Graveyard Shift is set in a Maine textile mill whose overbearing manager (Stephen Macht) finds himself in a tight spot when county inspectors crack down on his less-than-safe operation after a fatal accident involving a picking machine. He rounds up a few financially-desperate locals -- including drifter David Anderson, the film's nominal hero -- into a rag-tag crew to clean up the nightmarish, rat-infested lower levels of the decrepit building.
Working their way through the labyrinthine tunnels beneath the mill, the crew encounters a rat's nest far beyond what their foreman had imagined, with a gigantic, man-eating monster rodent nesting at its center. Though certainly not among the most memorable treatments of King's work, this movie is not without a certain cheesy appeal and features good performances from Macht and Brad Dourif in a brief but fun role as a brain-damaged exterminator (His dialogue is later sampled and tweaked for a silly end-credits dance tune!)
On the downside, King's lean story is bogged down with too much obvious padding, and the entire production seems half-baked -- no doubt the result of the studio's rush to release the movie in time for Halloween.
Directed by: Ralph S. Singleton Written by: John Esposito Produced by: Lester Berman & William G. Dunn Original music by: Brian Banks & Anthony Marinelli
Cast: David Andrews .... John Hall Kelly Wolf .... Jane Wisconsky Stephen Macht .... Warwick Andrew Divoff .... Danson Vic Polizos .... Brogan Brad Dourif .... The Exterminator Robert Alan Beuth .... Ippeston Ilona Margolis .... Nordello Jimmy Woodard .... Carmichael Jonathan Emerson .... Jason Reed Minor Rootes .... Stevenson Kelly L. Goodman .... Warwick's Secretary Susan Lowden .... Daisy May Joe Perham .... Mill Inspector Dana Packard .... Millworker Skip Wheeler .... Millworker Richard France .... Millworker Anne Rooney .... Millworker Raissa Danilova .... Millworker Emmet Kane .... Exterminator's Assistant
