Main Cast: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton, Christine Belford
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Director John Carpenter returns to the suburban landscape he explored so chillingly in Halloween (1978) with this lean, stripped-down adaptation of the Stephen King best-seller about a haunted car with a devilishly bad attitude and the teen underdog who falls head-over-heels for her chrome-accented charms. Shortly after geeky, horn-rim-sporting Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) narrowly escapes a beating at the hands of shop-class bully Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander) on the first day of his senior year, he soon falls prey to a far more duplicitous villain in the form of a rusted-out 1958 Plymouth Fury nicknamed "Christine" by its crusty owner George LeBay (Roberts Blossom) -- who sells wide-eyed Arnie the old hulk despite the protests of best friend Dennis (John Stockwell) and the admonition of his domineering parents. As Arnie sets to the task of restoring Christine, his hobby grows into an obsession -- and the real power that hums beneath her hood begins to emerge, seemingly granting newfound coolness and sex appeal to the once-nerdy outcast, while simultaneously drawing away his very soul. A vengeful spirit, Christine lashes out violently at those who dare to stand between her and Arnie -- starting with Repperton and his gang, who completely trash the car, but are soon hunted down one by one and pulverized beneath the whitewalls of the miraculously-restored Fury. When Arnie's pretty, popular girlfriend Leigh (Alexandra Paul) begins to suspect she may soon be on the receiving end of automotive vengeance, she calls on Dennis for help... but a frightening midnight ride in Christine convinces Dennis that Arnie's only hope lies in destroying the demonic vehicle. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Review
An agreeable (if not entirely frightening) adaptation of Stephen King's novel about an evil car, Christine has some nicely atmospheric sequences which somewhat compensate for its lack of horrific impact. The auto of the title, a cherry-red 1958 Plymouth Fury, takes on a personality of its own as a homicidally jealous female who is willing to kill to preserve the affections of its owner, a put-upon teenage nerd (Keith Gordon). The young cast is appealing enough, and director John Carpenter manages a few creepy scenes, but the story bogs down into yet another trite nerds & bullies drama whenever Christine is offscreen. It's still fun, but will probably appeal to casual viewers more than serious horror fans. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Roberts Blossom - George LeBay; William Ostrander - Buddy; David Spielberg - Mr. Casey; Malcom Danare - Moochie; Steven Tash - Rich; Stuart Charno - Vandenberg; Kelly Preston - Roseanne; Marc Poppel - Chuck; Richard Collier - Pepper Boyd; Bruce French - Mr. Smith; Douglas Warhit - Bemis; Jan Burrell - Librarian; Robert Darnell - Michael Cunningham; Karen Rea
Credit
William Joseph Durrell, Jr. - Art Director, Barry Bernardi - Associate Producer, Karen Rea - Casting, Larry Franco - Co-producer, Darryl Levine - Costume Designer, Larry Franco - First Assistant Director, John Carpenter - Director, Marion Rothman - Editor, Mark Tarlov - Executive Producer, John Carpenter - Composer (Music Score), Alan Howarth - Composer (Music Score), John Loggia - Production Designer, Daniel Lomino - Production Designer, Robert Doudell - Production Designer, Donald M. Morgan - Cinematographer, Robert Doudell - Production Manager, Richard Kobritz - Producer, Cloudia - Set Designer, William Joseph Durrell, Jr. - Set Designer, Roy Arbogast - Special Effects, Steve Maslow - Sound/Sound Designer, Ted Duncan - Stunts, John Meier - Stunts, John-Clay Scott - Stunts, Dean Smith - Stunts, Jim Wilkey - Stunts, Walter Wyatt - Stunts, Tom Elliott - Stunts, Norman Howell - Stunts, Mike McGaughy - Stunts, Conrad Palmisano - Stunts, Kerry Rossall - Stunts, Ben R. Scott - Stunts, Donna Evans - Stunts, Roy Arbogast - Special Effects Supervisor, John Carpenter - Screenwriter, Stephen King - Screenwriter, Bill Phillips - Screenwriter, Stephen King - Book Author
Christine (also known as John Carpenter's Christine) is a 1983 horror film about a supernaturally malevolent automobile and its effects on the teenager who owns it, adapted from a novel written by Stephen King. The film was directed by John Carpenter, and set in 1978.
Three "survivors" of the many red-and-white 1958 Plymouth Fury stunt cars used in Christine now reside in private hands, one in California (pictured), one in Florida and one in England
The movie stars Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham, a typical high school nerd with only one friend, a childhood companion named Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell), a popular jock. Arnie's life begins to change when he discovers Christine, a red 1958 Plymouth Fury in serious need of repair. Arnie begins to restore Christine to her original beauty, but as he spends more and more of his time repairing her, those in his life notice that he is changing as well. Formerly shy, Arnie develops a cocky arrogance. Dennis, as well as Arnie's new girlfriend Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul) discover that the car has a deadly past. The previous owner, Roland LeBay, became consumed with Christine and he paid for it with his life. Leigh and Dennis try to save Arnie from a similar fate. They realize that the only way to save Arnie is by destroying Christine. Christine, however, isn't ready to give up Arnie without a fight.
During the film a group of bullies from school form together and tear the car apart with sledge hammers, pry bars and knives etc. The gang bears a grudge against Arnie after a shop class confrontation prior to Christine that results in the gang's leader, Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander), getting expelled for threatening Arnie with a switchblade.
The prolonged gang attack on Christine leaves her totally ruined, fit only for the smelter. Arnie sees the wreck of Christine the next day and is totally shocked that all the work he put into restoring the car has been destroyed. Arnie angrily blames Leigh for the wreck, and displays further problems with his temper, getting into arguments with his parents and having a scuffle with his father, which Arnie wins by grabbing his father by the neck. He is determined to restore Christine yet again to her former glory. The next day he goes back to the garage where Christine is. As he looks her over, he turns his back and hears the crinkling of metal behind him. Arnie looks at Christine again and sees that part of her engine is now repaired. Arnie simply smiles and says, "Okay... show me." Christine, flickering her headlights on, then comes to life and restores herself so she looks good as new. Subsequently, Christine seeks out and kills the individual members of the gang who destroyed her, one by one.
In one incident, Christine has a long chase with one of the boys, during which Christine could easily kill the boy, but maliciously toys with the boy simply to terrorize him further. In the end, Christine tires of her game and crushes the boy to death against the wall of a building. In another incident, she destroys a gas station (trapping and burning two of the vandals inside) before running down and burning Buddy Repperton as he flees the scene in terror. She also kills Will Darnell (Robert Prosky), the grouchy, foul-mouthed owner of the garage where she resides, by crushing him in the front seat. In each of these night-time attacks Christine is badly damaged (crushed or totally burned, etc.) but miraculously regenerates herself every time so she looks good as new, like she just drove off the production line in 1957.
Dennis and Leigh both notice Arnie's changes. They talk about it at the Guilder's house on New Year's Eve, where they reason the only way to stop Christine and save Arnie is to destroy the car. Dennis then says that he is going to Arnie's for the New Year, and Leigh urges him to be careful. After she leaves, Arnie pulls up to the Guilder's house in Christine, picks up Dennis, and drives off. During the ride to the Cunningham's, Arnie does a variety of things: drinks beer, takes his hands off the wheel, and tells Dennnis about how strong the bond between he and Christine is. The next day, Dennis scratches "Darnell's Tonight" into Christine's hood, and drives off with Leigh. They go to Darnell's and wait in a bulldozer. Dennis then tells Leigh to wait in the office so she can shut the door after Christine arrives. This way the car will be trapped. When Leigh exits the bulldozer and heads for the office, Christine's headlights shoot out of a pile of garbage, and the car charges at Leigh. Arnie pays the ultimate price when he dies after he crashes Christine into Darnell's office in an attempt to kill Leigh. Arnie is thrown through Christine's windshield and is impaled on a shard of glass, killing him. Christine continues to attack Dennis and Leigh, sustains damage, and regenerates even after Arnie is killed. After Dennis and Leigh destroy Christine, the car is compacted into a cube and tossed into a junkyard. As the camera zooms in on the crushed cube that was formerly Christine, a piece of the grill slowly bends back into shape.
Filming locations
The movie is set in southern California, despite the novel being set in the fictitious Libertyville, Pennsylvania. The high school scenes were shot at Oak Park High School in Oak Park, southern California, near Agoura Hills. A gas station was purposely built only to be blown up in the gas station explosion scene shot in Valencia, California. The scene where Christine ran over Buddy was shot just down the road from this gas station.[1]
The film is set in Rockbridge, California instead of the novel's Libertyville, Pennsylvania.
The novel left it open to debate whether Christine had a mind of her own or whether she was possessed by the spirit of Roland D. LeBay. The film, however, focuses on the car being the main influence on Arnie's change and tones down the involvement of LeBay.
In the book, Arnie is depicted with glasses and severe acne. In the film, though Arnie wears glasses, his complexion is clear.
In the book, there is a scene where Arnie gets into an nasty altercation with a suburban husband and father for leaving Christine in front of the man's home due to a flat tire. This scene is omitted from the film.
In the book, Arnie makes the deal to buy Christine from Roland D. LeBay himself, whereas in the film, it is Roland's brother George, although George is portrayed with a back support just as Roland appeared in the novel.
In the film, Buddy Repperton and his gang are expelled from school early in the story, whereas in the book, Buddy and his gang are expelled after Arnie had bought Christine and had been in a fight with Buddy over her.
When Buddy, Moochie Welch and Don Vandenburg smash Christine in the book, it was at the car park of Pittsburgh International Airport. In the film, however, Buddy and Moochie smash Christine in Darnell's garage.
The characters of Sandy Galton (a friend of Buddy) and Jimmy Sykes (Darnell's simple-minded caretaker) are omitted from the film, possibly due to time.
In the book, Christine murders Moochie Welch and Buddy Repperton completely differently. In the book, Moochie is murdered when Christine runs him over repeatedly, and Buddy when Christine forces his car off the road, he crawls to the safety of an embankment where he sees the rotting spectre of Roland Lebay just before a broken off piece of one of his ribs pierces his heart. In the film, however, Moochie is sliced in half by Christine's bumper when he traps himself in a forklift bay, and Buddy is run over by Christine after she chases him from a filling station.
Darnell is killed by Christine in the book by driving through his house. In the film, however, Darnell is killed when he is trapped inside Christine and the driver's seat is raised up to the point where Darnell has been crushed against the steering wheel.
When Leigh Cabot chokes on her hamburger in the novel, she is saved by a hitchhiker that she and Arnie have picked up, whereas in the film version, it is a patron of the local drive-in who saves her.
Detective Junkins is killed by Christine in the novel, yet remains alive up until the end of the film.
At the end of the novel, Dennis Guilder and Leigh Cabot stop Christine by using a large, pink-coloured tanker truck named Petunia. In the film, however, Petunia is replaced by a bulldozer from outside the garage.
In the book, Christine's engine is described as a having a long ram intakes. In the movie the car is not shown with the long ram intakes, but with a 2x4 barrel carburetor setup.
In the book, Christine is a 4 door model Plymouth Fury. In the movie she is a 2 door. This is because King was unaware that no 4 door models were made.
In the book, it is Roland D. LeBay's daughter who was named Rita, not his wife, as in the film. In the book, his wife was named Veronica.
