Brivido

Maximum Overdrive, bestselling novelist Stephen King's one and only foray into directing (thus far), is far from a classic of either the sci-fi or horror genre, but it is good fun, a typically dumb piece of '80s B-movie nonsense that makes very little sense when dissected, but which still proves enjoyable thanks to a light-hearted, knowingly daft approach, comical characters, plenty of silly deaths and mucho vehicular carnage.

Based on King's short story Trucks, the film sees the world's machinery turning on the human race after Earth passes through the tail of a comet. Lawnmowers, electric carving knives, ice cream vans, steamrollers, arcade machines, vending machines: all pose a threat to mankind. At the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, a group of people become trapped by malevolent trucks intent on the eradication of all human life—but only after they've been topped up with fuel!

'80s brat-pack heartthrob Emilio Estevez stars as short order cook Bill Robinson, and there are solid performances from sexy babe Laura Harrington as Bill's love interest Brett (hey, that's a bloke's name!), Pat Hingle as the truck stop's grouchy owner, and Yeardley 'Lisa Simpson' Smith and John Short as newly married couple Curt and Connie, all of whom pitch their performances perfectly with tongues firmly in cheek. The film also benefits from a rocking soundtrack courtesy of AC/DC, a fun cameo from King himself (who establishes the film's goofy style in his opening scene), numerous ridiculous and reasonably bloody kills, and a really cool truck with the face of the Green Goblin on the front.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for the having the guts to run over a kid with a steamroller.

For those of us who like Maximum Overdrive, we are apparently in the minority. I view it as a funny and entertaining, B-grade action/sci-fi flick. There's mass destruction and tons of carnage as everything on-screen is blown to bits...plus it's got Emilio Estevez. What's better than that? The movie does require major suspension of disbelief as some of the story elements don't work (for example: the honeymooner's car works just fine, but every other machine on earth, from lawn-mowers, electric knives, trucks, and even steam-rollers, go haywire). But then again, this movie is all about fun. The best part of the movie (besides Emilio) is that no one is shown any sympathy...not even kids; in one stand-out scene, a steam-roller comes out of nowhere and completely squashes this innocent kid. Maximum Overdrive is a cool and outrageous cult classic that Stephen King should be proud of. Sadly, I feel that King will never direct again.

Note for genre buffs: C.H.U.D. alumni Frankie Faison and J.C. Quinn star in the movie. King himself also cameos as the ATM guy.

Trucking Hell!!! Celebrated Horror scrivener, Stephen King's turbocharged road-wrecking creepshow 'Maximum Overdrive' is still the Mack Daddy of calamitous Truck Stop carnage! These bloodthirsty, high-octane, devil-possessed, diesel drinking death machines are Hell on Wheels, all enacting one unified apocalyptic plan, for sinister reasons entirely alien, these wide load, wantonly reckless, wrecking ball behemoths are ghoulishly geared up to massacre all mankind! All brakes are off! As 80s cult classic 'Maximum Overdrive' is grandiose vehicular manslaughter on a biblical scale, a comet-induced Carmageddon, it's the end of days on the sun-soaked, gore-caked highways! Buckle up B-Horror freaks! Stephen King is about to take you on an pedal to the mental, adrenaline-fuelled, full throttled terror trip into a terrifyingly Twilight Zone'd diorama of gruesomely mechanized slaughter!

When Earth passes through the tail of Rea-M rogue comet, the machines come to life and threaten and kill the mankind. A group of survivors is under siege of fierce trucks in the Dixie Boy truck stop in a gas station and they have to fight to survive.

"Maximum Overdrive" is a silly, campy, funny and highly entertaining movie by Stephen King with a great soundtrack by AC/DC. Despite the awful story, acting and direction, I saw this cult movie again yesterday afternoon and it makes laugh so stupid it is. Fortunately Stephen King has given up directing movies. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Comboio do Terror" ("Convoy of Terror")

Oh, how I wished I hated this movie. However, I don't...I actually enjoy this movie a lot. All the critics hate it, most people I talk to hate it, but I like it. Maybe it is the cool AC/DC soundtrack...I don't know. The action is pretty good and there are some pretty good kills in this one, though it isn't anything that is very scary at all. A couple of the scenes are annoying, but for the most part I enjoy this take on the King short story "Trucks". This one has the machines of the world suddenly turning on humans, though in the end it is mainly trucks that are featured. Survivors at a gas station are stranded there as the trucks circle the facility. They have to find a way out or else. This isn't a movie that is worthy of awards or something, but I think it is a fun movie to watch.