‘We made you!’
Of all the weird and wonderful horror films I have covered over the years, Maxmium Overdrive is probably the most bizarre. And I don’t say that lightly. When considering all the elements that created this movie, it’s easy to see how it came out like it did. A cocaine addled Stephen King with his first and last directing credit. Emilio Estevez leading a cast of ’80s C-listers. A soundtrack from AC/DC. Absolutely nothing about this movie adds up, but it is a lot of fun…
When the tail of a rogue comet brings turns all the machines of earth into homicidal maniacs, average joe Bill Robinson (Estevez) must rally a group of no hopers to try and fight back. Kinda like The Terminator, but if The Terminator was absolutely terrible in every conceivable way.
Having said that, there is no denying that King is not only an expert on horror novels, he is also an expert on horror movies (as anyone who has read Danse Macabre, his treatise on the subject of horror movies, will attest to). As a result of this, the opening 20 minutes is actually pretty inspired. The early scenes in which the machines first spring to life are bloody and exhilarating, with violence and horror abound, unfortunately, that is where things peak for Maximum Overdrive. By the time Laura Harrington’s character is earnestly announcing the title of the movie in the dialogue, it is clear that things have taken a downward turn. King himself would later describe his sole directing credit as a ‘moron movie’, and it’s hard to argue with that conclusion, but it’s also impossible to deny that Maximum Credit is a good time, even if it peaks too early.
Stephen King fans or those devoted to ’80s horror nonsense will lap this film up, absolutely everyone else will hate it.