On July 25, 1986, the first and only movie to be directed by famed horror novelist Stephen King was released into theaters nationwide.
Now, 40 years after its release, “Maximum Overdrive” is back in Wilmington, where it was shot, for a series of anniversary screenings Aug. 28-30 at historic Thalian Hall.
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“Maximum Overdrive” was based on “Trucks,” King’s novella in which a passing comet somehow causes earthbound motor vehicles and other machinery to gain sentience. Naturally, the machines’ first instinct is to murder any man, woman or child who crosses their path.
“There is a subset of movies that are … objectively bad. And people still love them.”
That leads to some inspired early-film scenes of little leaguers being pelted with soda cans from a vending machine, a housewife being slashed with an electric knife and King himself (in a cameo) being cussed out by an ATM at the old, since-torn-down Wachovia bank building downtown.
Eventually, the movie’s characters retreat to the Dixie Boy truck stop for safety from marauding semis (including one with a Green Goblin head on its grill) and the film bogs down before exploding into a very fiery end.
“Maximum Overdrive” was recently included on an MSN.com list with the somewhat confusing headline, “15 movies we don’t watch because they’re good.”
“There is a subset of movies that are … objectively bad. And people still love them,” the piece read. “It’s not that … the people that enjoy these movies don’t see the mistakes; they see them, celebrate them, and love these films for them.”
One of those people is Mike Morelli, a film buff who also happens to be Thalian Hall’s director of scheduling and cinema.
“Aside from it being filmed in Wilmington, it’s not the best movie,” Morelli said with a laugh. “It definitely falls into the so-bad-it’s-good category.”
But “Maximum Overdrive” does have its moments, Morelli said, including some impressive visual effects. Plus, he said, “The Green Goblin truck looks great.”
“It’s both intentionally funny and unintentionally funny,” Morelli said. “It starts with a bang, gets boring for a while then has a great ending.”
Morelli said it’s thought to be the first time the movie has screened at Thalian Hall.
An impressive cast includes Emilio Estevez (at the height of his “Breakfast Club” fame), Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson’s voice on “The Simpsons”) and character actor Pat Hingle (who became a Wilmington resident after making the movie here) as well-armed truck stop owner Bubba Hendershot. Giancarlo Esposito has a small role as a man who gets electrocuted by a video game.
No surprise, critical reaction was generally poor.
Eventually, King himself joined the cultural chorus mocking “Maximum Overdrive,” admitting that not only was he a rookie director, but was also in the throes of a cocaine addiction he later sought treatment for.
In 2013, during a Q&A for a public screening of locally shot CBS series “Under the Dome” at Thalian Hall, which was based on a novel by King, the author covered his face in faux shame when Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo told King he was a fan of “Maximum Overdrive,” garnering laughs from the crowd.
Indeed, “Maximum Overdrive” was a box office flop, and it got two “Razzie” nominations: one for Estevez as Worst Actor and one for King as Worst Director.
On the plus side, rock gods AC/DC provided a soundtrack album, “Who Made Who,” replete with such classics as “Hells Bells,” “You Shook Me (All Night Long)” and the title track.
At the time it was filmed, “Maximum Overdrive” was the fourth Wilmington-shot feature based on King’s work after “Firestarter,” “Cat’s Eye” and “Silver Bullet,” all of which were produced by Dino De Laurentiis, who ran the studio in Wilmington during the 1980s.
Quite a few Wilmington locations show up, including the Isabel Holmes Bridge, which opens up and spills cars into the Cape Fear River, and the Kicking Mule convenience store on U.S. 74 near Leland.
One character is killed in a scene near 19th and Princess streets, and a scene at Shirley Road and Kenwood Avenue led to a lawsuit after cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi was partially blinded while shooting what was supposed to be an out-of-control lawnmower.
The Dixie Boy was actually a hyper-realistic set on U.S. 74/76 in Leland. Actual truck drivers tried to pull in there during filming, and the production took out ads in the Wilmington Morning Star (a predecessor of the StarNews) to remind the public it wasn’t a real business.
“It’s a movie that’s great to watch with an audience,” Morelli said. “Watching a so-good-it’s-bad movie at home is one thing. But watching it with other people after you’ve had a couple of cocktails, it’s just fun.”
Reporting by John Staton, Wilmington StarNews / Wilmington StarNews
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
