Trucks: Les camions de l'enfer

I guess it's safe to say that "loosely based" is a good thing. What I'm talking about is that, according to Wikipedia, Maximum Overdrive (which is an EXCELLENT movie) was "loosely based" on the short story "Trucks". I don't really know if this story was meant as a remake of MO, but it should have been left in the can and burned. The acting is deplorable, and overall just not worth wasting your time on. For a really good "killer vehicle" movie, take this back to the video store and exchange it for MO...you'll be glad you did. In fact, break the disc on the way there and tell them it was damaged when you got home..that way no one ELSE will make the mistake of renting it.

If you're looking for a horror movie so bad that you are reduced to laughter, then Trucks is for you. If you're looking for a 'good' movie, you're in the wrong place. Check it out, and pay special attention to my favorite character, the little remote controlled truck - vicious little guy. Think a low budget Maximum Overdrive. It's not well written, well acted or even a well conceived idea, but it's fun if you're looking for a laugh with friends. It's possibly one of the worst movies I've stumbled across at the video store. I enjoy introducing my friends to the wonder that is the ridiculous level of idiocy in this movie. Grab some popcorn and enjoy.

This movie is based on a Stephen King short story which surprisingly isn't about a writer in Maine who is stuck for ideas, which is his usual hero. Instead there's some people in a truck stop who get menaced by trucks that come alive. Already you've got a plot that wouldn't look out of place in a Garth Marengi novel.

In the short story there is little explanation as to why the trucks have turned hostile and that kind of works, well it works better than any explanation a rational person could come up with because it's patently a bit silly. Better to just leave it as a mystery hey? So what does the movie do? Delves right in there looking for answers.

Various explanations come up, each more risible than the last. One fat guy thinks the trucks have come alive because of pollution or something, someone else thinks its to do with aliens. What I love best about the explanations is the way the actors look totally shamefaced as they say their lines. They know this is the lowest point in their probably now dead careers.

You've already got one shiny nugget of comedy gold right there even before you factor in the bad acting but wipe it against your sleeve and you'll see it really shines with much more.

A guy gets attacked with the most rubber looking axe in the history of film making. Honestly, I swear I had to watch that bit five times. Another guy gets attacked by a toy truck he could easily drop kick across the street and has to pretend to be knocked over so it can ram him in the head a few times.

This is priceless straight-faced comedy the like of which you rarely see these days. It's so poor it really deserves a 1 but I can't bring myself to give it less than 2 because it made me laugh so much.

If you love bad movies this one needs to be on your shelf. I would love to have seen Stephen Kings face when he first saw this aired.

No really, you have to see this movie. If for no other reason than all the awful reviews. I actually enjoyed this movie. It was entertaining. I liked the characters. They made sense... well I guess if you consider the trucks as characters that kinda makes my statement invalid. I swear, the Sci-fi channell looks for the worst movies ever. I am, however, standing by my review: not worse than "Night Shift". I'd even say it was better than that because the characters were entertaining. There was nothing good about "Night Shift". It was horrible. You should really see that one too. Awful. Nothing redeemable in "Night Shift".

Why bother re-making 'Maximum Overdrive'? This is just another of the universe's imponderables, but stick with this movie, your patience will be rewarded with what must be the funniest movie death ever: a gormless mailman is battered to death by a Tonka toy, and the gore sprays like raspberry jam from a doughnut. In the cast is the marvellous Brendan Fletcher, one of the finest actors of his generation, and again the question recurs:WHY WHY WHY?