GRAVEYARD SHIFT (1990)
Very likely, the only positive review for this movie you'll ever see
Of all filmed Stephen King adaptations, Graveyard Shift is one of the most poorly-received, so I guess it helps sometimes to have infinitesimal expectations, because I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I don't remember the short story that well, since I haven't read it since junior high.
A drifter (you can tell he's a drifter because he's carrying a backpack) takes a job in a Maine cotton mill, working what appears to be a big, evil cotton ginny (no, this isn't The Cotton Mangler). No points for guessing that eventually blood and body parts will come out the other side. See, there's been a number of recently vacated positions at this mill, if you know what I mean.
There're a whole lot of rats and some unidentified, giant beast down there, and, well...you figure it out.
Like I said, this is mostly enjoyable. Everything in the mill drips with heat and toil, with churning machines and dank pits everywhere. Certainly enough to make me not want to work in one. The manager of the mill is played with a wonderful sinister quality by Fred Ward lookalike Stephen Macht, sporting a Maine accent that sometimes sounds Irish, sometimes Jamaican and genuine or not, always cool to listen to. And every review you'll read for this movie mentions Brad Dourif as "a psycho exterminator" - well, let's just say that no matter how many reviews you read, it won't quite give you an idea.
This is by no means perfect. Nothing outside the mill is of much interest - the town is boring, and its inhabitants moreso. Our hero is completely nondescript, and I don't even remember his name or who played him. And the monster, when finally revealed, is a little disappointing. And really, Macht as the villain sometimes acts villainly for no reason other than to be evil, even when it isn't in his own best interests. Weirdo.
But overall, this is a creepy, surprisingly effective little flick that most viewers probably hate anyway. As far as King adaptations go, I'd put this one on about a par with The Dark Half - for different reasons, mind you.
Hey. I enjoyed it. But then, I enjoyed The Mangler.