Kevin Bacon gabs about graboids in an excellent new Tremors documentary

“My career was really close to ending,” Kevin Bacon says in a new documentary about 1990's Tremors, a movie that bombed so hard at the box office that it’s a wonder it didn’t sink his career (thank Flatliners for again allowing it to flourish). Still, Bacon clearly sees Tremors as an important part of his filmography, and not just it’s become a cult classic over the past three decades.

The documentary, directed by Matthew Snead for Universal Pictures, highlights the struggles and joys of creating the horror-comedy, emphasizing the camaraderie of its cast and crew in addition to the practical wonders of its creature effects. Bacon and Michael “Burt Gummer” Gross lend their voices alongside director Ron Underwood, writers S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, and creature designer Alec Gillis. Topics include the script’s seven rewrites, the arduous location scouting, and the design team’s efforts to not make the graboid’s look like giant dongs.