I love the movie "Christine" but don't call it a horror movie. "Christine" is a great movie that gets 5 STARS as a thriller, but 0 STARS as a horror movie. No doubt that Christine was an evil car, but that's not enough to make this movie scary. It's difficult for a sophisticated horror movie viewer to become scared of a possessed car and I don't think Carpenter is able to present the car effectively as a force capable of inspiring fear in the audience, but that's no knock on Carpenter as I don't think anyone can pull that off, but Carpenter does succeed in creating an evil car and does a great job developing the plot and expressing Christine's evil will.

The movie has great acting and a terrific storyline/plot. "Christine" is a fun movie to watch and its quite a thriller. Carpenter provides us with a great score in this movie as well.

Carpenter's "Christine" is about an evil car which is actually even within its metal body, possesses so to speak. Arnie, played by Keith Gordon, does a terrific job as the nerd in the beginning and possessed person towards the latter part of the movie. When Arnie spots the car named "Christine", he becomes obsessed and ultimately possessed you might say by the 1950's cherry red Plymouth. Arnie no longer associates with his best friend like he used to and isn't very gentleman like or polite to his girlfriend.

Christine absorbs Arnie and doesn't allow him to get too close to anyone but itself. Ultimately, Christine opens up to Arnie and shows him the power it possesses by actually repairing itself after being trashed by Buddy Reparton and his thugs. Reparton is a terrific villain who is a school bully that encounters Arnie in the beginning at school and bullies Arnie in one of the funniest scenes in all of modern theatre...it's hilarious!!

Anyway, Christine dominates Arnie and his soul to such an extent that his best friend named Dennis and Arnie's ex-girlfriend named Lee are determined to destroy Christine, but that's easier said than done. This is a great movie by John Carpenter which is very successful as a thriller and comedy but it is a total zero as a horror movie...I'm sure Carpenter would even admit to that much. As I said, no knock on Carpenter, but it's about impossible to make a horror movie out of a murdering and spiritually possessed car.

Take one geeky, gawky, nerd. Add one red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury (what other car has a name as menacing as "Fury?"). Mix well. Let the killing begin.

The movie feels eerie from the beginning. We see a Plymouth Fury rolling down the assembly line in 1957. Soon something interesting happens that lets you know that there is something special about this car. Well, special in the Twilight Zone sort of way. We follow the history of the car in a somewhat abbreviated way, to the point where the car ends up in the hands of Arnie Cunningham.

Keith Gordon plays Arnie Cunningham. Arnie is the kid (kind of like me) that is never cool and often seems to be the one targeted by bullies. There is something about the beat up red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury that speaks to Arnie.

Arnie does have a good friend, Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell). Dennis is much of what Arnie is not. He has a cool car and is the star of the high school football team. However, Arnie's friendship with Dennis does not protect Arnie from high school bully Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander) and his cronies.

What happens next is somewhat predictable, but not everything is predictable, unless you know the story. Arnie names the car Christine and begins working on it. However, it is soon evident that Christine has the ability to take care of herself, if she has the right human to help her. As Christine rejuvenates herself, she infuses Arnie with characteristics that may mirror Christine. One of those characteristics is hatred for those who would disrespect, either Christine or Arnie. Those who disrespect Christine or Arnie, most especially Christine, are dealt with harshly. We eventually find out that Christine is a harsh mistress if her partner "cheats" on her.

There are some very good scenes in this movie. The whole scene at the gas station was gruesome and good at the same time. Christine rolling down the highway in flames is a very unique scene. There are even a couple of scary scenes. However, the movie in general is not scary so much as it is disturbing in a creepy crawly sort of way. Those viewers who tend to think too much about a movie could be analyzing this one well into the night, listening for the roar of a Plymouth Fury.

While watching Christine (1983) last night, I couldn't help but think how sweet it would be to have a car like the one in the film...oh, I don't mean all freaky deaky possessed with an evil that will ultimately consume you completely and stuff like that, but having a car that regenerates itself after a fender bender...your old buddy here had a few accidents a long time ago and knows body shops charge an arm, a leg, and your first born...and if you mess up the frame, forget about it...based on a novel by Stephen King, directed by John Carpenter (Halloween), the film stars Keith Gordon (Jaws 2, Back to School), John Stockwell (Losin' It, My Science Project), and Alexandra Paul, whom many may recognize as the comparatively less buxom than the rest of the female cast Stephanie from the Baywatch television series. Also appearing is Robert Prosky (The Great Outdoors), William Ostrander (Mulholland Dr.), Roberts Blossom (Escape from Alcatraz), Kelly Preston (Mischief), and Harry Dean Stanton (Cool Hand Luke, Alien, Repo Man).

As the film begins, we roll into a character establishment sequence as the year is 1957 (the date is displayed on the screen) and we're watching newly built cars coming off an auto assembly line (check out those fins...even if they didn't show us the year, we probably could have guessed it based on the design of the cars). We end up focusing on one in particular, a red beauty, and given this is a John Carpenter film based off a Stephen King novel, you know something nasty bad is going to happen soon, and it does, indicating this car may be more than just the sum of its parts. Anyway, flash forward to 1979 and we meet Arnie Cunningham (Gordon). To say Arnie is a nerd would be an understatement. If you took all the nerdy, gawky, awkward, nebbish, constantly picked on, harangued by their mothers schlubs you can remember from high school and rolled them into one, you'd probably end up with Arnie Cunningham. But for as much as Arnie has going against him, he does have at least one thing going for him in his sincere friendship Dennis (Stockwell), the very cool and popular dude who drives a bitchin' car and happens to be the star of the school football team. Arnie's life isn't ideal by any means, especially since he's just recently run afoul of the school bully Buddy Repperton (Ostrander) and his gang, but what are you gonna do? Well, I guess you could buy a possessed car named Christine...and that's what he does (okay, he doesn't know it's possessed)...the car is a piece of junk, but Arnie sees something in it, and begins working on restoring it, causing his other relationships to suffer, but, as the car comes along, we see Arnie changing as well (he actually develops a sense of confidence and a personality to boot), dropping the nerd routine and even garnering the attentions of the new girl (Paul), but, as with any silver lining, there's always a dark cloud behind it, and the price for Arnie's newfound coolness may be more than he's willing to pay...

All right, you must be thinking `A John Carpenter movie based off a Stephen King book? This movie must be scary as hell!'...well, it's not...it's not very scary at all, at least to me it wasn't, but then I've been desensitized by years frightening cinematic visages. There was one part that makes me jump a little every time I see it, but I'm not going to tell you what it is...what this film lacks in frights, it makes up for in being not only entertaining, but also just really cool. I liked all the characters, and I thought Keith Gordon did really well embodying the complete nerd who finds love in an unlikely place, a love that most of us think we would want (not for the damn car, but the essence represented in the car, in terms of it being an entity like ourselves) until we realize it's not so much love as a crazy, obsessive, all devouring devotion intent on taking us to a place no one should ever have to go...I thought the supporting cast did all right, but I would have liked to seen a little more of Stanton (he played a police detective) and Ostrander's characters as they seemed interesting despite their limited roles. There was one sticking point with me with regards to the characters in that I find it very hard to believe any normal guy would choose Alexandra Paul over Kelly Preston, as John Stockwell's character did...both women are attractive, to be sure, but come on...I've seen Preston in the film Mischief (1985), so I know what she's got going on, and let me tell you, it's a lot. Anyway, I thought the direction was very good as Carpenter did an excellent job in creating not only a living, breathing, tire squealing character in Christine, but maintaining an appropriate atmosphere throughout the film, especially by his choice of music. There are some minor gaffs here and there, but nothing that spoiled the overall experience. I think my favorite scene comes after a gang completely trashes Arnie's car, which then `heals' thy self through whatever bad mojo it's got going on, and then seeks revenge against those offenders (Arnie's uses a different term, one I can't put in the review). There's a scene involving a car, engulfed in flames, speeding down the highway...very cool...

This review is for the `Special Edition', and the widescreen anamorphic picture (2.35:1) looks really sharp. I was a little disappointed in the audio, which I think is available in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, as it was too soft at times. There are some extras including 20 deleted/alternative scenes, 3 featurettes titled Christine: Fast and Furious, Christine: Ignition, and Christine: Finish Line, filmographies, and previews. Again, this review was for the Special Edition, and I know there was a previously released edition, but I don't know if the features I spoke of are available on both editions, so make sure of what you're getting before purchasing, especially since Amazon has a tendancy to cross-reference reviews despite product differences.

Cookieman108

I am a huge fan of Stephen King's horror novels, and "Christine" is one of his best books to date. I also love John Carpenter's films, so what a great treat to see the two horror maestro's combined with the film version of "Christine". I don't want to dissect the story, but I strongly recommend reading the novel before viewing the film. Christine's backstory and the previous owner before Arnie, really drive (pun intended) the book, and will give you a greater appreciation for the events focused on in the film. "Christine" is probably one of the better adaptation's of a King novel, but still can't touch the depth of story presented in the book, how could it in 2 hours or less? The story is a lot of fun, and while not particulary scary, there are some really tense scenes that will have you on the edge of your seat. The biggest problem I had with the film, was the actor chosen to play the school bully, Buddy. While he is menacing.....he looks about 30 years old?! It's a little hard to swallow a middle aged high school senior. But that is a minor concern and seems to fit the pattern of 70's & 80's middle age high school horror fests like "Prom Night" and "Terror Train". And still I would love to get my hands on a copy of this soundtrack. Good fun horror movie, that still holds up pretty well 20+ years later.

John Carpenter's "Christine". Based upon the novel by Stephen King. The good news is, this isn't a "bad" adaptation. That shouldn't suggest its a good one either. Anyone who has read the book can tell you the movie jumbled a lot of things around. But you can't expect a movie adaptation to be perfect. For that, I graded this loosely.

Keith Gordon plays Arnie Cunningham. A student who's commonly picked on, and tries (too hard at times) to be popular and fit in with the crowd. John Stockton plays his best friend, Dennis Guilder, who sticks with Arnie through all the good and the bad.

When Dennis is busy taking Arnie for a ride home, Arnie spots a busted down 1958 Plymouth in a horrible looking yard. This soon becomes the biggest obsession with his life. The cars name is Christine. To us, she's just a normal car. To Arnie, she's his lover. But the reality of it: She's a demon on wheels.

The movie starts off fine at first. The way the characters are portrayed in the movie is disturbingly good. The casting was great too. I'm impressed with how people got into their rolls, and how the movie played out because of it. It made watching it better, at least. Arnie, I felt, was a little overdone in the beginning. He looks almost too nerdish. So nerdish that when he begins to cuss at his parents, it almost looks completely out of character for him. But as the movie drags on (and he later loses the glasses) his character becomes deeper, and better.

The problem I had with this film was the pace. It doesn't move too slow, it rather moves too fast. When Arnie first gets the car, everything is fine and dandy. Then, as he becomes obsessed with his car, he changes. The problem is, we know he's changed, but we didn't get to see him undergo that change long enough. You had to adapt to the fact that he had changed before we even realized he had changed.

The music was nice, but the death scenes weren't up to par with how gruesome they were in the book. The book was much more exhilerating and heart pounding.

Lastly, the movie just wasn't scary. There's too much build up to the point where one can't be frightened. The important parts it zips through so fast that there's no suspense build up. In fact, the only surprise is near the end of the movie. Sadly, it's only a surprise because it's so incredibly different from the book. "The Shining" was scary, even if you read the book. "Carrie" was scary, even if you read the book.

"Christine" is not scary in the slightest. It tries so hard to be but it really isn't. Fine performances, fine characters. But on the horror scale it gets a zero.