The Only Film Directed by Stephen King Gets Dubbed ‘One of the Cheesiest Movies Ever Made’
The King of Horror had his own moment of shame.
Recognized as one of the best writers of our time, Stephen King has brought billions of dollars to the cinema industry, with numerous movie adaptations of his novels being considered cultish. However, what if King’s novel is adapted by the master himself?
Yes, you heard it right, there was a horror movie based on King's story, made by the author who stepped into the director’s shoes only for once. Nevertheless, the result disappointed fans, critics and King himself, who later disowned it.
The film starts by showing Earth crossing the tail of a comet that causes a radiation storm on the planet. It triggers all the machines, from trucks to arcades, to come to life, and they’re quick enough to turn against those who made them, people.
It’s high time to confront killer machines, and that’s why a group of survivors, who end up in a truck stop, attempt to find a way out of this bloody battle. However, the group is very divided and not used to the war conditions at all, which makes their risks higher.
King’s fans can already recognize here the plot of the master’s short story Trucks, a part of his first collection Night Shift (1978). The 1986 horror was loosely based on this story, but King’s direction made it not a pale copy of his own work, but rather a parody of it.
The film contains surprisingly dark humor and quite a crampy tone that poorly contrasts with the dark and suspenseful atmosphere of the screenplay. It doesn’t manage to convey the wholesomeness of the original and presents a cringey mix of genres.
Titled Maximum Overdrive, it appears to be not only one of the worst adaptations of King’s novels, but “one of the cheesiest movies ever made,” as voiced by Redditor @Johnny_Lang_1962. This horror was both a commercial and critical failure, and it’s proved by its current shameful score of 14% on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, it can serve as a perfect guilty pleasure movie, as it’s so bad that it’s good.
“One of my favorite bad films of all time. Just amazingly "fun" bad,” says @Krelleth.
Check out how bad Stephen King is as a director, as Maximum Overdrive is available for streaming on Prime and Apple TV+ .