Directed By: Stephen King
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington
Tag line: "Who Made Who?"
Trivia: The film was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards including worst director for Stephen King and worst actor for Emilio Estevez
Directed by author Stephen King himself (who wrote the short story that inspired it), 1986’s Maximum Overdrive has been savaged by critics ever since it first hit movie screens, and was even nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards, for Worst Actor (Emilio Esteves) and Worst Director (King). While I’ll agree it’s far from a good movie, I have to come clean here: I had some serious fun watching it.
As the result of a comet that’s passing overhead, all of the world’s machines, from soda dispensers to humongous trucks, spring suddenly to life. What’s more, they seem pissed off at humanity, and are doing everything they can to wipe us off the face of the earth. To escape the killer vehicles roaming the highway, a group of people take cover inside the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, including former convict Bill (Emelio Esteves), the facility’s owner Bubba (Pat Hingle), a pretty loner named Brett (Laura Harrington), and a pair of newlyweds (John Short and Yeardley Smith). With a number of big rigs lurking just outside their door, the survivors must find a way out before the murderous trucks come crashing through the wall.
The single most ridiculous aspect of Maximum Overdrive is its central story; not only does it fail as a horror film (As I mentioned a while back in my write-up of Christine, which was also based on a Stephen King work, I don’t find killer vehicles the least bit scary), but there are times when it’s so ridiculous you can’t stop laughing (in several instances, the victims of the killer trucks simply stands there, happily allowing the vehicle, which they could have easily avoided, roll over them). Sure, some of the performances leave a lot to be desired (Pat Hingle goes way over-the-top in his portrayal of Bubba), but when the story itself doesn’t pack a wallop, the performances are the least of your worries.
That said, the movie does have a definite ‘80s vibe that I found hard to resist (the film’s soundtrack featured the music of AC/DC , including my all-time favorite song of theirs, "You Shook Me All Night Long"), and had a few moments that brought a smile to my face (an early scene, where a drawbridge goes up on its own while dozens of cars are sitting on it, actually generates some real thrills). I also enjoyed some of the scenes set at the Dixie Boy, especially those where Hingle’s Bubba grabbed the illegal firearms he kept in the basement and started blasting the trucks. And who wouldn’t enjoy the film’s opening scene, where a guy (played by director King himself) walks up to an ATM machine, only to have it call him an “asshole”.
In the end, I can’t really recommend Maximum Overdrive (it’s just not a good movie), but I won’t completely dismiss it, either.