MovieChat Forums > Tremors (2003) Discussion > Why can't they get the Graboids right?

Why can't they get the Graboids right?

posted 15 years ago by SteveM-1
7 replies | jump to latest

If you're a Tremors Fan, you've probably all seen the cover art for the DVD's and Movie Posters. usually shows the main characters above ground in the upper half of the poster / cover and a Graboid or groups of creatures underground, mouths pointed up and gaping.

Ever notice that these creatures usually look nothing like the Graboids in the movie? On the covers they're usually depicted with white pointed teeth, like a Shark or Reptile. But we all know that Graboids / Shriekers / Ass-Blasters don't have teeth like that. They really don't have teeth at all as their mouths are one large, hard mandible that usually splits in several directions.

It's especially bad on the cover of "Tremors: The Series" DVD as that creature has a reptillian eye on the side of its head. We all know that no version of the Graboid or its offspring have eyes of any sort.

Really, the only accurate cover was for "Tremors 4: The Legend Begins". The creature on that cover looked like an actual Graboid as portrayed in the films.

What gives? Are the artists just lazy? Do they just want to slop something down and be done with it? I guess one could say that maybe they're trying to keep some sort of "suspense" and not ruin it for everybody by revealing exactly how the Graboids look, but I'm sure that we all know what Graboids look like by now.

I'm just wondering why they can't depict a Graboid on the cover as they were seen in the film.

[–] thatguymicah 14 years ago

This has always puzzled me and I don't understand it either. Surely it's not to keep the audience in suspense, because certainly there are ways to do that other than just depicting the creatures incorrectly. Maybe it was originally a stupid mistake, but now it's actually a joke. I know I laughed when I saw the cover art for the series for the first time. I would have to go with laziness though. Probably one of the best (or is it worst?) examples of laziness for cover art I've ever seen.

[–] dude_101uk 14 years ago

Look closely, the have hooks on either side, indicating that they are the tentacles of the graboid, which do have teeth.

Its just way out of scale to the people (probably to draw attention to itself)

[–] thatguymicah 14 years ago

The creature seen on the cover of Tremors: The Series is not one of the tentacle heads. It has certain similarities, but it's not depicted the same way as they are in the movies and T.V. series. The shape is completely wrong and the artist mistakenly gave it eyes.

[–] juiceman10712 12 years ago

The creature on the original cover is a tentacle. The fact that it is so large is because of perspective and is used as a joke. This same image is used on Tremors 3. No idea what are supposed to be on Tremors 2 or the Series.

[–] brodiebruce_405 12 years ago

No clue, except to say advertising/marketing is done far away from filmmakers and, needless to say, they have their own ideas about what will sell. Even if they like the film, they might think advertising what they have got is hard, so they stretch the truth. It's why you see hideously inaccurate trailers.

Then again, some people see poster art as an art form in itself - look at the posters for the Nightmare on Elm Street series. Most of those feature a biomechanical glove, nothing like the ones in the films (though a similar look did show up later on in Part 7). Or look at Polish film art, such as their posters for Gremlins or Alien.

[–] codypyroorr-573-754617 12 years ago

It's a joke people. They made the entire series as a giant joke. The Director for the Series said she made it intentionally crappy (remember the fully eaten body in 5 minutes during episode 2?) The cover is meant as much as a joke as most of the jokes people take for crappy editing and directing during the series. Think of it as a Roger Corman movie. Then it's a LOT more funny and enjoyable! :D

[–] hbenthow 10 years ago

I think it started because the people who worked on the first movie decided to trick the audience into thinking that the movie was about big underground snakes, so that the graboids would come as a surprise. Since the movie initially tries to make you think the "snake monster" is the whole creature (instead of just one of its tongues/tentacles), the poster had to as well, or the surprise would be spoiled. For some reason or another the posters for the sequels and series followed suit.

Another signature element of the Graboids is represented by their tentacles. The script refers to them as simple appendages with no particular features. As the creative process progressed, however, the tentacles’ role was expanded — to the point where they fundamentally became a red herring for the audience. Initially, they seem to be the antagonists themselves, and not part of them. Wilson explained: "somewhere along the line, we decided to convince the audience that the movie was about big snakes that lived underground. It occurred to us that it would not be immediately apparent that the tentacle torn off the truck early in the film was actually part of a larger creature, so we decided to try and keep that a bit of a surprise. Then Tom and Alec came up with the idea of giving the tentacles mouths — but without throats. Since the mouths are essentially grasping mechanisms, a throat was neither necessary nor appropriate."

https://monsterlegacy.wordpress.com/2014/09/20/subterranean-terror-part-i-tremors/

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