This episode of Deserves More Respect takes aim at ‘Maximum Overdrive’, the only film Stephen King directed himself. Killer trucks, kickass music from AC/DC, and total campy fun. What’s not to love?

Summary

When a comet passes close to the earth, machines all over the world come alive and go on homicidal rampages. A group of people at a desolate truck stop are held hostage by a gang of homicidal 18-wheelers. The frightened people set out to defeat the killer machines … or be killed by them.

It’s based on a Stephen King short story called Trucks about, well… trucks that come to life and kill people, just like ‘Christine‘ and his other novel ‘From a Buick 8‘, the man has a thing for killer motor-vehicles what can I say? Except in Maximum Overdrive, it’s not just trucks that come to life but anything electrical.

This is the only movie that Stephen King actually directed and he does a cameo as the guy who gets insulted by an ATM.

The movie goes really over the top and has fun in doing so. There are other movies like that such as the two “Crank” movies.

AC/DC exclusively does the music for this movie. Their album Who Made Who is the “Maximum Overdrive” soundtrack. In the opening, a bridge opens on its own causing cars on the bridge to be destroyed. On the bridge is the AC/DC van.

Locations

Most of the movie takes place at a rest stop gas station, but there are others areas as well, like the baseball field.

Two scenes will stick in your min. First is when a soda machine starts killing a baseball team with cans, and the second is when a steamroller rides onto the field. A kid gets run over by the steamroller, it is rumored that there was some kind of head explosion effect, but it had to be removed, because of censorship issues.

The truck stop is named “The Dixie Boy Truck Stop”. The truck stop was real and remained open for a while after the movie. Someone bought it and eventually got rid of the truck stop.

Definitely not a movie everyone will like, but if you’re a Stephen King fan, and love stupid and fun as hell movies, with trucks, guns, and AC/DC, this is a movie for you.

BOOKS TO MOVIES

So many of King’s books have been adapted for the big screen or tv. We usually recommend reading and then watching but reading after watching will also help to fill in the blanks. Some of his books are better just to read and let your imagination take the wheel rather than a film adaptation that won’t meet your expectations.

Here are a few of our favorite King books: