TRUCKS was made just over a decade after MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE. Now, most remakes seem pointless. But this is an exception. It definitely has a purpose.

It reminds us just how much nasty fun MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE was.

This was made with a small budget, so the special effects consist primarily of huge trucks driving in circles and honking their horns.

The original film had so many nifty touches. Writer/Director Stephen King had a great cameo as a bewildered bank customer confronted with a foul mouthed ATM. A Little League team was attacked by a bulldozer and the Soda Machine of Death. People at home and at work were attacked by electric knives, hairdryers, lawnmowers and Walkmen. There was that great scene of a boy riding his bike down a suburban street: as he progresses along the street, sprinklers come on in the yards as if some unseen force was following him. There was that hard rocking musical score by AC/DC. Capping this off was the 'chief' truck with its Green Goblin emblem.

This is just dull and flat. Every once in a while one of the actors comes out of a stupor, gets up from a chair and walks out the door to be killed.

No reason is given for the attacks. We have mention of Area 51, aliens, toxic gas and a meteor shower.

And the ending is a cheat. The four surviving characters are picked up by a helicopter, which turns out to be pilot-less as it has been possessed by whatever force infected the trucks. Gotta leave a door open for a sequel, I guess.

More inexplicably, some very good actors are stuck in this. Hey, they have to eat. And they got a trip to Canada.

Skip this. Go rent MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE.

Stephen King's sole directorial effort MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (1986) apparently wasn't silly enough (or didn't bomb hard enough) to kill the will of producers to remake his short story "Trucks" just over a decade later. In this incarnation, folks are held captive by the title beasts in a rustic truck stop run by Ray (Timothy Busfield). This was made-for- TV with a low budget and is decidedly less goofy so one has to wonder, "Why bother?" I mean, outside of the obvious, "We'll put Kings name on it and make a ton of money." The cast of mostly Canadians is fine and the illogical scenes are abound (if machines are turning on you, why is your plan to ride a motorcycle to steal a helicopter from the Army base? ). The funniest bit is a truck using its mirrors to spy on someone and then trying to play it off when someone catches it. And since when do cars with unexplained sentient powers need to see from the driver's viewpoint? There are a few gory and unrelated kill scenes that look like they were added in post-production, seemingly confirmed by an "additional scenes" end credit. Interestingly, they were produced by William (SCARECROWS) Wesley.

A group of people at a truck stop are terrorized by possessed trucks.

This is another attempt at Stephen Kings' short story. But this time,with few exceptions, only the trucks are possessed. No evil electrical knives.pop machines, or arcade machines. Its not as entertaining as Maximum Overdrive,but it is still interesting. Except, we still have truck drivers who cant out think or out maneuver a bunch of lumbering trucks. Bob and Pete;quit looking at Hopes' ass,get out there and start puttin' crowbars in radiators. Then blind them by smashing out their headlights. A running man can accomplish this in no time flat.

Gene Pyrz drives the Western Star 18 wheeler.

An Unknown Actor drives the Freightliner chemical big rig.

That Unknown Actor and Gene Pyrz are permanent A list actors.

Brenda Bakke and Sharon Bajor are hot.

Brenda Bakkes' performance was outstanding!!

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