In a dark and dirty textile factory in Maine, many workers seem to have gone missing. The factory is located just next to a cemetary and it's infested with nasty rats that seems to have a taste for human flesh. It's run by Warwick, a sadistic man who's just out to make some bucks, and who does not care too much about his employees or what happens to them. One day John Hall comes to the small town and applies for the job of operating the machine in the factory. Since it's too hot to operate it during day, he has to work at night which is called the graveyard shift. One day when they are cleaning up in the basement in order to turn it into an office, they come across a door in the floor and they decide to go down there and check things out. Something they soon wish they hadn't done.
Graveyard Shift is based on a short story by Stephen King, and while some of his writings have worked well on screen, some have not worked that well or at all. Graveyard Shift actually made a good transfer from a story to the silver screen, and is quite a nasty little flick. Now, one thing I absolutely hate (except for work and life in general) is rats, and this movie is completely packed with disgusting horrible rats. If someone would ask me if Graveyard Shift is a scary movie I would have to answer yes since I'm scared shitless of rats. Other than that, it's not really that scary but it's still quite nasty like I said before, and also features some cool gore, especially towards the end.
When a machine operator is devoured by rats, a new-in-town man named John Hall takes his place. It's a small town with some narrow-minded people who mock him, but John doesn't really seem to care. He's the hero of the movie and is quite likable. A man who's not as likable is the man who own the textile factory, and it seems like he couldn't care less about his employees.
There's also The Exterminator, a somewhat weird guy who runs around and kills vermin. More and more people go missing around the factory due to something that lives underneath it, but the people doesn't figure out what until later on. One day they find a door in the floor when they are cleaning up the basement and decides to go down and take a look what's there. Not only do they find crazy man-eating rats, but also some kind of giant bat/dragon-like rat that seems to live down there.
The movie has some ok characters, at least most of them are interesting enough. The 'hero' of the movie John Hall, played by David Andrews, is a nice guy, but not so nice and heroish that it ever feels irritating to watch him. Even though Warwick, the owner of the factory, is a real a-hole he's still interesting to watch and adds a lot to the film. The Exterminator is a weird character, played by Brad Dourif who played Gollum in some crappy flick apparently called Lord of the Rings. Andrew Divoff (the Djinn from Wishmaster 1-2) also shows up, playing a worker at the factory and somewhat of a bastard as well.
Like with so many other Stephen King stories/movies, it revolves around a small town and we get that whole small town feeling which is both nice and somewhat disturbing at the same time. With disturbing I mean the way some people act, and not that the town's too small. Even though Graveyard Shift is not really that scary, it still has some creepy moments and the rats makes it even more creepy. The big 'monster' is quite cool and well-made, and it doesn't actually look very fake which is a really good thing. There's not a lot of gore in the movie, but towards the end there's quite a gory scene.
Graveyard Shift is a pretty decent movie based on a cool story by Stephen King. It's not brilliant and it's not that scary, but has some creepy atmosphere at times and A LOT of nasty rats. In the very beginning there's a scene were a lot of rats attack and eats a man, and I found that quite hard to sit through as I really hate everything when it comes to rats. It's a cool 80's movie, with a nice small town feeling that adds a lot to the movie as well. Not Stephen King's best work, but still good enough. Recommended.
Back to Horror Review Archive
|
ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Stephen King's Graveyard Shift
MOVIE YEAR: 1986
DIRECTOR: Ralph S. Singleton
WRITING CREDITS: Stephen King, John Esposito
GENRE: Horror
CAST: David Andrews, Brad Dourif, Andrew Divoff
COUNTRY: USA, Japan
RUNTIME: 89 min
RATING: 7/10
Graveyard Shift Website/IMDB Click here
Graveyard Shift Trailer Click here
|
