Christine (1983)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

Stephen King (novel)
Bill Phillips (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 December 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

She'll possess you. Then destroy you. She's death on wheels. She's...

Plot:

A nerdish boy buys a strange car with a evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.

Plot Keywords:

Car | Crushed To Death | 1970s | Automobile | Immolation

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Keith Gordon	...	Arnie Cunningham
John Stockwell	...	Dennis Guilder
Alexandra Paul	...	Leigh Cabot
Robert Prosky	...	Will Darnell
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Rudolph Junkins
Christine Belford	...	Regina Cunningham
Roberts Blossom	...	George LeBay
William Ostrander	...	Buddy Repperton
David Spielberg	...	Mr. Casey
Malcolm Danare	...	Moochie Welch
Steven Tash	...	Richard Trelawney
Stuart Charno	...	Don Vandenberg
Kelly Preston	...	Roseanne
Marc Poppel	...	Chuck
Robert Darnell	...	Michael Cunningham

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Christine (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:R (Ontario) | Canada:18A | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-15 (2004) | Finland:K-16 (1984) | India:A | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | France:Unrated | Germany:16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1984) | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Oak Park High School - 899 Kanan Road, Oak Park, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

One of the stunt Furys used in the film - the one that runs over and kills Moochie - had a rubber front end. The car was destined for the salvage yard and has been restored using parts from the other "stunt" vehicles. The vehicle is now in private hands.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During the fight scene between Arnie and Buddy, Buddy knocked Arnie down and his glasses fell off. Buddy then proceeds to step on the glasses, breaking them. But in the next scene where the principle is talking to the boys, Arnie seems to be wearing his glasses with no damage to them at all, but in fact he only wears the bows without the glasses themselves.

Quotes:

Arnie Cunningham: Has it ever occurred to you that part of being a parent is tryin' to kill your kids?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Malcolm in the Middle: Malcolm's Car (#6.9)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay

"Watch what you call my car...she's real sensitive."

Back in 1983, Stephen King was such a popular author that this film adaptation went into production before the book was even published. King had been satisfied enough with producer Richard Kobritz's TV miniseries adaptation of his novel "Salem's Lot" to send him a few manuscripts. One was "Cujo", another was "Christine". Kobritz decided he liked the latter more, and pursued it as a film project.

Accomplished film-maker John Carpenter, who at the time was still suffering the effects of the critical and commercial failure of his previous film, "The Thing", agreed to take the helm, and Bill Phillips was hired to write the screenplay. Phillips eliminated much of the material of the novel (especially the central character of the malevolent spirit Roland D. LeBay) and both he and Carpenter agreed to more or less focus the film on Christine herself.

In the film, Christine is possessed with a murderous, vengeful personality, seemingly for no reason at all. She is simply as evil as an inanimate object can get. Before she even comes off the assembly line, she's injured one man and killed another. Eventually, she comes into the life of hopeless high school nerd Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon, in his first top-billed role, and offering a dramatic tour de force) and helps to transform him from pathetic dweeb to dangerous 1950's style rebel - complete with 1950's style wardrobe.

As the car sets about methodically eliminating most of the characters who cause Arnie grief, Arnie's loyal, level-headed jock friend Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell) and beautiful, would-be girlfriend Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul) try their darnedest to save Arnie and get rid of the car once and for all.

While I myself found this movie to be rather lacking in terms of scares, suspense, and atmosphere, it's still a pleasantly well-crafted and stylish film. Carpenter contributes another of his marvelous electronic scores, and the film is peppered with vintage rock 'n' roll songs. Approximately 25 different cars were used for the film - many of them ended up completely destroyed - and the special effects are admirable, especially in all scenes where Christine is repairing herself. One standout scene has Christine pursuing pudgy thug Moochie Welch (Malcolm Danare) into an exceptionally narrow loading dock, and then SQUEEZING herself inside so she can annihilate him.

The wonderful cast is a heavy asset. Stockwell and Paul were certainly okay, but even better are the familiar faces in the character parts - Roberts Blossom as George LeBay, Robert Prosky as Will Darnell, and Harry Dean Stanton as Detective Rudolph Junkins. Kelly Preston appears in an early role. Bill Ostrander, as lead bully Buddy Repperton, has always struck me as a great casting choice (Gordon and Carpenter remark in the DVD commentary that he seems to be partly channeling John Travolta in his performance - appropriate, because the film takes place in 1978, when Travolta was experiencing his original bout of stardom), because he looks EXACTLY like I'd always imagined Buddy Repperton would look when I visualized the action while reading the novel.

Here's an interesting thing to take note of: the actors playing Arnie's rather unlikable parents are named CHRISTINE Belford and Robert DARNELL. Just coincidence? I myself don't know.

Like I said, I don't really find it to be all that scary but it certainly offers a fair amount of fun. It's not a top-drawer King adaptation but it's definitely not one of the worst ones either.

8/10