Don't Believe the Hype

Better Late Then Never

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I have seen preciously few movies as bad as this movie. It seems to take pride in its camp horror and cheesy gore - in fact, I would be surprised if it didn't, because that's most of what it has going for it.

Graveyard Shift is one of the weakest Stephen King Adaptations but is still an entertaining Horror film that is filled with atmospheric direction,a good cast,an intense score and memorable special make-up effects. All of those make Graveyard Shift a memorable guilty pleasure.Based on Stephen King's short story and set in Maine,Graveyard Shift tells the story of a drifter named John Hall(David Andrews)who's just arrived in Maine looking for a fresh start and a job. John eventually finds a job at a textile mill working for Warwick(Stephen Macht),the mill's sadistic boss and working from 11:00 p.m to 7:00 a.m--the Graveyard Shift. But,at the Mill the place is infested with Rats and John and his co-workers are being stalked by a huge killer bat. Now,John and his co-workers have to worry about getting a good paycheck and survival.Stephen King despite being one of the greatest and most iconic bestselling Authors of all-time the film adaptations of his work have been a mix bag because the truth is for every great and strong Stephen King adaptations like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining(1980),Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption(1994),and Brian De Palma's Carrie there is always a weak adaptation like Graveyard Shift. Even though it's not one of the best Stephen King films I always watch the movie when it's on television because there are some good things about it and it's entertaining and memorable. One of the things that I like about Graveyard Shift is the film's atmosphere which is dark and mysterious giving the movie a sense of doom and dread giving you the feeling that nothing is going to be alright in the end. Where most Horror films made now are pretty and glossy,GS is neither pretty or glossy,but ugly and dirty being true to the working class feel that the main characters represent. The heat and sweat also play a big part in GS because with the heat and sweat you feel like you are with the characters working with them and getting dirty in the textile mill and the heat just comes off the screen when you watch it. The killer bat(or rat bat)is good villain for film because what makes the bat so effective is that we the viewers only catch glimpses of the creature whether it's the bat's eyes,wings or mouth and we never see the Bat in it's full form until the very end which makes the creature in the film more effective. The blood and gore in Graveyard Shift is disgusting and not for the weak at heart,but will satisfy Horror fans and gore hounds. While there are things I like about the movie there is also problems with the film. GS has a great atmosphere but lacks the scares and suspense to back it up because with a movie like this GS should be a scary and creepy but the scares never come. Being that Graveyard Shift was based on a 15-page short story and the running time is 89 minutes GS feels too short and seems like there should have been much more in the film. And at the same time GS feels too long giving the film a few scenes there are necessary and some scenes that are unnecessary. At times GS almost seems like if they cut 30 or 40 minutes out of the film that it would've been better if were apart of Anthology films like George A. Romero's Creepshow and Twilight Zone:The Movie rather than it's own film. While some of the main characters like John Hall,Warwick,Tucker Cleveland(Brad Dourif)and Jane(Kelly Wolf)are interesting the rest of the main characters are thinning written and forgettable to the point where you don't care about what happens to them. The final 30 minutes of Graveyard Shift are wonderful and is filled with non-stop thrills and moments of blood and gore. A fantastic conclusion.The whole cast does great jobs in their roles. David Andrews is wonderful as John Hall,with Andrews bringing intensity and depth to the role. Kelly Wolf is terrific as Jane,a female co-worker of Hall. Stephen Macht is excellent and over the top as Warrick,with Macht doing a great Maine accent. Brad Dourif is brilliant and at his best as Tucker Cleveland,an exterminator of rats. Andrew Divoff(Danson),Vic Polizos(Brogan),Robert Alan Beuth(Ippeston),Ilona Margolis(Nordello),Jimmy Woodard(Carmichael),Jonathan Emerson(Jason Reed),Minor Rootes(Stevenson)and Kelly L. Goodman(Warrick's Secretary)give good performances as well.The direction by Ralph Singleton is good,with Singleton bringing a dark and gritty atmosphere to the film. Fine direction,Singleton.The score by Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli is effective,moody and adds to the films tone and I loved the theme song that plays during the end credits. Good score and theme by Banks and Marinelli. The film also has a few songs on the soundtrack by The Beach Boys(Surfin' Safari),The Charlie Daniels Band(Bad Boys,Joanna,Honky Tonk Dreams),The Metropolitians(Blue Hour)and Scott Reader(They're Gone).The special make-up effects are great,realistic and well-done when used. Terrific special effects.In final word,if you love Stephen King,Horror Films or Monster movies,I suggest you see Graveyard Shift,a film that is one of the weakest Stephen King movie adaptations,but is still an entertaining Horror Film that is watchable. Recommended. 6.5/10.

Graveyard Shift speaks a lot about director Ralph Singleton's ability to make a great splatsticks and cheesy flicks. Perhaps this is as gory and bizarre as the novel itself. I believe Stephen King has a guardian angel that is always atop his head, inspiring him bring out the most unusual horrific thoughts. As far as the budget is concerned, GS is mediocre but the way this tale has been presented makes this film bit outlandish. The plot is simple, but the cause is freaky. The cinematography is great and gives a strange sullen atmosphere to the movie. The film has enough offering for the gore-hounds, who would love this flick for splatter reasons. The plot would have worked well even if it were incorporated in any of anthologies like 'Tales from the Darkside aka Creepshow 3.A run down textile mill is restarted by a firm. The owners appoint a grouchy and malevolent supervisor Warwick (Macht) to make new recruitment and keep the production on the go. The exterminators, specially Brad Douriff discovers that the mill is infested with rats. The population of the rodents is so high, that they have dug big holes in the mill premises. We soon watch John Hall (David Andrews) taking role of a night shift worker. Others are astonished to see John take the night shift. The shift has a notorious past, because it took the life of old workers. We also come to know that the deaths have something to do with rats. Andrews soon assumes his responsibility and is time and again bugged by the presence of rats. He manages to fend some of them with an empty cola can and sling. John is bullied by his fellows Danson (Divoff) and Brogan (Polizos), but he wants to keep his profile low. John also shares some pleasant intimacy with his co-worker Jane (Kelly Wolf), which is despised by Warwick. Time goes by and other incidents of disappearances take place. Searching for the clue, the exterminator Douriff scans the nearby graveyard and discovers a tunnel. Before he could track the channels, he is crushed under a tombstone. Warwick compels the workers to participate in the extermination program. Unfortunately, the team stumbles upon a chain of interconnected tunnels, that lead to a nearby graveyard. One by one the workers are killed by something unimaginable, that rests and breeds inside this tunnel waiting for the good time. However, John still has his time for the final showdown.The film succeeds in taking the viewers to discomfort. Unlike any other ambiguous horror farce that is trashed out in the name of horror, this doesn't lose grip. A newbie to horror may take it for a slow starter and soon start pigeonholing this gem of a film with other inferior squibs. This film has a strange atmosphere, that gets tedious and intolerable due to the presence of rats. Well, consider yourself working past midnight at a mill with no ventilation, heavily enervated and badly perspiring. Then to add to your troubles, you are alone, and furthermore you are surrounded by several hundred rodents, that are smelly and also HUNGRY! How do you think you'll react to this? Well watch GS to believe it. Cheers to Ralph Singleton!

Mostly an average shocker, based on a short story by Stephen King, "Graveyard Shift" does have a couple extra things going for it to make it a fairly amusing view. What distinguishes it is its commitment to looking as grungy and unappealing as possible. In fact, it may be the grimiest genre film since "C.H.U.D.", which also took place underground. King's grisly and ghoulish tale tells of the crew of a textile mill in a small town. The mill is infested - yeah, that's the understatement of the year - with rats, and periodically the employees disappear. As it turns out, there's something in the bowels of the mill that's much bigger and uglier than any ordinary rat. Atmosphere and set decoration are pretty strong here; horror fans will dig a particular chamber that's just stocked full of human bones. There's a sufficient amount of gore and very crude yet undeniably entertaining creature effects. David Andrews is a good looking but rather bland hero, but Kelly Wolf is cute and endearing as his feisty leading lady. It's very cool to see a pre-stardom Andrew Divoff ("Wishmaster") as one of two bullies; Vic Polizos plays the other (and *he* was actually *in* "C.H.U.D."!). The cast members that really make watching this thing worthwhile are Stephen Macht and Brad Dourif. Macht hams it up something fierce, speaking in an exaggerated Maine accent that's so hilarious one may crack up every time he utters a line. He's a mighty fine white trash villain; perhaps his best moment in the movie is when he goes completely bonkers, rubbing the dirt from an old bottle on his face as if he's going to war. And Dourif, as a mangy exterminator, delivers a performance that's really way too good for this sort of thing; he even manages to shed a tear during a riveting monologue wherein he explains the Viet Cong's use of rats as torture devices during 'Nam. One of his best lines has him firmly state that he's not the kind of veteran one would see Bruce Dern playing on film! The direction is by Ralph Singleton, in his sole feature film directing credit; he's usually been a producer, assistant or second unit director, or production manager. He makes this a pretty clunky affair that's still a hoot in all of its tacky glory. There's certainly much more prestigious Stephen King cinema than this, but there's still a respectable amount of entertainment value to be found here. That extends to the choice of music for the end credits, a decidedly non funky beat over which dialogue from the movie is played. Six out of 10.