Maximum Overdrive Side File; or, 2 Steve 2 Cocaine

Stephen King wanted to prove he was the one guy who really knew how to adapt Stephen King. So in 1986, extremely high on cocaine, he directed Maximum Overdrive. He never directed another movie.

For this Side File, Dash, Melz, and Dash’s dad Steve revisit the movie where a comet makes machines turn on humanity... or aliens do it, maybe... and a bunch of people get trapped at a truck stop while sentient semis circle them for reasons nobody seems interested in explaining. Somewhere along the way, we discover that in 1986, there were at least two Steves on cocaine.

We get Stephen King’s sardine breath, a lawnmower accident that cost a cinematographer his eye, the inexplicable Green Goblin truck, the lost X-rated gore cut, Emilio Estevez licking sweat off a woman’s forehead, Dash’s dad confessing his past as one of the Mailbox Bandits, and a deleted scene where Optimus Prime finally deals with Yeardley Smith.

Also: can the trucks hear? Seriously. We need to know.

It’s Maximum Overdrive. We watched it so you don’t have to overdrive yourself up a wall.

If you’re reading this, you’re a friend.

Questions, suggestions, hypnoregressions? Drop us a line at [email protected]