'90s Trash?: Trucks (1997)

 No Cocaine and no AC/DC, so should I bother?  This is Trucks, a 1997 Film that is a Remake of Maximum Overdrive.  Well, kind of.  They are both based on a Stephen King Short Story, so it is a bit more gray than 'this Remake- it bad.'  Like with The Thing From Another World and The Thing (1982), is one a Remake if they are both adaptations of a previous work?  Side-note: I still hate that I have to add the Year to the end of any description of the Carpenter Film- stupid Prequel!  Unlike Overdrive, King didn't have anything to do with this Film.  It is just the usual 'Based on a Story By' Credit here.  To be honest, I'm not sure why we needed ANOTHER version of this Story.  As far as King Stories go, it is not exactly the most complex.  This one is at least going by the original Story's Title though, so points there.  The guy who adapted the Story this time is Brian Taggert, who is a mixed Resume as far as Films I've covered.  On one hand, the late Writer (he died in 2019) wrote Of Unknown Origin, which was good, and Visiting Hours.  On the other hand, Poltergeist III and The Omen IV.   Call it even?  Is a more faithful version a better version?  This was something that King was involved in for other adaptations- like The Shining- around this time.  To find out why you won't hear 'Highway to Hell' or get sworn at by an ATM Machine, read on...

In the small Town of Lunar, a woman named Hope (SUBTLE!!!) is trying to run a small Business.

It is a Stephen King Film, so you know what to expect with her.

In the same Town, a man- Timothy Busfield- is also trying to lay low and run a Business.  I'm surprised that he doesn't have a more on-the-nose name too.

Don't worry- we later learn that he has Tragic King Backstory #3: Leaving a Big City to Escape Crime and Tragedy.  It worked for the guy in Sometimes, They Come Back.

Something is making the Trucks come to life and they start to get aggressive.

Hey look, kids- this is how people took pictures before Smart Phones!

A group of random people- two Truckers, a young(ish) couple, Hope, the Diner's Cook, Hippie Guy, Busfield's Son, an Air Force Dad and his Daughter- are trapped in the Diner as the Trucks wreak havoc.

Confusingly, we get a couple of Scenes that don't *really* connect and feel like Inserts (like the Opening Kill from The Birds 2).

The first involves a toy truck that comes to life (why not?!?) and manages to kill a fully-grown man.

Thanks, Movie- I needed a laugh!

The other involves a pair of guys sent out to fix a leak caused by the exploding Power Plant.  Try to follow this insanity...

1) Their Truck is possessed

2) Said Truck inflates a Hazmat Suit with a pump

3) The inflated Suit is not fully-operational like a man *in a suit*

4) The 'Suit' kills both men with an axe.

Words fail me, Gentlemen.

Back at the Diner, the Trucks get more aggressive and make the people fill them up with gas.

Of course, they blew up the Generator AND the back-up, so how do the pumps work?

A little bonus: that's how the Story ends.  Seriously, it's just all 'I hope this isn't our future.  End.'

In this Film, however, the Cast gets whittled down due to a combination of stupidity and planning.

Busfield blows up the lead Truck (overcoming his fear of guns- yea?).

…but it is a Slasher Movie Villain, so it has one last hurrah.

Busfield, Hope and his Son get to the choppa to escape.  Air Force Dad was going to get it, so why does the Daughter seem upset?

Oh, I guess he's dead and the Helicopter is flying itself.  Um, okay.  The End?

It isn't as fun as Overdrive, but it is arguably-better in many regards.  While many think of King's only Directorial effort as a bad Film, I don't agree.  It can be big, loud and dumb at times, but it surprised me how much I liked the Acting in the quieter moments.  There probably could have been more of them.  In that regard, this Film delivers.  Every Character has a back story and they feel relatable.  Most of them die in ways that make them look stupid, of course.  When the Trucks are trying to kill you, why fix a Pickup TRUCK as part of your escape plan?  Why push someone out of the way of a Truck and then just freeze up?  Why throw Molotov Cocktails at a Semi-Truck and then run away from it in a straight line?  The stupidest deaths are the random ones mentioned in the aside portion and they really feel like someone added them in Post-Production/Reshoots.  The Characters have no interaction with our Leads and never show up near the Diner.  For all I know, they shot those Scenes months later and spliced them in.  At its best, Trucks is a fairly-relatable Film...about killer Trucks.  At its worst, it can be pretty mundane and slow-paced at many points.  It also features a randomly-dour ending that hints at something that would never come- a Sequel.  The original Story apparently ends with our Narrator seeing some Planes and wondering if people are flying them.  I guess this is his answer.  I would like to actually know why the Trucks come to life here and why they have special powers.  For instance, this one can make a Power Generator pre-explode!

Next time, I cover the Sequel to a Film I covered last Month.  Will another bite be a good idea?  Stay tuned...