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==Production==
==Production==
[[Stephen King]] optioned ''[[Graveyard Shift (short story)|Graveyard Shift]]'' for a relatively modest $2,500 to William J. Dunn who had worked on King projects such as ''[[Creepshow 2]]'' and ''[[Pet Sematary (1989 film)|Pet Sematary]]'' as a location scout, as well as having helped to establish the Maine Film Office.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> King's decision to option ''Graveyard Shift'' for a relatively small amount was motivated by the story being a short story as well as the company being small and felt they had interesting enough ideas to warrant as "Pay as you go" type approach.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> Dunn brought in Ralph S. Singleton to direct the film in what would be his directorial debut after having previously served as an associate producer on ''Pet Sematary''.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> The adaptation of the ''Graveyard Shift'' was written by John Esposito who had actually been carried over from work under another producer who'd previously held the option on the story but let it lapse.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> Dunn secured financial backing for the film from Larry Sugar Entertainment who had previously handled the European theatrical release of ''[[Salem's Lot (1979 miniseries)|Salem's Lot]]'' edited from the TV miniseries, and opted to produce ''Graveyard Shift'' independently which was motivated by the success of ''Pet Sematary''.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> Larry Sugar put the film immediately into production hoping to be the very first King adaptation after ''Pet Sematery'', and upon the film's unveiling at the [[American Film Market]], [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] acquired distribution rights hoping to repeat the success of having distributed ''Pet Semetary''.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/>
[[Stephen King]] optioned ''[[Graveyard Shift (short story)|Graveyard Shift]]'' for a relatively modest $2,500 to William J. Dunn who had worked on King projects such as ''[[Creepshow 2]]'' and ''[[Pet Sematary (1989 film)|Pet Sematary]]'' as a location scout, as well as having helped to establish the Maine Film Office.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> King's decision to option ''Graveyard Shift'' for a relatively small amount was motivated by the story being a short story as well as the company being small and felt they had interesting enough ideas to warrant as "Pay as you go" type approach.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> Dunn brought in Ralph S. Singleton to direct the film in what would be his directorial debut after having previously served as an associate producer on ''Pet Sematary''.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> The adaptation of the ''Graveyard Shift'' was written by John Esposito who had actually been carried over from work under another producer who had previously held the option on the story but let it lapse.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> Dunn secured financial backing for the film from Larry Sugar Entertainment who had previously handled the European theatrical release of ''[[Salem's Lot (1979 miniseries)|Salem's Lot]]'' edited from the TV miniseries, and opted to produce ''Graveyard Shift'' independently which was motivated by the success of ''Pet Sematary''.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/> Larry Sugar put the film immediately into production hoping to be the very first King adaptation after ''Pet Sematery'', and upon the film's unveiling at the [[American Film Market]], [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] acquired distribution rights hoping to repeat the success of having distributed ''Pet Semetary''.<ref name= "GraveyardShiftProd"/>


The film was shot in the village of [[Harmony, Maine]] at Bartlettyarns Inc., the oldest woolen yarn mill in the United States (est. 1821). The historic Bartlett mill was renamed "Bachman" for the movie, an homage to King's pseudonym, [[Richard Bachman]]. The interior shots of the antique mill machinery, and the riverside cemetery, were in Harmony. Other scenes (restaurant interior, and giant wool picking machine) were at locations in [[Bangor, Maine]], at an abandoned waterworks and armory. A few other mill scenes were staged near the Eastland woolen mill in [[Corinna, Maine]], which subsequently became a [[Superfund]] site.
The film was shot in the village of [[Harmony, Maine]] at Bartlettyarns Inc., the oldest woolen yarn mill in the United States (est. 1821). The historic Bartlett mill was renamed "Bachman" for the movie, an homage to King's pseudonym, [[Richard Bachman]]. The interior shots of the antique mill machinery, and the riverside cemetery, were in Harmony. Other scenes (restaurant interior, and giant wool picking machine) were at locations in [[Bangor, Maine]], at an abandoned waterworks and armory. A few other mill scenes were staged near the Eastland woolen mill in [[Corinna, Maine]], which subsequently became a [[Superfund]] site.

Revision as of 10:16, 12 September 2023

Graveyard Shift
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRalph S. Singleton
Screenplay byJohn Esposito
Based on"Graveyard Shift"
Stephen King
Produced byWilliam J. Dunn
Ralph S. Singleton
Starring
CinematographyPeter Stein
Edited byJim Gross
Randy Jon Morgan
Music byBrian Banks
Anthony Marinelli
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures (North America and Japan)
Columbia Tri-Star Film Distributors International (International)
Release date
October 26, 1990 (1990-10-26)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10.5 million[2]
Box office$11.6 million[3]

Graveyard Shift is a 1990 American horror film directed by Ralph S. Singleton, written by John Esposito, starring David Andrews, Stephen Macht, Kelly Wolf, and Brad Dourif, and based on the 1970 short story of the same name by Stephen King[4] which was first published in the October 1970 issue of Cavalier magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.[4] The film was released in October 1990.

Plot

Widowed drifter John Hall is hired to work in a rat-infested textile mill by the sadistic mill foreman, Warwick. Warwick has been carrying on numerous affairs with female workers, the latest being Nordello. Warwick has hired an eccentric rat exterminator Tucker Cleveland to take care of the rat problem. Cleveland confides in Hall that he is unable to kill all of the rats and the mill should be shut down. In the following weeks, Hall is bullied by both his fellow workers Danson, Brogan, and Stevenson, and Warwick, who holds a special hatred for him. Hall begins a romantic relationship with his coworker Jane Wisconsky.

Warwick is informed that the basement must be cleaned up to make way for new offices. Warwick assigns Stevenson to look through the basement before he assigns a crew to clean it out. Stevenson is grabbed by an unseen creature and dragged away.

Warwick assigns Hall, Wisconsky, Carmichael, Danson and Brogan to clean the basement. That night, Nordello breaks in to steal documents showing recommendations for the mill’s closure from Warwick. Nordello falls down the stairs into the basement, where the creature devours her. Tucker Cleveland is killed when a stone coffin falls on him and buries him alive in the graveyard cave. Meanwhile Warwick believes the graveyard to be the breeding ground for the rats.

While Brogan is busy shooting the rats with the fire hose, Hall discovers a trap door leading to an abandoned part of the mill, which he believes to be the nesting ground. Warwick forces Hall to enter with a fire hose to kill the rats. Hall agrees on the condition that Warwick help him in handling the fire hose. Wisconsky also volunteers, and Warwick forces the remaining workers to go. Once downstairs, Brogan, with the hose in his hands discovers a human hand remains on it. Terrified he runs back up but one of the stairs breaks and he falls to the pool beneath where the creature devoured him. Carmichael discovers a cave passage with the sound of an outside river and encourages the team to follow him. Once inside, he discovers a hole through which they can reach outside. Once putting the hand within he is attacked by the creature who rips his hand. The team abandons him and he's also devoured by the creature. A terrified Danson refuses to keep on going and is abandoned by the team. Left alone in a complete dark and hearing a strange noise next to him he lights a lighter and encounters the creature who immediately douvours him.

Hall and Wisconsky discover the creature’s lair, a large cavern filled with human and animal bones. Wisconsky discovers Warwick with a severe head wound buried beneath a pile of bones. Now insane, Warwick attacks Hall and Wisconsky, engaging Hall in a brutal battle. Wisconsky attempts to stop him, only to be stabbed by Warwick with a knife. Warwick flees from a vengeful Hall, only to discover the creature: a large, bat-like rat. Warwick attacks and injures it, only to be killed and devoured. Seeing this, Hall flees and manages to escape into the mill. The creature follows him and attacks him, only for its tail to be caught in the cotton picker. Hall turns on the cotton picker, tearing the creature apart. The final shot shows a sign outside the still-open mill, stating the mill is under new management.

TV Extended Ending

Hall punches out ending his shift and he also punches Wisconsky's shift before leaving the mill.

Cast

  • David Andrews as John Hall
  • Kelly Wolf as Jane Wisconsky
  • Stephen Macht as Warwick
  • Andrew Divoff as Danson
  • Vic Polizos as Brogan
  • Brad Dourif as Tucker Cleveland
  • Robert Alan Beuth as Ippeston
  • Ilona Margolis as Nordello
  • Jimmy Woodard as Charlie Carmichael
  • Jonathan Emerson as Jason Reed
  • Minor Rootes as Stevenson
  • Kelly L. Goodman as Warwick's Secretary
  • Susan Lowden as Daisy May
  • Joe Perham as Mill Inspector
  • Dana Packard as Millworker
  • Frank Welker as Giant Bat

Production

Stephen King optioned Graveyard Shift for a relatively modest $2,500 to William J. Dunn who had worked on King projects such as Creepshow 2 and Pet Sematary as a location scout, as well as having helped to establish the Maine Film Office.[2] King's decision to option Graveyard Shift for a relatively small amount was motivated by the story being a short story as well as the company being small and felt they had interesting enough ideas to warrant as "Pay as you go" type approach.[2] Dunn brought in Ralph S. Singleton to direct the film in what would be his directorial debut after having previously served as an associate producer on Pet Sematary.[2] The adaptation of the Graveyard Shift was written by John Esposito who had actually been carried over from work under another producer who had previously held the option on the story but let it lapse.[2] Dunn secured financial backing for the film from Larry Sugar Entertainment who had previously handled the European theatrical release of Salem's Lot edited from the TV miniseries, and opted to produce Graveyard Shift independently which was motivated by the success of Pet Sematary.[2] Larry Sugar put the film immediately into production hoping to be the very first King adaptation after Pet Sematery, and upon the film's unveiling at the American Film Market, Paramount acquired distribution rights hoping to repeat the success of having distributed Pet Semetary.[2]

The film was shot in the village of Harmony, Maine at Bartlettyarns Inc., the oldest woolen yarn mill in the United States (est. 1821). The historic Bartlett mill was renamed "Bachman" for the movie, an homage to King's pseudonym, Richard Bachman. The interior shots of the antique mill machinery, and the riverside cemetery, were in Harmony. Other scenes (restaurant interior, and giant wool picking machine) were at locations in Bangor, Maine, at an abandoned waterworks and armory. A few other mill scenes were staged near the Eastland woolen mill in Corinna, Maine, which subsequently became a Superfund site.

Reception

The film was received poorly by critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a rare 0% approval rating based on seven reviews.[5] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "C−" on scale of A+ to F.[6]

Graveyard Shift was a modest box office success for Paramount. The film was released October 26, 1990 in the United States, opening in first place that weekend.[7] It grossed a total of $11,582,891 domestically.[3]

Stephen King heavily disliked the film and named it one of his least favorite adaptations calling it "a quick exploitation picture".[8]

Home media

Graveyard Shift was released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1991. The DVD was released on May 28, 2002, and re-released on August 15, 2017 by Paramount Home Entertainment. Columbia TriStar released the film on Region DVDs and VHS from 1992-2003. The film was released on Blu-ray in France on October 3, 2011, Spain and Germany in 2017. On July 28, 2020, Shout! Factory under the Scream Factory label released the film on Blu-ray.

Soundtrack

A limited edition soundtrack release, featuring the score by Anthony Marinelli and Brian Banks, was released on October 6, 2020 from La-La Land Records.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Stephen King's Graveyard Shift (1990)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Wood, Gary (December 1990). "Graveyard Shift". Cinemafantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Graveyard Shift (1990)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Cavett Binion (2015). "Graveyard Shift". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015.
  5. ^ "Stephen King's 'Graveyard Shift' (1990)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  6. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  7. ^ "Weekend Box Office October 26-28, 1990". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  8. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 2, 2016). "Stephen King On What Hollywood Owes Authors When Their Books Become Films: Q&A". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  9. ^ "Graveyard Shift: Limited Edition Soundtrack". La-La Land Records. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
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