The rights to
Graveyard Shift were first optioned in 1985 by George Demick, a producer who had apprenticed under
George A. Romero during the production of
Knightriders, for his company Brimstone Productions. Demick acquired the rights from
Stephen King while on vacation in
North Carolina and stopped by the set of
Maximum Overdrive with an introduction from Romero. John Esposito was hired to adapt the short story to feature length and
Tom Savini was slated to provide effects work, however this incarnation never came to be and Demick allowed the option to lapse. King later 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. 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 a "Pay as you go" type approach. 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. John Esposito's script was carried over from the unmade Demick production. 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
. Larry Sugar put the film immediately into production hoping to be the very first King adaptation after Pet Sematary'', and upon the film's unveiling at the
American Film Market,
Paramount acquired distribution rights hoping to repeat the success of having distributed
Pet Sematary. 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==