X
- 1990
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 26 m
- 1990
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 26 m
Summary In a very old textile mill with a serious rat infestation, the workers discover a horrifying secret deep in the basement.
Directed By: Ralph S. Singleton
Written By: Stephen King, John Esposito
- 1990
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 26 m
- 1990
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 26 m
Graveyard Shift
28
5.2
Summary In a very old textile mill with a serious rat infestation, the workers discover a horrifying secret deep in the basement.
Directed By: Ralph S. Singleton
Written By: Stephen King, John Esposito
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
28
9% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
18% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
73% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
28
9% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
18% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
73% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
Stephen King's Graveyard Shift is the 19th Big Steve story to be made into a movie, and it's one of the more decent ones even though the gigantic mutant-slime octopus monster that lives in the basement doesn't really ever appear on screen where you can get a good look at him. [23 Nov 1990, p.15]
The film had the calculated feel of a movie made simply because the title was guaranteed to pull in audiences on opening weekend. Sadly, it's the kind of effort that gives horror films a bad name.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 User Ratings
5.2
31% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
31% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
38% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 User Ratings
5.2
31% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
31% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
38% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
Low-budget, B-movie schlock it may be, but darn is it pretty fun. It's depiction of the difficulties of shift-work and slimeball bosses make it a horror flick for the working class. It's ability to keep things moving and get right to the point, along with it's pretty good cast, helps the film elevate itself above it's noticeable flaws. Among which are cheap scare tactics and budgetary restraints.
It's a pretty straightforward affair. You can tell director Ralph Singleton wants to show off his monster more, but just didn't have the money to make that happen. So we get some really flat moments that should have been more brutal and frightening. Some shots come off as a touch amateurish, but overall the quality of the realistic horrors the characters have to put up with from their boss and working conditions mostly make up for it. Stephen Macht is perfect as the mill's scumbag foreman. The rats and grime are all used well to sell the setting. It suitably dark, dirty, and gross. When the mill's basement-dwelling beast is able to come out into the light a bit, it's a reminder of how much more effective and interesting practical effects can be in comparison to CGI, even if things do look a little cheap. Kind of a dorky creature-feature that just so happens to have a little extra something to it that came from being adapted from a Stephen King story. You get some blood and guts, but what will really keep you watching is the look into the life of blue-collar workers, something the movie captures to very well. The stuff with the monster? Well, that's just a little something extra. Graveyard Shift might not ever be destined to go down as a horror classic, but there's still some fun to be had with it.
6.8/10
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This picture, which looks far, far better than it is, is so clunky that you can't be sure just how funny writer John Esposito, in adapting an early King short story, and director Ralph S. Singleton intended it to be.
No one put in any creative overtime on this Shift, the 16th Stephen King story made into a film. About as clever as it gets is calling the mill owner Bachman - King's pseudonym. [29 Oct 1990, p.4D]
It's neither scary nor original. In fact, it's something of a chore to sit through. [27 Oct 1990, p.C3]
The rat problem happens only on the graveyard shift, accounting for the title of Stephen King's all-time worst movie -- and he's got a lot of them. [27 Oct 1990, p.C3]
The scariest thing about Graveyard Shift is the money, time and energy - however minimal - invested in its creation. If you're looking for a good rat scare, the alleys near Haymarket might be a better place to invest your time. [27 Oct 1990, p.11p]
A bad idea for a movie.
Everything happens in an old industrial weaving set up by a creek and an abandoned cemetery, which seems to have been overrun and turned into a swamp, where graves and bodies float. In the midst of this general rot environment, a thriving rat community was born and invaded weaving. Now the owner wants the rat-free factory and the basement free to make new workspaces, but something terrible is killing employees at night.
Inspired by a short Stephen King tale, it is a film with little to see and little story to tell besides scaring no one. A new employee, stupid co-workers, the usual cliché of the hot secretary who has an affair with the boss, who is an idiot and who knows more than he looks, caring little about the employees. And after all, the terrible and giant monster is a kind of cross between a rat and a bat, which never comes up entirely and is clearly fake, in one of the worst-made special effects I've ever seen since the Spielberg shark.
Is there anything good in this movie? More or less. The actors do a decent job, David Andrews works even harder than the material deserves, I think. He was good enough, and so can Stephen Macht, who was cynical and cruel enough to deserve our hatred. But that's all. Kelly Wolf and Ilona Margolis limit themselves to being handsome faces and beautiful bodies to suffer or be in danger. Brad Dourif is ridiculous. Vic Polizos is stupid and Jimmy Woodard is histrionic.
In short, it is an unwritten and very poor horror movie, where everything is based on the environment and gore. It doesn't scare us, it almost makes us laugh at certain times.
Report
Production Company
Paramount Pictures,
Sugar Entertainment Ltd.,
JVC Entertainment Networks,
Graveyard Productions
Release Date Oct 26, 1990
Duration 1 h 26 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline Good benefits. Early retirement.
Awards
Fantasporto
• 1 Nomination
Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
