Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Let’s Ride #3!

Stephen King may be a much beloved horror novelist, but he is definitely NOT a good director. His first and only directing gig put him in control of 1986’s Maximum Overdrive. Based upon Trucks, a story included in King’s first short story collection, Night Shift, the film stars Emilio Estevez, Laura Harrington, Pat Hingle, Yeardley Smith, and John Short. As someone who loves many of King’s books and the countless films that are based upon his work, it’s a bit of a letdown to watch Maximum Overdrive.

The film is centered on the Dixie Boy Truck Stop near Wilmington, North Carolina. Earth is passing through the tail of a comet and machines take on a life of their own, maiming and killing any and every human that they can find. Lawnmowers run over people. Chainsaws cut through people. Arcade games hypnotize people and electrocute them. Heck, even a soda machine takes out an entire Little League team and their coach! At the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, one particularly nasty looking eighteen-wheeler, with a massive Green Goblin face on the front, seems to take charge of all of the other vehicles at the truck stop and leads them on a rampage, trapping people inside of the stop’s diner. The humans trapped in the diner form a small resistance group and attempt to escape to an island where no vehicles are allowed. Will they make it? Unfortunately you have to watch Maximum Overdrive to find out their fate.

What’s sad is the fact that this film, in the right hands, could have been a great flick. Instead, Stephen King drags the movie into a stale direction where it actually becomes boring. King was given a great cast, decent special effects, and a starring truck that could have been a merchandising juggernaut. He even got AC/DC to do the film’s soundtrack. What he does with all of these great things? He makes a boring film with zero thrills or laughs.

I wanted this film to be good, but it fails miserably. I say this as someone who appreciates bad movies. I say this as someone who intentionally paid money to see Cats in the theater. I say this as someone who loves films like Abominable and Frankenhooker. Despite all of this, I cannot stand Maximum Overdrive. It cannot decide if it wants to be a dark comedy, a sci-fi thriller, or a horror film. It’s a B-movie with a big budget that just doesn’t work.

Thanks for checking out my review. I know that this film has a cult following and I will admit that I enjoyed Yeardley Smith’s performance, but overall, this is not the movie for me.