Maximum Overdrive)

Starring:Stephen King
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Children of the Corn
The murder rate is as high as an elephant's eye in this flaccid adaptation of Stephen King's short story. While driving through Nebraska en route to a new job, medico Burt (Peter Horton) and his wife Vicky (a pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton) nearly run over a mutilated boy who staggers from the cornfields. Seeking help, they enter the town of Gatlin, whose under-20 residents have butchered their parents per the decree of junior-grade holy roller Isaac (John Franklin), who preaches the word of a being called "He Who Walks Behind the Rows." King's original story (from his 1978 collection Night Shift) was a lean and brutal mélange of Southern-gothic atmosphere and E.C. Comics-style gore, which scripter Greg Goldsmith effectively neutralizes by adding a youthful narrator (a grating Robbie Kiger) and putting an upbeat spin on the story's morbid conclusion. Fritz Kiersch's direction is TV-movie flat, with the sole inspired moment (hideous religious iconography glimpsed during a bloody "service") delivered as a throwaway. Aside from Horton and Courtney Gains (as Isaac's hatchet man Malachai), the performances are dreadful, and the depiction of the Lovecraftian monster-god as a sort of giant gopher inspires more laughter than terror. Amazingly, the film spawned six sequels; Franklin (Cousin Itt in the Addams Family films) later appeared in and wrote 1999's Children of the Corn 666. --Paul Gaita

Creepshow 2
What is it about hitchhikers that makes them such a sure-fire bet for horror? This question is addressed in the final segment of Creepshow 2, another Stephen King-George Romero collaboration. "The Hitchhiker" is the simplest and best of the three tales on display here, with Lois Chiles as a cheating wife who just can't seem to get rid of a hitchhiker... no matter how hard she tries. The collection gets off to a slow start with "Old Chief Wood'n Head," a sleepy story of Native American justice. "The Raft" is a passable teens-in-peril number, but it worked better on the page than on screen. Romero adapted the King stories but emphatically did not direct, which accounts for the drop-off from the kicky fun of the first Creepshow. King appears as a dimwitted truck driver--a foreshadowing of Maximum Overdrive? In any case, this one's for diehard fans only. --Robert Horton

Maximum Overdrive
"I'm gonna scare the hell out of you," intones Stephen King in the trailer for his sole directorial effort, the much-maligned Maximum Overdrive. While the end result doesn't live up to that boast, this sci-fi/horror tale isn't as awful as it's been described. King's script (based on his short story "Trucks") focuses on the patrons of a North Carolina truck stop, which comes under attack by a convoy of trucks and other machines animated by Earth's passage through the tail of a "rogue comet." King's fans, tired of half-baked screen adaptations like Cujo and Children of the Corn, expected a horror home run from Maximum Overdrive and instead got an old-fashioned drive-in movie filled with car crashes, cheapjack gore, and fart jokes. While the film is torpidly paced and often amateurishly acted, it's no worse than any direct-to-video thriller, and King's ear for dialogue occasionally shines through the gloom. Emilio Estevez and Pat Hingle register as a heroic cook and his black-hearted boss, respectively; the cast includes Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson's voice), Giancarlo Esposito, and Marla Maples (!) as a victim. --Paul Gaita

3 from the Mind of Stephen King (Children of the Corn / Creepshow 2 / Maximum Overdrive)
Average customer rating:

Awesome box set!

King is long winded and these movies rock

Scraping the bottom of the barrel for horror fans.

OK collection

3 from the Mind of Stephen King (Children of the Corn / Creepshow 2 / Maximum Overdrive)
Starring: Stephen King
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000844JA
Release Date: 2003-04-15

Amazon.com

Children of the Corn
The murder rate is as high as an elephant's eye in this flaccid adaptation of Stephen King's short story. While driving through Nebraska en route to a new job, medico Burt (Peter Horton) and his wife Vicky (a pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton) nearly run over a mutilated boy who staggers from the cornfields. Seeking help, they enter the town of Gatlin, whose under-20 residents have butchered their parents per the decree of junior-grade holy roller Isaac (John Franklin), who preaches the word of a being called "He Who Walks Behind the Rows." King's original story (from his 1978 collection Night Shift) was a lean and brutal mélange of Southern-gothic atmosphere and E.C. Comics-style gore, which scripter Greg Goldsmith effectively neutralizes by adding a youthful narrator (a grating Robbie Kiger) and putting an upbeat spin on the story's morbid conclusion. Fritz Kiersch's direction is TV-movie flat, with the sole inspired moment (hideous religious iconography glimpsed during a bloody "service") delivered as a throwaway. Aside from Horton and Courtney Gains (as Isaac's hatchet man Malachai), the performances are dreadful, and the depiction of the Lovecraftian monster-god as a sort of giant gopher inspires more laughter than terror. Amazingly, the film spawned six sequels; Franklin (Cousin Itt in the Addams Family films) later appeared in and wrote 1999's Children of the Corn 666. --Paul Gaita

Creepshow 2
What is it about hitchhikers that makes them such a sure-fire bet for horror? This question is addressed in the final segment of Creepshow 2, another Stephen King-George Romero collaboration. "The Hitchhiker" is the simplest and best of the three tales on display here, with Lois Chiles as a cheating wife who just can't seem to get rid of a hitchhiker... no matter how hard she tries. The collection gets off to a slow start with "Old Chief Wood'n Head," a sleepy story of Native American justice. "The Raft" is a passable teens-in-peril number, but it worked better on the page than on screen. Romero adapted the King stories but emphatically did not direct, which accounts for the drop-off from the kicky fun of the first Creepshow. King appears as a dimwitted truck driver--a foreshadowing of Maximum Overdrive? In any case, this one's for diehard fans only. --Robert Horton

Maximum Overdrive
"I'm gonna scare the hell out of you," intones Stephen King in the trailer for his sole directorial effort, the much-maligned Maximum Overdrive. While the end result doesn't live up to that boast, this sci-fi/horror tale isn't as awful as it's been described. King's script (based on his short story "Trucks") focuses on the patrons of a North Carolina truck stop, which comes under attack by a convoy of trucks and other machines animated by Earth's passage through the tail of a "rogue comet." King's fans, tired of half-baked screen adaptations like Cujo and Children of the Corn, expected a horror home run from Maximum Overdrive and instead got an old-fashioned drive-in movie filled with car crashes, cheapjack gore, and fart jokes. While the film is torpidly paced and often amateurishly acted, it's no worse than any direct-to-video thriller, and King's ear for dialogue occasionally shines through the gloom. Emilio Estevez and Pat Hingle register as a heroic cook and his black-hearted boss, respectively; the cast includes Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson's voice), Giancarlo Esposito, and Marla Maples (!) as a victim. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews:

Awesome box set!.......2004-03-17

I bought this movie for creepshow 2, but when i watched that i was a bit dissapointed, but it was still way good! but when i watched the other two i was suprised how good they where! maximum overdrive was funny as hell and children of the corn was scary as hell! and creepshow 2 was ok! if you love horror and stephen king, then buy this box set! it is definatly worth you money!

King is long winded and these movies rock.......2003-05-08

I noticed people on here are giving these movies bad reviews because they say these are not up to kings books. well king is long winded, and reading one of his books can just about be a waist of time. "IT" was over 3000 pages, or was it 4000, cannot remember, but it was ridiculous. Horror was never meant to be boring! Maximum Overdrive is definitely a dated movie (smells of the 80's) but it was funny and bloody, and had a great sound track, lots of action!! SO did creep show, and children. I noticed the other reviewers also mentioned liking king movies I would consider being slow. I donýt think they like gore, they want a bunch of story line. Bring on the action baby. BTW - I love king, donýt get me wrong, and feel free to read his books, I have read some myself. I'm just saying I'd rather see the movies. Oh and for the record, to everyone who bad mouthed maximum overdrive: i could be way mistaken, but I think mr. King had the most involvement in the making of that movie then he did with any of the others. All his other movies (especially now days) are wrote by other people, and are their interpretations of his work, not his own.
...

Scraping the bottom of the barrel for horror fans........2003-04-19

Stephen King book to film adaptions are a bit like picking through a barrel of apples: some are good (Misery, The Shining, and Dolores Claiborne), and some are not so good (Pet Sematary, It, and The Stand). This collection leans more towards the latter with 3 mediocre-at-best movies with few frills.

Two of the movies included here are beyond abysmal, "Creepshow 2" and "Maximum Overdrive". "Creepshow 2" contains none of the wit, stlye, or camp of the original movie. All it gives us is [weak] storytelling, lousy acting, and few points of interest. "Maximum Overdrive" fairs somewhat worse, with machines coming to life and killing people. More inexplicable is the fact that Stephen King directed this movie, and did it with seemengly no attention to style or cohesive storytelling. These two movies are pretty much the bottom of the barrel for Stephen King enthusiasts.

The only redeeming feature of this collection is the campy "Children of the Corn", which is by no measure an excellent movie, but it has it's moments. When I was yonger, this movie was a favorite. I would watch it once in a while for camp value, but nothing more.

The fact that this DVD collection is a bargain-bin filler probably explains why there are no extras, outside of the trailers included on a few of the discs. Fans hoping for a more complete retrospective of King's movies will be sorely disappointed by the lack of extras, if they are not already let down by the movies themselves. Overall, there is little to recommend this set on. Save your money.

OK collection.......2003-04-11

well, i got this set about 2 weeks ago in the store. i hadnt watched creepshow or children of the corn in awhile so i figured i would get it. the creepshow dvd is pretty cool and is worth the money and the children of the corn isnt a great movie but its a classic and is one of those movies that isnt really scary but theres somthing about it that just makes it unique and a classic. the only scary part in that movie is when the people in the diner get posioned and another part from the diner im not gona say here in case you havnt seen it yet but the last dvd (( maximum overdrive)) .... the machines and trucks go haywire and attack the people by some unknown unseen force or somthing. the concept is good and the story but the acting and the movie is .... if your a hardcore stephen king fan get this collection or just get the 8 dvd collection from stephen king or buy only one disc, id skip this if your not really a huge stephen king fan but its a ok compilation.

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