Who Directed One of the Worst Horror Movies Ever? Ironically... Stephen King
Sometimes it is better for a writer to, you know, just write.
Stephen King is an incredibly prolific writer, but that's not what makes him unique. He creates incredible, frightening, and enchanting worlds that truly excite the mind.
A multi-volume fantasy saga, a stand-alone novel, or a short story always finds its audience, which often includes movie directors.
Due to a certain super-loyalty to the idea of interpreting a literary work through cinema, King has become one of the most adapted authors.
Not all of the movies based on his books have been good. Some became acceptable, some became frankly disgusting, and some became so bad that they were simply fascinating in their absurdity.
But the worst one was directed by Stephen King himself.
In the mid-1980s, Stephen King was on top of the world. His books were being made into movies almost as soon as they were written, and he could name more than a dozen novels that had made it to the screen: Carrie, Cat's Eye and Stanley Kubrick's Shining.
When Hollywood approached King about directing his own story, he had no reason to turn the offer down.
King wrote the screenplay for the movie Maximum Overdrive, based on his own 1978 short story Trucks. It tells the story of a group of strangers stranded in a diner who fight machines that have become conscious and turned against humanity.
A great premise for a horror movie. But King's creative talent on paper wasn't as vibrant on screen. Maximum Overdrive received devastating reviews, and King was nominated for Worst Director at the 1987's Razzie Awards.
Stephen King himself revealed that he had no idea what he was doing as a director. King admitted to being high on cocaine for almost the entire production of the film, which gives a new perspective on the movie. Well, kind of.
Not only did the movie fail miserably at the box office, it is also remembered for its tragic production history. In one scene, King insisted that real blades be attached to the lawn mower for more realism.
This ended up with the blades slicing through a wooden board and splinters flying into the face of cameraman Armando Nanuzzi, who lost an eye as a result. Nannuzzi sued King for $18M.
The picture itself does not look so bad today. It's just not the suspenseful horror we know and love King for, but a sardonic action movie with trucks flying through the air, gallons of blood and an AC/DC soundtrack in the background.