Stephen King’s Trucks:
The Series that Never Was
By Max McPike
Premiering on the USA
Network on October 29, 1997 was Stephen
King’s Trucks, a film loosely based off his short story of the same name,
but in concept only. The film concerns a group of patrons trapped in a roadside
diner by a group of murderous and driverless trucks.
Among the survivors are
proprietor Ray (Timothy Busfield), his son (Brendan Fletcher), a tour guide
(Brenda Bakke), an aging short-order cook (Victor Cowie), a new-age tourist
(Jay Brazeau), an alienated father and daughter (Roman Podhora and Amy Stewart),
two redneck truckers (Aidan Devine and Rick Skene), and a vacationing couple
(Sharon Bajer and Jonathan Barrett).
While
it is never revealed how the trucks gained sentience or why they are intent on
murder, the plot does point to several possible explanations including a recent
comet shower as well as the diner’s relative proximity to Area 51. However, in Stephen
Jones’ book “Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide,” King himself
revealed that the film ‘was [a] pilot for a series that never happened.’ For
those who have seen or grew up watching the film just as this author did, this
explains a lot. The film ends on a positive, though extremely open and puzzling
note, leaving the viewer to speculate the fate of the characters and the world
around them. Had this film continued as a series, we could only assume that it
would have answered these questions—not to mention the biggest one of all: “What
brought the trucks to life?”
Overall,
Trucks is what one might expect for a
low-budget made-for-TV horror movie, but what sets the film apart are its
premise and the childhood nostalgia it holds for this author. The acting and
actions of the characters are at times melodramatic, but Brian Taggert’s script
offers several poignant and heartfelt moments between them. While entertaining
(and liked by this author), this iteration of Stephen King’s classic story leaves
much to be discovered. This adaptation of Trucks
is preceded by King’s own version and directorial debut, Maximum Overdrive (1986), which is not only a superior film, but one
of this author’s all-time favorites.
