Graveyard Shift

Trailer—Graveyard Shift

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently. Workers working in a mill from evening till morning to avoid the extreme heat encounter rats infestation due to the mill being next to a cemetery. The mill foreman hires a rat exterminator but he is unable to kill all of the rats. He explains to one of the worker that during the Vietnam war, the soldiers used to cut open a portion above the abdomen of captured soldiers n make a hungry rat nibble on the wound. To make the rat pierce inside the wound, the soldiers used to take a metal bucket n cover the rat n heat up the bucket with flames. This short story is much better than the entire film. This film has lack of tension n the kills r nothing memorable or gory.

A surprisingly good rat flick (another in a long line of minor classic neglected King adaptations). The changes made to the story are really quite good. In particular Brad Dourif as the Exterminator. He has a scene where he's describing how rats were used in 'Nam (not present in the short story) that's mesmerizing -- Dourif completely owns it. Stephen Macht is great with his ridiculous "Maine" accent and scene chewing. It's a kind of perfect demented B-movie performance. This is just another good rat movie let down by an abrupt, nonsensical ending. This one ends as just a boring creature feature with a giant bat underground. None of the foreboding or terror that preceded it. Killing off the best characters in lackluster ways. It really felt like the filmmakers had no idea where to take it, or ran out of time and money. Sad.

John Hall (David Andrews) is a drifter looking for a job in a small town, somewhere in Maine. He is hired by Warwick (Stephen Macht) to work the Graveyard Shift at the local textile mill. Some of the employees are starting to disappear during the night shift. When Warwick hires John and a group of other workers to work in the fourth of July for clean-up work. Soon enough, they discover the unknown. Directed by Ralph S. Singleton made an decent horror movie, based on a short story by Stephen King (Cat's Eye, Creepshow, Stand by Me). The two-thirds of "Graveyard Shift" is pretty good, but the Giant Rat-Bat(!) shows up towards the end, the feature turns silly. Still, there is some good performances by Andrews, Macht and Brad Dourif as the Exterminator. Andrew Diroff, Best Known as The Djinn in "Wishmaster 1 & 2" is wasted in a supporting role. Die-Hard fans of Stephen King might forgive some of the flawed. Despite, an messy third act. It is worth a look. (*** ½/*****).

In a dark and nasty textile factory close to a cemetery and infested of rats, many workers are missing. When the corrupt manager Warwick (Stephen Macht) is forced by a sanitary agent to hire the exterminator Tucker Cleveland (Brad Dourif), he asks Tucker to use less poison than necessary to reduce the costs. Meanwhile, the drifter John Hall (David Andrews) applies for a job and accepts the position of operator of a textile machine in the graveyard shift. What they do not know is that there is a huge creature is in the underground of the mill threatening the workers. "Graveyard Shift" is a gruesome horror tale with a dark story, rats, and nasty and disgusting locations. Most of the characters are unpleasant but the direction and performances are good. This film is certainly recommended for a very specific audience and may not please the viewer. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "A Criatura do Cemitério" ("The Creature from the Cemetery") Note: On 30 Aug 2020, I saw this film again.

Bland David Andrews is a quiet hunk drifter who starts the late shift at a grimy Maine textile mill, headed over by a sadistic sleazeball boss (Stephen Macht). The basement work crew start falling prey to a giant rat monster that lurks underground. Real rats are all over the place too, to clean up the bodies. The gore FX are mostly top-notch, the sets are good and there's plenty of violence and action, but this pointless movie is one big, unpleasant cliché thanks to poor direction and scripting (by John Esposito, based on the Stephen King story). Everyone yells and screams a lot, but Kelly Wolf (as a tough female worker who can hold her own) and Brad Dourif (as 'Nam vet pest exterminator Tucker Cleveland) are the only two who bring any spark to their roles.

In Gates Falls,Maine,an old textile mill that has been closed down for many years is reopened.The place is dirty,run down,and overrun with huge rats.The graveyard shift is operated by a skeleton crew,just enough to keep it going.This is where we meet John Hall,a young drifter who gets hired on to work with the crew.The plant which is infested with rats also harbors something much larger,deep in it's cotton filled bowels,something that wants to come up to the surface.The crew of the graveyard shift are about to come face to face with what's underneath the factory."Graveyard Shift" is loosely based on Stephen King's short story.The film is fast-paced and entertaining and offers some gore plus a few shocks.Many people trashed this horror film,but I don't care."Graveyard Shift" is still much better than bloodless and politically correct horror garbage produced today.The cast is decent and the production design provides plenty of eerie atmosphere.Give this one a look.9 out of 10.