10 Stephen King Movies To Watch Before It

King addresses the audience directly in Maximum Overdrive’s trailer, explaining that he’s always wanted to see an adaptation of his work “done right” so he’s decided to direct one himself. Then he points at the camera and says “I’m gonna scare the hell out of you!”

Instead, this version of his short story Trucks has a real shot at being the best bad movie ever adapted from his work. When the Earth passes through the “Extraordinarily diffuse” tail of Rhea-M, a rogue comet, trucks comes to life with demonic intent and start circling the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, which just happens to have a cellar filled with M-16s, grenades and bazookas. Given that the short order cook is also an ex-con, can you guess what happens next?

Overdrive isn’t completely humorless, but it’s never funnier than when it isn’t supposed to be. Trucks sneak up on people unawares, victims brace themselves against being run over by holding their hands in front of their faces and sub-Bernard Herrmann strings are heard whenever someone is attacked. Then there’s the dialogue: when someone tries to dissuade Emilio Estevez from refueling the trucks, they say, “You can’t do this - it’s like Neville Chamberlain giving in to the Nazis!”