Who made Who? Well, Stephen King wrote this gem, then went onto to direct its big screen counterpart with generous helpings of Emilio Estevez, and a soundtrack consisting of nothing but AC DC......how could any movie go wrong with that? Maximum Overdrive manages to find a way.

Showcasing his ineptitude as a director, Stephen King opens Maximum Overdrive with a healthy paragraph about what is going on in the movie. Perhaps, this was best, because rather than wasting time, we get right to the story (well, sort of).

Maximum Overdrive opens with us being introduced to an Earth that is presently in the wake of a passing comet. The result of it's trajectory passing through the Earth's orbit is that the planet is bathed in a green cloud....which will apparently last for 7 days (when the comet will pass by the Earth).

Aside from the monochromatic northern lights, the comets appearance has also caused all machinery on Earth to come to life, and in a capacity designed to be less than beneficial to us humans. Ok, so let's sum up. Comet flys by Earth. Earth glows green. Toasters try to kill us. Got it? Good. Because that's it.

Sure, King attempts to create a handful of characters that we give a shit about, but really by the end of this movie you are rooting for their deaths. For some unknown reason, everyone seems to seek refuge at a local truck stop...because their wouldn't be any machinery there right? Our small band of heroes (victims) are surrounded by and army of tractor trailers, garbage trucks, bull dozers, and even a small amphibious military vehicle armed with an M-60 (that's a really big machine gun for you unknowing dicks). Their plan is to wait out the 7 days for the comet to leave and stay alive. Good plan.

Maximum Overdrive does provide some genious movie moments, whether it be killer soda machines, to an outfield full of Little Leaguers being crushed by an evil steam roller....Director Stephen King has the blood pumps working in overdrive. The opening sequence, has a bank machine actually calling King (yes he put himself in this one too) an asshole.....then seques to a draw bridge that decides to open and kill everyone on it during rush hour. As I said earlier, once the narrative is layed on us, the blood starts spraying.

Emilio Estevez is at his best in this.....which isn't saying much. His character, a cook at the truckstop on parole (how many of his characters have been on parole? Wisdom? The Outsiders? Repo Man? The Mighty Ducks?....me thinks we've been Biehn Screened here) eventually becomes the heroic figure of the film.....that for the lack of any other name actor who would sign on to do this crap.

When all is said and done, Maximum Overdrive is a great bad movie. Bad Movie Knights will enjoy the concise, almost non-existant story, the lack of dialogue and therefore acting (aside from that annoying bitch that does the voiceover for Lisa Simpson) and the directorial debut of one our finest novelists, Stephen King. Joel Schumacher he is not....but who is? Thankfully no one.

Hamlin Grade: 5

Timothy Dalton is the one true James Bond,
pat