Christine

Put upon high school student Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon, in his first feature film lead role) is dominated by his parents, and has basically one friend in the world, level headed jock Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell). Then one day he spies an incredible wreck of a car, a 1958 Plymouth Fury that was named Christine by her foul tempered former owner. Believing he can restore her to prime condition, he now has something to live for. But soon his feelings towards the automobile turn to outright obsession, and he changes for the worse. Meanwhile, the car goes out systematically eliminating anybody who's rubbed Arnie the wrong way.

Horror master John Carpenter was, at the time, still smarting from the lack of commercial and critical success suffered by "The Thing", which this viewer believes to be his true masterpiece. He agreed to take the helm of this Stephen King adaptation. King, at the time, was such a phenomenon as an author that this story got optioned as a feature before it was even published. King had been impressed enough with producer Richard Kobritzs' TV miniseries of his novel "Salems' Lot" to give the man his choice of adaptations, and Kobritz chose this one over "Cujo".

"Christine" is very well made, and lots of fun. Carpenter and screenwriter Bill Phillips understand completely the love lavished by many on their rolling iron, so this is a pretty decent look at a boy and the car he loves. Carpenter & Phillips drop the more outré elements of the novel, almost completely getting rid of the character of the malevolent spirit Roland D. LeBay, and focusing on the car herself. In this movie version, Christine is born so evil that she's maimed one man and killed another before she's even off the assembly line!

Carpenters' moody score is one of his absolute best, and he also gets great use out of "Harlem Nocturne" by The Viscounts. The dialogue is often quite profane, but quotable as well. The special effects by Roy Arbogast are most impressive. The scenes of the ruined Christine repairing herself are the definite highlights of the movie.

The roles are impeccably cast. Gordon is entertaining to watch as he makes the transition from pathetic dweeb to swaggering '50s style punk. Stockwell and the lovely Alexandra Paul are good as their characters react to the changes in their friend. Robert Prosky, as miserly garage owner Will Darnell, Harry Dean Stanton, as persistent State Police detective Junkins, and Roberts Blossom, as LeBays' crotchety brother George, are all excellent. William Ostrander is spot on as the Travolta-esque creep Buddy Repperton. Stu Charno ("Friday the 13th Part II"), Steven Tash ("Ghost Busters"), and Malcolm Danare ("The Curse") are a hilariously unlikely bunch of bullies. It's also worth noting that Arnies' unlikable parents are played by CHRISTINE Belford and Robert DARNELL. Just a coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Most importantly, the car herself really does become a character with a real presence.

Building to an exciting finale where Christine meets her match inside Darnells' garage, this is guaranteed to put a smile on some faces.

This was the very first feature to use the George Thorogood classic "Bad to the Bone" to denote a character that is, well, bad to the bone.

Seven out of 10.

For my Smart Money, "Christine" is one of John Carpenter's most underrated efforts (up there with "Assault on Precinct 13"), and also one of his most effective. Even though its modest look and relative restraint in gore came as a result of "The Thing"'s box-office failure the previous year, and Carpenter has all but admitted his heart wasn't in the project, it ultimately turned out VERY well (if this is an effort from a sleepwalking Carpenter, he's better than most directors when they're awake). As someone who was knocked out by Rob Bottin's intricately gruesome FX work in "The Thing," but left cold by the shallow characters, "Christine" fills in the gaps of suspense and human story with ease. In retrospect, some of the absurd plot elements ("a haunted car," as Carpenter constantly reiterates) lends the film an odd humor that doesn't detract from things (and indeed, it was Stephen King's own infatuation with cars and rock music that inspired this story of obsession). Scenes are composed with great skill by Carpenter (making wonderful use of the widescreen image), and there are many striking images sprinkled throughout (the most incredible being the flaming Christine speeding after a villain). The excellent cast gives their all in making a potential B-movie premise glow with A-list polish: Keith Gordon's Arnie (the painfully square high-school senior who buys the titular vehicle), John Stockwell's Dennis (the resourceful jock and best friend), Alexandra Paul's Leigh (the earthy girlfriend who sparks Christine's jealousy), and Harry Dean Stanton's Junkins (the snooping P.I.) provide this tale with a lot of propulsive force. In a sense, "Christine" is a nice even ground between the zaniness of "Escape from New York" and the FX extremes of "The Thing," and exemplifies Carpenter's range as a director. A very underrated effort that is very much worth your time.

I'm not particularly a fan of horror movies and I couldn't fix an ailing automobile if my life depended on it so the workings of cars don't fascinate me.....but this movie fascinated me. The '58 Plymouth Fury, alias "Christine," is absolutely gorgeous. What a piece of machinery!

This is a horror story but there are no ghosts or monsters nor is there any gore. A car is the star of the film, a very jealous and vengeful one at that. Man, that sounds silly but, if you're reading this you have probably watched the movie so no sense going into details. It's hard to describe the story in a paragraph without it sounding stupid....but it's not. Maybe the quickest way to explain it is that it is about a car that is alive, like a human, and you mess with it, you pay!

It is definitely one creepy, well-made, unique and always-entertaining film.

The car is a lot better than any of the people, sad to say. No, I didn't like any of the kids in this film (high schoolers who all look 30 years old!) and the language is a little too rough in spots, but that can be filtered out.

The car, the '50s music, the unique story, the satisfying revenge angle all make this very watchable.

Christine (1983)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

John Carpenter's adaptation of the Stephen King best seller about high school loser Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) who buys a 1957 Plymouth and soon his obsession leads to the car's possession of him. I love hearing Carpenter talk about his movies but for the life of me I've never understood why he's so down on this one here. Yes, the film's not really "scary" but at the same time I think it's one of the better possession movies out there and I think the film does a terrific job not only in the horror elements but it also works as a coming of age story because I'm sure most people can connect with either Arnie or those around him who see their friend falling apart due to an obsession. Carpenter really does a good job at building up the main characters here and I think this really helps the story once the possession does start. A lot of credit also has to go to the performances and especially that of Gordon who is really believable not only as the dork but also through the various stages that the character goes through. I thought it was very impressive that he could be so believable as this small loser but towards the end you could also fear the guy. John Stockwell adds great support as the friend and Alexandra Paul is also good as the girlfriend. We also get some wonderful character actors in small roles including Robert Prosky, Roberts Blossom and Harry Dean Stanton. Another major plus working for the film is the terrific soundtrack full of wonderful rock and roll oldies. The special effects are another winner as is the always reliable cinematography where Carpenter uses that 2.35:1 aspect ratio like no one else. CHRISTINE remains an underrated gem but it seems more and more people are coming to appreciate it for what it is. The film is so strong on so many levels that you can overlook the few flaws and still enjoy it.

John Carpenter adapts Stephen King's novel with skillful precision. A high school kid becomes obsessive in his feelings for a very strange car he has bought. The car is given the name Christine and repays her owner's adoration by "taking care of" his enemies.

It is fun watching Keith Gordon, owner of Christine, go from wimp to self proclaimed stud. Also in the cast are: John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Harry Dean Stanton and David Spielberg.

It is super cool watching Christine repair her damaged parts. This is an underrated movie that deserves a repeat viewing.