Maximum Overdrive, bestselling novelist Stephen King's one and only foray into directing (thus far), is far from a classic of either the sci-fi or horror genre, but it is good fun, a typically dumb piece of '80s B-movie nonsense that makes very little sense when dissected, but which still proves enjoyable thanks to a light-hearted, knowingly daft approach, comical characters, plenty of silly deaths and mucho vehicular carnage.
Based on King's short story Trucks, the film sees the world's machinery turning on the human race after Earth passes through the tail of a comet. Lawnmowers, electric carving knives, ice cream vans, steamrollers, arcade machines, vending machines: all pose a threat to mankind. At the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, a group of people become trapped by malevolent trucks intent on the eradication of all human life—but only after they've been topped up with fuel!
'80s brat-pack heartthrob Emilio Estevez stars as short order cook Bill Robinson, and there are solid performances from sexy babe Laura Harrington as Bill's love interest Brett (hey, that's a bloke's name!), Pat Hingle as the truck stop's grouchy owner, and Yeardley 'Lisa Simpson' Smith and John Short as newly married couple Curt and Connie, all of whom pitch their performances perfectly with tongues firmly in cheek. The film also benefits from a rocking soundtrack courtesy of AC/DC, a fun cameo from King himself (who establishes the film's goofy style in his opening scene), numerous ridiculous and reasonably bloody kills, and a really cool truck with the face of the Green Goblin on the front.
6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for the having the guts to run over a kid with a steamroller.
