Stephen King stories have inspired countless feature films, but there’s only ever been one made that had the legendary author himself in the director’s chair: Maximum Overdrive. While the film was pummeled with some rough reviews at the time of its release, it’s now regarded by many fans as an underrated cult classic almost four decades later. Currently, King fans will have an opportunity to revisit Maximum Overdrive for free, 39 years after its release.
Maximum Overdrive is now streaming for free on Tubi after recently being added to the platform’s lineup (per ). Chances are, however, that King won’t be tuning in. While he had the opportunity to take the helm himself, the Carrie and Pet Sematary writer was ultimately not happy with the result. After the film flopped, King disavowed Maximum Overdrive and never again attempted to direct a film adaptation of his books.
«I went into it, and the thing is, at that time, I was doing a lot of cocaine and I was drinking a lot. You can tell!» King said on The Kingcast when reflecting on the film’s development. «But, the thing is, man, I thought I knew how to make movies, and I realized if I did that again, I learned so much making Maximum Overdrive, it was like this intensive seminar.»
Stephen King Adapted His Own Story With Maximum Overdrive
The movie is based on King’s original short story, titled «Trucks,» which was published as a part of the anthology Night Shift. It imagines a world where machines become sentient and embark on a worldwide killing spree, with humans pursued by everything from big trucks to vending machines. It was different compared to other King stories at the time in that it embraced elements of campy humor rather than serving as a straight-up horror film. The movie was also known for having AC/DC providing its soundtrack.
Critics were not kind on the film. Maximum Overdrive has an approval rating of 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, with major critics like Leonard Maltin giving the movie the lowest possible score in their reviews. King and lead star Emilio Estevez were also nominated for Worst Director and Worst Actor, respectively, at the Golden Raspberry Awards. It also made less than $8 million at the box office against a budget of $9 million.
There are still fans who appreciate Maximum Overdrive, finding the film to be a lot of fun to watch despite the bad reviews it garnered in 1986. Among the movie’s fans is Joe Hill, King’s son who has since become a successful author himself. Hill once even teased that he’d be open to directing a remake of Maximum Overdrive.
“The time is right, okay,» Hill said on the Post Mortem With Mick Garris podcast. «So basically, they’re all the self-driving vehicles. So it’s no longer a comet that sets them off, it’s a virus in the electronics that sets them off. And so you’ve got these giant Tesla semi trucks, ya know, wiping everyone out. I think it could be great.”
Maximum Overdrive is streaming on Tubi.
