Just because you are successful in one medium does not necessarily mean you will be successful in another. Remember when The Beatles, the most popular band of all time, thought it would be a great idea to direct their own film and ended up with the piece of shit called Magical Mystery Tour? Stephen King is the world's best selling novelist (I know because he claims he is) and is actually a talented writer, unlike a lot of other popular authors like John Grisham and Danielle Steele.
However, it's pretty clear from Maximum Overdrive, the only movie King directed, that film is not a medium the director has a complete grasp of. But that's great, because this is an amazingly entertaining picture, and truly hilarious. The fact that it wants to be scary doesn't stop it from being a worthwhile cinematic experience, but it does prevent it from being what it intends to be.
The screenplay is adapted by King from his own short story "Trucks" which I read in junior high school and have virtually no memory of, indicating it is not one his greater works. The premise is simple- a bunch of cars and trucks come to life and kill people. King would later write a whole novel about a single car that does this, called Christine, indicating that for some reason this is a concept that means a lot to him.
Anyway, the idea of being afraid of being run over by a car is something that is intentionally implanted in us by our parents (for good reason) at a young age, some variant of this concept might actually be a good idea for a horror film. But somehow, you can't really get too scared by a comet passing over the Earth and bringing said machines to life (although I did appreciate an early scene where an ATM calls a rich businessman an asshole). Plus, the characters in this movie seem surprisingly nonplussed by this. Maybe all the AC/DC music playing in the background calmed them for some reason.
Anyway, most of the film portrays a group of diverse people (a King trademark) trapped in a ordinary environment, here a gas station. The protagonist of the movie is Bill Robertson (Emilio Estevez) an ex-con who takes on a leadership role when the manager of station (Pat Hingle) does stupid things that get people killed.
I am not sure I can describe how funny this movie is. King's inexperience as a director shows as scene after scene gives the wrong cue to the audience. When Estevez sensuously pumps gas to what can only be described as porn music, made me think this film might have been an influence on Cronenberg's Crash. The fact that he gets incredibly tired after doing this for less than an hour makes us wonder what else he's pumping.
Anyway, this is an all time classic movie to sit around and make smart-ass comments to. In terms of successful works of horror, well, pick up a copy of Salem's Lot instead.
Maximum Overdrive (1986)