Maximum Overdrive, 1986.
Directed by Stephen King.
Starring Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington and Yeardley Smith.
SYNOPSIS:
After radiation from a passing comet envelops the Earth, humanity is forced to contend with a violent uprising of machinery, with trucks leading the charge. In the midst of this mechanised apocalypse, a group of survivors finds themselves trapped in a diner trying to fight off the onslaught of these new man-made monsters.
Stephen King has written many novels and short stories across many genres for over 40 years with over 100 (I’m still amazed by that number) adaptations of his work filling both the big screen and the small screen.
I’ve devoted several entries of this month’s October Horrors to the work of Mr. King to celebrate the recent renaissance of King’s work (a Kingaissance?) on the big and small screen, with them ranging from the hilariously daft like the 1990 It miniseries to the utterly breathtaking like The Mist.
So to celebrate our final trip into the world of Stephen King this October, I thought it would be fun to take a look at one big screen adaptation that many (especially King himself) would rather forget existed.
It’s the film that marked the debut (and end) of King’s career as a director, it’s the explosively daft mechanised horror masterpiece that is Maximum Overdrive.
Given that this is a film directed by the world’s most popular horror novelist, you’d think that it would be a terrifying odyssey into the darkest recesses of man’s soul. A tale dripping with terror and dread about the evil things that lurk in the shadows of our worst nightmares.
Instead what we get is a film about killer trucks. Lots and lots of killer trucks. Killer lawnmowers, vending machines, pinball machines, bridges, steam rollers and steak knives. If it’s electronic and mechanised it will try to kill someone.
Except for cars, they remain loyal to humanity until the bitter end because……reasons.
With a premise frankly as daft as this King sensibly plays the film for laughs, with it being a blackly comic tale of mechanised mayhem, peppered with profanity, gunfire, and lots of explosions.
Now, while King himself considers his direction to be terrible and the film itself to be terrible – calling it a “moron movie” – he is actually not wholly terrible behind the camera. He’s better behind a writing desk, but he’s not too terrible behind the camera, managing to give us some decently staged and executed action scenes from car chases to various scenes of trucks smashing things up and did I mention this film has explosions. Lots of them.
The problem with the film comes in the form of its pacing and characters. King in his books has a knack for being able to create interesting and engaging characters. Characters whose every secret and tragic past is poured over in minute detail, sometimes too much detail, but they’re still characters that we can become invested in nonetheless. In Maximum Overdrive though we really don’t get to know much about our characters, with them really being a bit generic and stock.
Emilio Estevez makes a decent leading man (although his brother Charlie would have made for a more “interesting” choice) and he does look cool when blasting the crap out of trucks with a rocket launcher. Pat Hingle (best known as Commissioner Gordon from Burton-era Batman) is great fun as the cigar-chomping, bazooka blasting, punch in card obsessed truck stop owner that blasts the crap out of everything without so much as a care in the world. The rest of the cast are either forgettable or in the case of a few, especially Yeardley Smith (aka Lisa Simpson) quite possibly the most annoying fucking characters in the world. Good god just SHUT UP!!!!!!!
The second act of the film also sees the pacing slow to a complete halt as our heroes find themselves trapped at a truck stop, surrounded by maundering trucks that demand gasoline, somehow making what should be a fun action romp into an incredibly boring watch.
However, despite all the annoying characters, stupid plot, daft action and boring pacing, there is but one saving grace that saves this film from being a total waste. This film is gifted with the very thing that all films should have; a soundtrack entirely composed of AC/DC. The minute those opening credits start and “Who Made Who” starts playing you’ll find it damn near impossible not to have giant grin spread across your stupid face.
The hard rock style of AC/DC is, of course, completely ill-suited to a horror film and the music does ruin the potential scariness of many scenes. Such as a young boy riding through a neighborhood littered with the bodies of the dead, a sight that should be terrifying and eerie, but the rock orientated music completely obliterates any fear that could be derived from such a sight. But really when you’ve got AC/DC doing your music who cares if it works. It’s AC/DC.
Maximum Overdrive is possibly one of the worst Stephen King adaptations ever made (a sentiment felt by King himself).
However, it’s daft plot and action-packed execution make for an overall fun watch that great if you’re looking to switch your brain off for 90 minutes.
Plus when you have AC/DC who needs things stupid like a story and character development. When you’ve got “Hell’s Bells” blasting in your ears all is right with the world.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
