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.

The earth passes through a comet's tail for over 8 days. Machines get angry and start acting up. Outside of Wilmington, North Carolina, a group of strangers get stranded at a gas station diner by marauding driverless trucks. Bill Robinson (Emilio Estevez) is the short-order cook and Bubba Hendershot (Pat Hingle) is the boss.

Stephen King directs his own movie. He's just not that good at it. It's competent at times but at other times, I wonder if he was trying to shot this like an old 3D movie. It is more on the campy B-movie side. This may make for a fair drive-in movie. It's a lot of random stunts. However don't look for any good acting or compelling dialog. Yeardley Smith is somewhat funny as the complaining wife. The best thing King does is to use AD/DC as his musical muse.

Stephen King has had more books receive film adaptations than any other author. While several of these film adaptations were very good, Stephen King is a fan of very few of them. So to determine whether or not he should never allow another film adaptation, he decided to direct a film based on one of his own stories. Maximum Overdrive is based on a short story titled Trucks, featured in his short story collection, Night Shift. In the trailer, he said that he wanted to see someone do Stephen King right. Several years later, he confessed that it was a "moron film". Should Stephen King be that ashamed of directing this movie? Not necessary. Sure, it's complicated, it's twisted, and none of these supernatural trucks are explained very well. And sure, Stephen King probably has more to hate about this film than having to play the guy who gets called an a-hole by an ATM machine. Yet, with its intriguing characters, oddly interesting activity from the trucks, and electrifying soundtrack, Maximum Overdrive serves as dumb, over-the-top fun if you choose not to take it too seriously.

Score: 47/100

Recommendation: Fans of Stephen King and the movie's soundtrack composer AC/DC