Monster Crap Inductee: Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Monster Crap Inductee: Maximum Overdrive

Trucker Hats And Lots Of Cocaine

1986

First, before we begin this induction, I would like to introduce three new interns to the Monster Crap crew, with two of them being only temporary before going to other places. First, let’s introduce the intern who will may be a permanent feature in Gilmore.

He’s My Mom’s Pet Cat And Before Becoming Hers Via Foster Fail (My Mom Is Fostering Cats And Fell In Love With Him), Some Asshole Sadly Tried To Use Him As Coyote Bait

Then, we have our two temporary interns, with one who may be back for the next induction unless he gets transferred via adoption and the one who I know will not be back since he gets transferred to being with my brother’s family. The one that may return for the next induction (it remains to be seen) is Chester.

Chester May (And Should Since He Is A Lovely Cat) Get Adopted Next Time. But May Be Still Here Because Well, He Doesn’t Like Other Cats Or Dogs.

And finally the intern who is getting transferred soon to my brother’s family since she is their dog and is only here because they need to prepare to move to a new place (and it is a little hard to board a dog as well as move to a new state as it is) is Bella.

So Far She And Maili (The Other Intern Who Has Been Here) Have Been Getting Along Smoothly Although I Have Had To Break Them Up Several Times A Day From Wrestling Each Other.

Now with that, we may as well get to the actual introduction to this induction.

Well, what happens when you get a director who wrote the actual short story this movie is based off of who is coked out of his mind that he admits he didn’t ever mention what he was doing, add an awesome soundtrack from an awesome ass band in AC/DC, have loads of insanity around the film like an accident where a lawnmower strikes a piece of wood (which shoots out splinters) that causes the director of photography to lose one of his eyes, your main movie star being Martin Sheen’s less fucked up son, and so much Southern stereotypes that you would think many of these people voted for Donald Trump? You get Maximum Overdrive.

We’ve of course talked about Stephen King before with The Mangler, a movie directed by Tobe Hooper that was based on another short story by Stephen King….and to a lesser extent, Lawnmower Man 2, a sequel to a film that while it was supposed to be based on Stephen King’s short story, it completely went away from King’s original story that Stephen King had to successfully sue the filmmakers to get his name taken off all the advertisements. Stephen King has a mostly hate relationship with the film adaptations of his novels or short stories like how he completely HATES Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

While Many People Love This Film, You Won’t Find Me As One Of Them As I Have Tried To Watch This Movie Twice And Both Times, I Did Not Like It At All.

So with that (and the success of a 1982 film that Stephen King worked with George A. Romero in making in Creepshow), Stephen King was given the chance to direct a film based off his short story Trucks, which is about trucks coming to life and being completely murderous to the humans who made and drove them. In fact, in all of the advertising, Stephen King was practically telling you that all those other adaptations aren’t up to snuff so when you have to do something, you do it yourself. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, Stephen King had a huge cocaine problem that during plenty of this film, he needed treatment. So much so that it has been long rumored that there was a ghost director to this film that never got credit at all and that person is his Creepshow pal, George A. Romero.

Who I Haven’t Done An Induction To And Since This Is Just A Rumor, Let’s Not Really Count This Until It Gets Even Close To Confirmed Because I Really Don’t Want To Blame Any Of This Film On Them Without Proof.

I Met The Guy Before He Sadly Passed Away And He Gave Me This Autograph That I Will Always Cherish.

So let’s get with the actual casting and in the lead role, you had some interesting story. Stephen King originally wanted Bruce Springsteen to star in this movie.

Yeah, I Don’t See The Boss Making All Of This Insanity Work

Also Gary Busey was interested in being in this film.

Considering We Already Had Stephen King As A Cokehead Directing, This Film Would Be Made So Much More Insane If Gary Busey (Who Is A Complete Lunatic And Druggie Himself) Was Involved As Well So Bullet Dodged There.

Ultimately, the lead role went to Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen’s successful son who is not Charlie Sheen (and thank god for that as well). Emilio had actually a year before this film been in the huge hit known as The Breakfast Club and was part of the 1980s “Brat Pack”. And we do have past Monster Crap alumni in this as well with Pat Hingle (who was Commissioner Gordon in Batman Forever as well as Batman & Robin).

Again, Rest In Peace, Joel Schumacher

John Short (who was the Tiny Who Man in How The Grinch Stole Christmas)

Robert Gooden (who played Leslie in Night of the Lepus), and Giancarlo Esposito (who played Dr. Pena in Chupacabra Terror).

He Was The Villain And Got Killed By The Chupacabra

Oh and two more people I should mention are in this movie is country singer Connie Smith (though uncredited as she is just a dead body) and Marla Maples (who plays 1^st woman (that’s how she is listed) here). Connie Smith because she is a pretty big deal in country music (not my cup of tea and I seriously don’t know how they got her to play a dead body) and Marla Maples because….seven years after this movie, she married this dipshit.

Yeah, I Hope You Lose In November.

Thankfully, she divorced his ass because he was a piece of shit, which she should have been aware of because she was why he left his first wife.

Now let’s put our trucker hats on and get to this movie.

We begin in space and with a crawl to explain what is happening. Basically, Earth is passing by a rogue comet and Earth is now caught in the comet’s tail.

Like So…

We then go to Wilmington, North Carolina.

And in North Carolina, we head to a bank. Now while no one notices this, we are the audience know something is up as the bank’s digital crawl on the building has something to say.

The Bank Only Says That Privately After You Use Their Services, Not Out In The Open Before Hand

Meanwhile, a guy (a Stephen King cameo) goes to the Money Man II ATM Machine to get some money out of his account and the machine decides to be rude in calling him an asshole.

Probably Also Judging King On How He Is Going To Spend That Money Up His Nose

This guy is telling his wife to come over as the machine is calling him an asshole.

Suddenly we go to a montage of one of those bridges that goes up to allow a boat to come through and we get the song that was made for this film by AC/DC of “Who Made Who”.

And The Opening Title

Now I’m sure everyone is asking how in the hell did this movie get it’s whole soundtrack done by AC/DC (the first in only two times AC/DC would do this with the other being Iron Man 2).

Which I Have By The Way As It Was A Wallmart Exclusive. For What They Were Asking For It At The Time, It Was Definitely Worth Getting

But back to the question. The answer to this is quite easy actually. AC/DC was Stephen King’s favorite band and he just went up to them and politely asked, with AC/DC being okay with it. In fact, the legendary band Queen did this twice with Flash Gordon and Highlander. The guys that operate this bridge are playing cards.

This would normally be harmless, but not on a day where the machines come alive and decide, “Say, what if we gave no warning and decided to life this bridge up without any boat passing though?”

The answer is total chaos and destruction happens and many cars are destroyed while people die.

Oh Yeah, 5 Points To Whoever Noticed The AC/DC Van In The Pileup

Anyway, while the bridge operators deal with the fact that they are 1) fired, 2) dealing with multiple lawsuits, and 3) going to be put in jail, we see a truck that will be familiar throughout this film as the most memorable vehicle in this movie.

Yep, The Toy Truck With Marvel’s The Green Goblin Face On It’s Front.

Again, you might be asking what type of hoops did this movie go through to get this and the answer from what I can gather online is: none actually. Someone just loved the Green Goblin and when someone asked Marvel Comics if they could use Green Goblin, Marvel was like “Fine”. Yes, it seems if you are well known and hugely in demand like Stephen King was in the 80s and another company like Marvel is not. You don’t have to go through a million lawyers, just a simple request makes all the difference.

This truck goes over to the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, which has a diner, a mechanic shop, and pumps.

Interesting Note About This Set: It So Looked Like A Real Truck Stop That People Would Actually Come By And Try To Get Stuff Done Here. It Happened So Much That The Producers Had To Put Out A Piece On The Paper To Tell People “This Is A Movie Set And NOT A Real Truck Stop”.

At the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, the usual stuff you expect at a truck stop like this to have. People are eating at the diner, people are getting gas, and people are looking at vehicle parts. The mechanics are freaking impressed by the Green Goblin truck and one mechanic named Duncan talks to the driver, who is a regular here named Handy.

Handy goes inside to get some coffee. Inside, a waitress/chef named Wanda June complains about the radio no longer working.

Meanwhile, another chef named Bill Robinson is making some eggs when he is called over to the boss’ office.

Hi Everyone. I’m Emilio Estevez. You May Know My Father Martin Sheen And My Brother Charlie Sheen. If You Are Asking Why I Go My Estevez Instead Of Sheen, Estevez Is Our Real Last Name And Unlike Charlie, I’m Not Gonna Try And Use My Daddy’s Name To Get Ahead In This Business. I’m Also The One Well Known Martin Sheen’s Kid Who Is Not A Complete Screwup At Life, Although I’m Not As Famous So I Guess There Is Some Sort Of Trade Off.

His boss is Hendershot and throughout this movie, he is an asshole.

First, he decides that Bill here must work 9 hour shifts and only get paid for 8 because since Bill is a parolee, he needs this job to keep out of jail. Before anyone says no one would do that, I have worked in a place that has people who are working at the place as community service and they get treated like shit. How do I know this? Because I happened to be one of those volunteers who was not in community service and sometimes, I would get treated like I was. And while I did get an apology at times, it wasn’t because you shouldn’t treat people like shit, it was because they forgot that I wasn’t one of those working at community service. No names as I no longer work at that job since I found a better job and rightfully quit.

Meanwhile, in the game room, a young guy is trying to get some cigarettes.

It’s Giancarlo Esposito In A Simpler Time When He Wasn’t Getting Killed By Chupacabras And Guys In Wheelchairs That Have Bombs Strapped To Them.

A Bad Day At The Office

Anyway, all the games are going off on their own. This guy sees the cigarette machine giving out plenty of coins and cigarettes so he stuffs as much as he can into his pockets.

Meanwhile, Duncan tries fueling up the Green Goblin truck when the fuel pump stops working. Duncan tries to get it back working, including looking inside the nozzle to see what is wrong…..and he gets diesel fuel in his eyes.

Complete With A Score That Sounds Like What Would Happen If A Machine Made The Infamous Psycho Shower Scene Score

And again, Hendershot tells the mechanics Duncan and Joe to get back to work because that isn’t an emergency. Meanwhile because Bill is dealing with the boss, Wanda has to deal with the eggs and not get Handy’s coffee. Bill also notices that several people here are under Hendershot’s BS racket of more work for less pay. Suddenly, the electronic carver comes alive and guts into Wanda’s arm.

Wanda screams which gets everyone’s attention and it also gets her foot as well.

Bill destroys the malfunctioning carver with a hammer.  

Stop…Hammer Time!

Back in the game room, that guy is entranced by a Star Castle arcade machine.

He wants to play the machine, but the machine electrocutes him to death.

Again, the commotion creates an audience of people there, but Hendershot is so much of a dick that he decides that they should just put the body in the basement and not contact the authorities.

Elsewhere, there is a baseball game going on between kids. The kids in red beat the kids in the kids in blue thanks to an inside-the-park home run scored by Deke.

The coach decides that he is buying the whole team sodas. He goes to the soda machine to get sodas and let’s just say this does not work out well for him.

Damn Cans….

The soda machine kills a few kids and Deke sees this in horror. He also sees another kid who falls off his bike and gets flattened by a steam roller.

I Have Said For A While That While Pointless Child Death May Hurt A Film, It Will Not Completely Kill My Enjoyment Of It. This Is The Example.

More AC/DC plays as Deke runs away on his bike. Meanwhile, we meet Brett and Camp Loman.

Brett Is A Hitchhiking Lady And Camp Loman Is A Pervert Bible Salesman. Also….Hi, Eddie Arcadia From The Last Dragon

He tries to make the subtle moves on her and she is not interested. On the radio, they get that they should not be on the highways at all, but only Brett really heard it. She tells him to pull over at the gas station and when he doesn’t listen, she forces him to pull him by grabbing the steering wheel and turning it to there. Camp here is none too happy and is also upset about her foul mouth because he is a bible salesman and he does not believe in foul language. He also thinks it is the damn media’s fault for the troubles of the world. Jeez…..that sounds very familiar.

I Swear If This Was Today, Camp Would Have A “MAGA” Cap On Instead Of That Fedora.

The Green Goblin truck comes alive and tries to do the world a favor in running over Camp, but some do-gooder saves his ass.

Dammit Brett….Let Him Go To God Now Since He Seems Like Such A Huge Fan Of The Guy

No one knows what is going on with that truck and they know Happy had nothing to do with it because he was here the whole time and had the keys to the ignition.

On another road, we get to meet two new characters in newlyweds Connie and Curt.

Yes, That Is The Voice Of Lisa Simpson, However…That Would Not Be Happen Until A Few Years After This Film.

Curt starts noticing strange (but minor) things going on as they drive to a gas station as they need gas and she needs to use the bathroom. Well, they do find a gas station, but they also find a dead body. Curt checks on the guy as Connie asks if he is dead.

Nah, He Just Tripped And Fell While Carrying A Crap Ton Of Kool-Aid……Of Course He Is Dead!!!!!!

Curt sees that the air filter has gone insane and notices a tow truck coming on to the road. Curt tries to wave down the truck, but the truck decides that he is going to try and get some points for the Death Race.

It Missed So No Points For It

He comes back to Connie who is happy that her husband is still alive. Unfortunately, the truck starts trying to start again so Curt and Connie realize that they may need to get the hell out of there and drive away.

Back at the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, Bill checks to see who was driving that truck and is shocked to see that no one is behind the wheel, although we do get to see a Green Goblin Jack-In-The-Box.

Sadly, Not A Real Item And Lord Knows I Looked To See If One Existed

As the truck is getting ready to start, Bill is met by Brett, who finds him cute.

Ah Yes…..Young Love Between Two People Who Wear The Same Color Shirt And Pants.

They introduce themselves to each other while we see a newly arrived garbage truck turn its headlights on. Meanwhile, Deke is still on his bike, trying to get home and the sprinklers welcome him by turning on after he has gone past them as if he was some pro wrestler with pyro.

From Wilmington, North Carolina…weighing in a less than 100 pounds…DEKE!!!!!!!

Deke goes by his neighborhood, which is crowded by dead bodies in their yard and a radio broadcast that is basically saying machines are coming to life and killing people. And sadly, we see that a toy police car has killed a poor dog.

Don’t Worry, Ladies….No Toy Truck Will Be Killing You Two. I Would Never Hear The End Of It From My Brother And His Family (My Brother Is An Army Officer By The Way So Definitely Don’t Want To Get On His Bad Side).

Deke rides and he suddenly hears an ice cream truck so he decides to hide since this might be an ice cream truck of death.

He Made A Smart Decision As No One Is Driving It.

Unfortunately, a lawn mower sees him and it chases after him.

No Lawnmower Man Required

Back at the diner inside the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, Camp is trying to sell two people the bible. Duncan wants to go and find his son (who happens to be Deke), but he is still pretty blind from the diesel in the eyes earlier. Duncan is insistent, even when Hendershot threatens to fire him if he doesn’t punch out first. Hendershot tries to grab him, but Bill stops him and tells Hendershot that he will knock his teeth in if tries stopping Duncan. Unfortunately, Duncan doesn’t get very far as the garbage truck decides he is going to get some points off of Duncan.

The truck tries to make a turn, but all it does is crash and ruin Camp’s car with the rest of his bibles in it.

Camp is mighty pissed and wants to go after that truck (not realizing there is no driver), even when Bill tries to stop him. But he is stopped, by the Green Goblin truck wanting to get some points on his ass.

And for extra insult, the Green Goblin truck also runs over Camp’s suitcase. Hendershot tries to call for some assistance, but is not getting any answer from anyone. Brett wonders what they are going to do and Bill doesn’t have any answer for her at this time. Hendershot has some of his workers clean Duncan’s body off the road while Brett goes and gets changed since she does not want the smell of Camp on her anymore since he got run over.

Outside all the trucks take the Green Goblin truck’s lead and surround the drive around the Dixie Boy Truck Stop so no one can get out.

Meanwhile, Curt and Connie start getting chased by a Mack truck on the highway.

This chase lasts a few minutes with the car carrying Curt and Connie nearly being wrecked a few times, but they are thankfully able to escape by tricking the truck into going off the road and down a hill, which destroys it.

After all of this, they decide that they will call the police at the nearest truck stop which just so happens to be the Dixie Boy. Curt and Connie see all the trucks circling the place and wonder if they should go elsewhere. But Curt sees a gap and the hell with sanity, he is going to go through that gap to get inside. Wanda sees this and tells the others to look at these fools. Joe says that they are basically dead. Bill says they may not be so he and Brett decide to try and help them get through.

Curt and Connie try to get through, but one of the trucks flips their car over. Thankfully, they are still alive. It is at this point in Connie’s annoying speech while Bill and Brett are trying to rescue them that you really want to see Connie get killed, but know that probably isn’t going to happen. They try to go inside, but have to duck because Hendershot has a FREAKIN’ ROCKET LAUNCHER and wants to destroy one of the trucks.

Which He Does

He then destroys another as well.

Bill wonders where they got that and Joe is about to say they have a whole bunch of weapons, but Hendershot tells him to shut up. Hendershot says that he found it in his Christmas stocking, which Bill finds hard to believe. As Bill and Brett start talking, we learn that Brett is trying to go down to Florida to start a new life for herself. Well, she says that was what she was doing “before every machine went into Maximum Overdrive.” Oooh……title drop.

Deke is somewhere when “Ride of the Valkyries” plays and an unmanned plane flies into the scene. Deke bikes away and honestly, this probably should have been cut as this plane does nothing at all.

Pointless Plane…..Away

Bill meets Joe in the bathroom and demands to know where Hendershot got that rocket launcher from. Joe hesitates to tell Bill, but relents and tells Bill that Hendershot has a crap load of arms in the basement. Bill goes down to the basement with Brett and they see all the firepower that Hendershot has stocked up.

Hendershot shows up and tells Bill and Brett to keep thinks quiet about the weapons and bodies he has hiding in the basement. Hendershot tells Brett about Bill’s criminal past and tries to threaten him about him going back to jail. Bill decides to tell Hendershot that in this situation right now, he won’t be calling anyone. Hendershot tries warning him and Bill grabs a gun and tells Hendershot that he is now warning him. Hendershot leaves and Bill explains to Brett the rest of his situation as he only robbed a place because he owed a guy some money and this was the only way he could pay it off.

We see Deke still trying to get to his dad (who he doesn’t know has died already). He sees the trucks surrounding the place and decides that he is definitely going to need to go in the back way via the sewers.

Unfortunately, those sewers are gated off so he can’t get in at this time. Morning turns to night and we see that Bill and Brett just had sex.

They look outside and see the green light that is supposedly the tail of the rogue comet from the beginning of the movie.

Brett in face says she thinks that it is the comet that is causing the machines to go insane. She then explains that Earth will be in the comet’s tail for the next seven days so they will have to survive until then. Bill then talks about how he used to run sailboats that have no motors and once he is done working here, he is going to sail away in one of them to a island called Haven. Haven is a fictional island town in Maine that Stephen King likes to talk about in his books (he has several fictional towns in Maine that he likes to use for his stories since that is where he was born in). Bill says it is an island that allows no motor vehicles of any kind. You may laugh at that idea, but there is an island town in Michigan called Mackinac Island that does exactly that. And how do I know that?

Because Our Dumbass Vice President Decided He Wanted A Motorcade In That Island. I Swear, Getting This Administration Out Of Office Can’t Come Soon Enough.

Back at the diner, Joe tries to play a song on the jukebox, but the jukebox short circuits and one guy says the whole world is going “tits up”. Wanda at this point has lost her damn mind and is talking about how “we made them”.

Yep….She Is Rattling On, Yelling At The Machines That “We Made You!”

Bill has to bring her ass inside because one of the trucks was about to shut her up itself.

I Swear To God….You Better Shut That Bitch Up Or I Will Shut Her Up Myself

As punishment for that outburst, the machines have decided that he don’t have lights anymore. While trying to stay calm in a building with no lights, Brett realizes that the machines may be running low on gas soon and may stop working by tomorrow. Everyone suddenly starts hearing aching moans and they realize that Camp is still alive out there. They decide they will go get him, but they are going to use the old sewer access to the place to do so. Connie keeps trying to get Curtis not to go help, but Curt says he can’t stand by doing nothing. Bill and Curt make their way through the sewers while AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock” plays. While in the sewers, we see Bill and Curt making small talk and I am wondering if the actors were really good friends while making this because their banter sure sounds like two guys enjoying the hell out of this, despite you know, having to go through a sewer.

Deke is close to the sewer entrance again, but gets grabbed by Camp, who doesn’t want to be left behind.

Camp doesn’t seem to understand that Deke can’t pull him to safety because he is too heavy for a kid to try and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t pull him out of “this stench”. Bill and Curt come by to help, but Camp is completely belligerent. All this nonsense alerts one of the trucks who goes after them.

They are not able to save Camp and Bill, Curt, and Deke go into the tunnel. The truck runs over that tunnel, meaning that there is no chance of going that way anymore.

Deke asks Bill if his dad is okay and Bill doesn’t answer. They run inside the diner as Bill shoots another truck with the rocket launcher.

Everyone celebrates when Deke finally asks again where his dad is, but this time….Hendershot callously answers that Duncan got killed (in not so kind words). Deke is very upset and has to be consoled by Bill as Brett scolds and slaps Hendershot for being an asshole.

The next day, a small cart with a machine gun attached to it and a bulldozer come by.

The rest of the trucks stop and lets them through. All of this causes the people in the diner to wonder what the hell is up. The bulldozer starts moving destroyed trucks out of the way and then bulldozer bulldozes into part of the diner.

Hendershot comes out with a second rocket launcher and destroys the bulldozer.

But actions do have consequences as the cart with machine gun shoots and kills the old asshole.

It then continues shooting and some more people in the diner are dead.

Wanda has a huge meltdown and grabs the rocket launcher, once again talking about how “we made you” and aims for the cart with the machine gun. But that cart guns her down first and she fires the rocket launcher elsewhere into the Miller Light truck.

One More Person Down And One More Machine Down.

The cart then starts beeping its horn and we quickly realize it is beeping in Morse Code. Deke translates the Morse Code and this is what it says.

Basically They Know They Are Getting Low On Fuel And Demand Someone Gives Them Fuel To Keep Going.

They don’t want to do it, but Bill realizes that they really have no choice in the matter because if they don’t, the last thing those vehicles will do is make sure they are all dead. And to make sure they can do this, the power is turned back on. So it is time for a fueling montage.

All Strung Together With AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells”

Exhaustion in this heat, the eventuality that the gas will run out, and that more trucks are coming every second to replace the last one getting filled makes our characters realize that they will eventually be bled dry and killed anyway so they need to strike first. So, they are smartly getting the sewers ready for another escape. Bill and another guy have a conversation right near the cart with the machine gun. Bill puts a grenade down and sends the machine gun spinning as they run. Before the cart can get the machine gun back to the point it can aim, the grenade goes off and that cart is gone.

People begin making their mistake through the sewers and suddenly, the trucks start destroying the truck stop, not realizing they are no longer there.

With AC/DC’s “Shake Your Foundations” Playing

After seeing a bit of the damage and seeing how pissed these trucks are, the people decide they need to run away fast. And the Dixie Boy Truck Stop is no more.

The people make their way through ditches so they are not seen by the trucks on the road and are heading for the Marina in hopes of getting away into the sea. Meanwhile, we see a jet that crashed into a bus.

Told You That Plane From Earlier Was Pointless

They run into a drive thru sign that starts trying to give away that there are “Humans Here”.

Also, You Might Know That Despite Saying Burger Lean, You Can Probably Guess That It Is A What-A-Burger (not a Whataburger (Yes, There Is A Difference)).

This does not end well for that sign.

Yeah, The Kid Gets To Destroy You

After destroying that sign, the kid decides that he doesn’t want the gun anymore and gives it to Brett. But that Ice Cream Truck is back.

Curt And Brett Blow That Sucker Away

But while there are still a bunch of machines out there, there is just one more truck they gotta destroy.

As our characters get to the Marina, one guy decides to try and steal a ring from a dead girl.

Let’s just say his greed gets the best of him.

Oooh….Nasty

Bill decides that he is tired of that truck and shoots it with a rocket launcher, destroying it.

And Saying “Adios, Mother Fucker”.

Hmm….not creative, but simple and it still works extremely well. 9/10

Our heroes get away and we get AC/DC playing “Who Made Who” again as they sail.

And we also get this bit to finish the film.

Yep….Aliens Caused This Shit And We Can Thank Russia For Destroying Them, Although We Will Definitely Need To Talk About That “Weather Satellite” You Have.

Oh, and the credits close this film out with AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”.

So how did this film do? Well, the film kind of bombed as it definitely did not make its budget back. The film also didn’t get good critical reviews as well and even Stephen King and Yeardley Smith (who played Connie) being embarrassed by the film. It was nominated for two Golden Raspberries for Worst Actor and Worst Director, but won neither. However, it has become a cult film because despite the many flaws, people still can get enjoyment out of it and is getting a newly remastered Blu Ray with special features, which is better than the DVD I dealt with.

It’s Also Way Better Than The Made For TV Remake Called Trucks.

We could talk about aftermaths of the cast, but let’s talk about that Green Goblin truck because surprisingly, that has a backstory. A year after the film was finished, the truck was taken to a towing and salvage company and that whole Green Goblin grill was badly burnt. Then the grill was bought by someone else in Wilmington and then was eventually bought by Tim Shockey of Piketon, Ohio. Tim displayed it in his video store for several years before he had to sell the video store. It was then in his backyard and after 20 years in 2011, Tim decided he was going to restore it, which he did 2 years afterwards. And since then, he has toured conventions with the fully restored Green Goblin grill.

Credit Goes To Little Blog Of Horror For This Pic. Trust Me, If I Saw This When I Was At Conventions, You Bet Your Rear End, I Would Take One Picture For Myself.

Now let’s get to the cast. While Emilio Estevez (who played Bill) would never get to the career that his brother Charlie Sheen had (which considering Charlie, maybe more of a good thing than a bad thing), but in 1992, he would get the film he is most known for.

As Coach Bombay In “The Mighty Ducks”.

Pat Hingle (who played Hendershot) would of course get his biggest break when Tim Burton hired him as Commissioner Gordon for the 1989 Batman film (a role he would continue in 3 more Batman films). Yeardley Smith (who played Bonnie) would 3 years after this film get the voice acting gig that would define her career.

As Lisa In “The Simpsons”. She Still Does The Voice Even Today.

Frankie Faison (who played Handy) would get his biggest role two years later as the landlord in the Eddie Murphy classic Coming To America.

Giancarlo Esposito (who played videoplayer) would of course get many roles like in Breaking Bad as the evil drug kingpin Gus Fring.  Stephen King (the director) went back to writing books, short stories, and novellas. Many of the stuff he has written has become adapted into their own films. In 1999, Stephen King had a near death experience when he was run over by a van whose driver was not paying attention to the road. He is thankfully still living and is considered one of the greatest horror writers ever.

But sadly, it is time to talk about those who are no longer with us. Milton Subotsky (who had an uncredited role as driver of the grey van on the bridge) would die in 1991 at the age of 69 from heart disease. Bernie Pock (who had an uncredited role as the dead gas station attendant) would contract AIDs and die at the age of 33 in 1996. Evan A. Lottman (who also had an uncredited role as the driver of the grey van) would die in 2001 at the age of 70 from esophageal cancer. J.C. McQuinn (who played Duncan) passed away at the age of 63 in 2004 in a car crash. Denver Mattson (who had an uncredited role as the guy killed by the chainsaw) would pass away in 2005 at the age of 68. Ned Austin (who played the bridgemaster) would die in 2007 at the age of 81. Hal Fishman (who had an uncredited role as the voice of an achorman) would die of colon cancer in 2007 at the age of 75. J. Don Ferguson (who played Andy) would contract leukemia and die at the age of 74 in 2008. Pat Hingle (who played Hendershot) died in 2009 at the age of 84 due to complications from myelodysplasia. Gary McLarty (who had an uncredited role as a guy in the AC/DC van (not the driver)) would pass away in 2014 in a car accident. Robert Gooden (who played Barry) would pass away at the age of 75 in 2018.

My final thoughts on the film are the thoughts of many people when it comes to this film. Is this a good movie? Oh no, it isn’t. There is the Pointless Child Death (PCD); the trucks do not have any real personality and other than a few, they are indistinguishable; the acting is hokey a lot of the times; the direction is all over the place (considering the director was coked up, that might be understandable); and some of the character decisions make no sense whatsoever (like that one guy who just had to get that ring from the dead women). However, this film is extremely fun with the trucks you can distinguish (like the Green Goblin truck), the one liners being good, the effects being marvelous, and who can forget the film being filled with great songs by AC/DC. It’s a film I can’t particularly say is good, but it is one that I can easily recommend because I think you will enjoy it. And that is mostly what I love to cover on Monster Crap.

So will we continue on this roll of showing the fun side of Monster Crap or are we going to get a "seriously....this sucks" film?

We Better Get Some Butter Because We Are Gonna Continue To Have Some Stupid Fun