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Rating: - Nice Parody
"Maximum Overdrive" (1986) is what you would get if you crossed "Duel" with "Night of the Living Dead" and significantly amped up the parody component of each film (there is a little "Temors" here as well). Not exactly highbrow, it is considerably more entertaining than its rating score would indicate; especially if you can connect with the parody element.

Written and directed by Stephen King on a very modest special effects budget, the story shifts between idyllic small-town and redneck truck stop somewhere in North Carolina. A UFO has somehow gained control over most machines (insert "Metropolis" here) which proceed to slaughter a considerable number of people.

Neither the film nor King's original story seem to have anything profound to say about aliens, humans, or machines. That is probably for the best as deep philosophy would only get in the way of the entertainment value of this thing.

Like the farm house in "Night of the Living Dead", those who remain alive take refuge in a nearby truck stop. Pat Hingle gives an over-the-top performance as the greedy owner who just happens to have a small arsenal of weapons concealed on the premises. Yeardley Smith as a stressed-out newlywed provides additional comic relief. Emilio Estavez and Laura Harrington provide the story's romantic element. Music is by King's favorite band AC/DC. Although everything from lawnmowers to blow dryers get into the act, most of the focus is on the eighteen-wheelers which besiege the truck stop around the clock.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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