There are several reasons why I put it upon myself to award this film the 6 out of 10 average rating. For one, its' total ineptitude has an effect of unintentional laughter, and lets face it, thats entertainment. Another reason is that this, 'Salem's Lot' and 'Creepshow' are a few of the first horror films that I have ever seen. (at the tender age of 10 years old.) So I must admit, Stephen King has been with me for quite a long time. If you have seen every King film, or read every King novel, then you are like one of the heroic characters portrayed within them. You have survived!

Now with all the banter aside, heres the facts. This movie is a perfect example of a complete ludicrous effort by an outstanding author being talked into directing a film. (and rushed into it as well) There are no words to explain how many plot holes are in this thing. The premise is: A rogue comet passes over earth causing machines (except cars???) to turn against mankind. A group of people are stranded in a truck stop by an army of trucks that circle the gas station continuously. The audience is bombarded with some of the most ridiculous sequences imaginable. Lawnmowers drive themselves, electric knives move about by themselves, a rear axle literally spins off of a truck!!!?, people are strangled to death by Walkmans, people are mowed down by giant tractor trailers without seeing them coming!!??, and so on and so forth. Not an ounce of logic or reasoning is attempted during the whole 98 minutes of this film.

Now for the good stuff. King purposely designed this to be "excessive and vulgar", and that he did! Fans of senseless violence will approve, and it seems like its all done for laughs. Emilio Estevez makes for a good hero type. Vulnerable when he should be, a man of action when its needed. Unsavory and annoying characters get their just desserts. (a mobile military firearm extinguishes half the cast in one scene!), and the AC/DC full soundtrack makes it worthwhile. This is definitely a favorite film among adolescents. A true juvenile delinquent's fantasy. So who cares how bad it really is. Besides, Stephen King himself realizes it, since this is the first and last film he will ever direct!! No apologies needed Steve, You're still the man!

This was one of those films I would always pass up, showing little interest until today. And what did I just watch?! The opening half-hour is insane... entertainingly insane. All coked-up, and on the fly.. all these ideas come together in a stupid collection of out-there, and homicidal set-pieces. As every bit of machinery becomes demonically possessed, after a comet passes through the Earth's atmosphere. So no one is safe from the onslaught when the machines start a global crisis for blood.

Director Stephen King (who also makes an amusing cameo at the beginning) lines it up with dark humour, ripe performances and outrageous stunts. It's pure chaotic madness! I admit, I didn't find the second half to be as impressive when the action comes to a standstill at an isolated truck stop, but still, there are enough silly, bug-eyed decisions in the latter half to get your rocks off with the likes of Emilio Estevez and a rocket launcher packing Pat Hingle heading a motley crew against circling trucks led by a green goblin rig. Not to forget either the brutal encounters with a machine gun mounted mule and an electric knife. After such a cracking set-up, it's just too bad the film's final payoff isn't much of one. Also you can't go wrong with an electrifying AC/DC soundtrack, which doesn't wait around to kick in, by opening with the killer track "Who Made Who"? blaring away.

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.