a gooey little Shrieker. The realization dawns on them that if these creatures were to escape the area they may spread to epic proportions. They’re all soon dodging these Shriekers and doing their best to mask their body heat in order to lure the beasts into traps.
Aftershocks wasn’t a bad film at all. We get Fred Ward and that’s always a plus. Kevin Bacon bailed before this franchise hit the Sci-Fi Channel and I suppose one can’t really blame him. They get much worse after this installment. I felt the whole “bring the threat aboveground” concept for this one kept things fresh.
One highlight, for me anyway, was the inclusion of a decent looking woman. Helen Shaver is no Victoria’s Secret angel but she wasn’t displeasing to look at. She’s got a MILF-tastic little rack but an ass you could use as a chalkboard. Trust me when I say her name alone had my hopes skyrocketing but alas, she’s just the old lady from Poltergeist: The Legacy and Caroline from the original The Amityville Horror. Still though, this was a quick cheapie sequel that still used hands on FX and kept it fun without resorting to being overly silly.
I’m also required by the National Hippy Rights Committee to inform you that Michael Gross is back for this sequel as well as the subsequent two. I’m also required to inform you that he doesn’t have the munchies nor does he smell like ganja and sandalwood. So grab this flick and live it up maaaaaaaaaan!
