Mad Max

Maximum Overdrive (1986) was Ms. Spenser's idea - well actually Filmsack's idea, as they are planning to do it soon. Anyway, she's a fan of Steven King, and this is the only movie he both wrote and directed, and (like all Filmsack movies) it was on streaming, so...

It starts with the Earth passing through the tail of a comet and strange things start happening. First, a drawbridge opens while still full of cars, to an AC/DC soundtrack - probably coming from the van with the big AC/DC logo on the side. Yes, AC/DC does the soundtrack to this movie. They must be Steven King fans too.

The concept is that all the machine's have come to life and started to try to kill people. Most of the action takes place at a rural shithole truckstop, where patrons and workers (including hero Emilio Estevez as a good-hearted but dangerous ex-con fry cook, Laura Harrington as the spunky waitress and Yeardley Smith as a just-married bride) are trapped by rampaging semi trucks. Many people are crushed, dismembered or otherwise inconvenienced.

This is pretty much a horror comedy, played for laughs. It didn't look like it had much budget, although that might have been due to King's limited vision. Or maybe it was intentional - a conscious homage to drive-in horror. Either way, kind of fun.

If you're wondering why King never directed another movie, King says, "Did you see Maximum Overdrive?"