Sandworms. You may not recognize one on sight, but your brain does. They’ve been a fixture of pop culture since Frank Herbet’s seminal 1965 novel, Dune. Star Wars. Beetlejuice. Men in Black. Gargantuan worms that burrow through the ground bind all these works of fiction.
There’s only one movie in recent memory that displays the damage a sandworm infestation could inflict on real-life communities. I am, of course, talking about the 1990 horror-comedy movie, Tremors. This film should be seen as a documentary and survival guide, rather than another small budget 90s movie starring Kevin Bacon.
In all seriousness, Tremors became a multimedia franchise and cult hit for a reason. The movies—and ill-fated TV series—follow a very simple formula; you take a small group of people, isolate them in a single location (usually a small town), and unleash a half-dozen sandworms (called Graboids) to wreak havoc. Tremors features a small Nevada town (and I do mean small—it only has 14 people) fighting off these dangerous pests.
If you hate movies where the script forces the protagonists into making bad decisions, Tremors is a breath of fresh air. The heroes of Tremors are constantly asking productive questions, probing the carnivorous sandworms for weakness, and taking inventory of each new detail they discover. Combine that with the stellar puppetry of the Graboids and their offshoots, the surprisingly unsettling kills and the charm of the cast, you have the recipe for a movie that will stand the test of time.
When Graboids attack, what insurance will you need?
Like any good monster movie, Tremors features plenty of property damage … and a couple people dying. Here’s just some of the coverage you may need if Graboids come to visit your town.
Livestock insurance
The earliest victims of the Graboids’ attack include the farmer Old Fred (Michael Dan Wagner) and his flock of sheep. He’s the appetizer, and his sheep are the entree: all that’s left is his head and clumps of bloody wool.
Given that Fred is out in the middle of the Nevada wilderness, it’s probable that he had some kind of livestock insurance—there are wolves and coyotes out there, after all. Granted, giant sandworms are a bit far off from a typical predator, they’re still a kind of animal! If Fred has family, they will likely be filing a claim for those sheep … oh, and a life insurance claim for Fred, of course.
Auto insurance
Man, Graboids really hate cars! One of the first things they damage is the truck of our leads, Valentine McKee (Bacon) and Earl Bassett (Fred Ward): one of the sandworms’ mouth-tentacles bites down on the rear axle of the car, nearly tearing it off. The car takes more damage a bit later in the film while Valentine is trying to hide on top of it.
In the evening of the first day, the town’s doctor, Jim Wallace (Conrad Bachmann), and his wife, Megan Wallace (Bibi Besch), are attacked outside the home they are building. Their deaths are pretty grim in an otherwise lighthearted movie: Jim is painfully dragged beneath the dirt and devoured while Megan is desperately trying to save him. She’s killed in short order, but not before trying to escape in her station wagon. Unfortunately, her husband had the keys: the Graboids dig a pit under the stationary car, turning Megan’s getaway vehicle into a giant lunchbox, with her as the meal.
Then, not long after the film’s climax, the resident survivalists Burt and Heather Gummer (Michael Gross and Reba McEntire) have the only available car left. Either in a display of low cunning or mindless prowling, a Graboid wrecks the couple’s expensive SUV. It’s unknown if the car is completely engulfed in the earth, but it’s damaged enough to be rendered inoperable.
Hopefully, everyone in this scenario had comprehensive coverage for their car insurance. Comprehensive coverage covers damage outside of collisions, and that includes attacks and damage by wild animals—which, for all purposes, Graboids are.
Businessowner’s policy and workers’ compensation
A good chunk of the movie takes place in Chang’s Market, a general goods store owned by Walter Chang (Victor Wong). Chang is the person who names the Graboids: unfortunately, he’s killed by one not long after his contribution to science. The worm wreaks havoc through his shop, damaging the infrastructure and goods—even the store’s roof starts to buckle while our heroes hide on top of it.
It’s confirmed in the third movie that Chang has family, as his niece, Jodi (Susan Chaung), runs the store after his death. The store also appears to be in pretty good shape after the Graboid rampage, so he must have had a robust businessowner’s policy to cover the costs.
A businessowner’s policy combines business property and business liability insurance into a single policy. This offers comprehensive coverage from property damage and business interruption, which would help in the reconstruction.
Let’s hope he had decent workers’ compensation, too. Sure, he may have been the sole proprietor and worker, but as stated, he has extended family who can collect on his behalf.
Homeowners insurance
The most famous scene in the movie is its climax: as a Graboid attacks the Gummer homestead, it breaks into their below-ground recreation room … which is filled with dozens of guns. From there, the Gummer couple lay down heavy fire on the unsuspecting Graboid, riddling its rotten hide with bullet holes. After two well-placed shots from a massive elephant gun, the creature finally dies.
While other homes are damaged, this scene is the most dramatic and fun moment of destruction in the movie. In short, a homeowners policy is a must … though you would have to carve out a policy for large, mindless animals bulldozing your home.
Conclusion
In the event of a giant worm attack, you’re going to need insurance coverage—and lots of it.
Your next steps should include watching each Tremors movie back-to-back, poring over every frame for every type of damage. Then, submit a comprehensive proposal to your independent insurance agent so you’re not caught off guard by killer sandworms: either they will reject your proposal or realize that this is the most pressing insurance issue of the modern era—as they should.
October is scary enough: don’t go through it uninsured.
Matt McDonough is PIA Northeast's writer, editor and content curator. Matt joined PIA Northeast in September 2023. Before that, he had been an editor for the online entertainment magazine Collider from 2021-23 as a copy editor for its lists section. Matt entered the world of journalism at his alma mater, SUNY New Paltz, writing and reporting for the college's student run newspaper, The New Paltz Oracle. He graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in Creative Writing in 2020.
