Maximum Overdrive Takes Road Rage to a SpoOOoOoOokier Level

Picture it: 1986.

Wow, the 80's were a great year for horror movies, weren't they?

Stephen King, who Monster Bash Blog seems to be giving an awful lot of props to lately, made this movie, loosely based on his short story "Trucks":


This was actually the first movie that Stephen King himself directed. He also called it a "moron movie", and after this, never wanted to direct again.

You can just imagine what it's about...or let IMDB fill you in:

A group of people try to survive when machines start to come alive and become homicidal.

Take a look at the theatrical trailer...Stephen King threatens to "Scare the hell out of you":


"Maximum King"

Now, I know what you're thinking...and now, 20-something years later, I can agree with you. Everyone agrees with you. This film fell into the category of "comedy horror".

But when I first watched this movie, I was terrified. I never wanted to drive ever.

Mainly because of this thing:


I mean look at it:


If that was coming at you, and you were 8 years old, wouldn't that terrify you?
Watch this:

He's just playing some baseball...why run him over?

And not for nothing, but there were quite a few cast members in this that make this movie even better if you ask me...first and foremost:

Emilio Estevez! What are you doing here?

and can you guess who this is?


I'll give you a hint:

(p.s. I hope you've been enjoying my extreme usage of "gifs" in the blog...I'm a big fan of cartoon/picture animation if you can't tell)

That's right! Yeardley Smith is in this movie!
Name another Yeardly Smith movie...or just say the name "Yeardley Smith" 3 times fast..I dare you!

I think it's also extremely important to note that the entire soundtrack for Maximum Overdrive (they refer to it as the "score" for the movie, as if it's an epic drama) is done by none other than AC/DC, Stephen King's fave band.

That's right...the ENTIRE FILM is filled with nothing but AC/DC songs.

Even the tagline is "Who Made Who" (which was released as the soundtrack itself-with Hells Bells being one single from it). Get it? Man made machine...or machine made man? deep.

Basically, the movie is about a comet that passes by earth and strange radiation released from it causes all of the machines of the world to go on a killing spree. Trucks at a truck stop trap a small group of people inside the truck stop and mayhem ensues. The end of the movie reveals that none other than ALIENS were behind the whole thing!

Wikipedia.org seriously has everything that you need to know about this movie, and trust me, it is worth the read. For example, on set, the director of photography actually lost an eye during an accident with one of the machines. Also, the movie is produced by DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group...which is run by Dino DeLaurentiis who is Giada DeLaurentiis' dad...I love Everyday Italian!

I just connected Maximum Overdrive and Everyday Italian. This blog is complete.

If you haven't already ran out to your local video store or ordered this thing used for $5.65 at Amazon.com, you're out of your mind. you need to see this movie immediately!