The film Stephen King admits was a “moron movie”
What would the world of horror be without the author Stephen King? Writer of such frightening classics as The Shining, Carrie and Pet Cemetary, King has had an unparalleled effect on the shape of contemporary horror, leading to significant releases from such celebrated filmmakers as Stanley Kubrick, Brian De Palma, David Cronenberg and Rob Reiner.
Yet, even though King is most definitely known for being an author first and foremost, his influence in Hollywood led him to pen a fair few screenplays, too. Such projects are admittedly quite forgettable, with King penning the scripts for Creepshow, Sleepwalkers and his own Shining miniseries, made in response to his own violent dislike of Kubrick’s celebrated 1980 adaptation.
There is one script in particular, however, that King would surely want fans and critics to forget about, with 1986’s Maximum Overdrive being a categorical disaster from start to finish.
The first and only movie he’s ever directed and wrote the screenplay for, Maximum Overdrive, told the story of a group of people who struggle to survive when machines come to life and become bloodthirsty. The peculiar set-up had a decent amount of star power behind it, however, with the movie featuring Christopher Murney, Emilio Estevez and Yeardley Smith.
Based on King’s own short story, Trucks, the pulp horror flick earned a nomination for ‘Worst Director’ at the Golden Raspberry Awards, with the author himself admitting that the film certainly isn’t up to par. “The problem with that film is that I was coked out of my mind all through its production,” he revealed in the book Hollywood’s Stephen King, “I really didn’t know what I was doing [as the director of the film]. I learned a lot from the experience, however, and I would like to try directing again some time”.
Later, he criticised the movie even further, telling Gainesville Sun, “The company wanted to release the film in March…I said that was wrong. This is a moron movie, like Splash!. You check your brains at the box office and you come out 96 minutes later and pick them up again. People say, ‘How’d you like the movie,’ and you can’t say much”.
Even though King said he wouldn’t mind foraying into the world of filmmaking once again, he hasn’t had a directing credit to his name since the release of Maximum Overdrive, telling you just about everything you need to know about his love of being behind the camera.
