Christine Reviews

Few films mine the past in such a veiled, foreboding sense as John Carpenter's "Christine", but even if his efforts do not quite coalesce in terms of pacing and plot, the film's characterisations, zippy dialogue, slick visuals, nostalgic soundtrack (utilised to great effect during murder sequences) and vehicular stunts all thankfully aggrandise the proceedings, thus saving it from becoming a generic adaptation of a lesser Stephen King novel. It may not be as effective in totality as it is in fragments, but even Carpenter's weakest fare retains entertainment value, and this is no exception; not succeeding as a singular work exalts it as a classic in the 1980s horror canon by virtue of its daringly implausible premise. Owing to Carpenter's deft ability to imbue seemingly incredible stories with sheer escapism, panache and fun, it is entirely conceivable that a browbeaten, bullied 17-year-old nerd is freed and transformed by his inexplicable predilection towards and obsessional love of a malevolent Plymouth Fury with a maniacal mind of its own that drives autonomously (usually with intent to kill) miraculously self-repairs and plays endless rock'n'roll tunes at will. Despite its inherent flaws, the film is one of a kind thanks to its poignant finale, technical merits and ludicrous story basis, and therefore deserves to be deemed essential for fans of the genre, even if it isn't top tier Carpenter or King.

I couldn't fix an ailing automobile if my life depended on it so the workings of cars don't fascinate me.....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.

I'm a large fan of John Carpenter films, and his scores, and this movie is no exception. Even though it's totally different from the book I still like how he developed certain characters and I can see why he left out all the zombies from the novel as it would have made this movie well over 2 hours. The acting and transformation by Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham is my favorite part of the film and he does such a great job going from nerd to complete possessed psycho.

Another great thing about this movie is it has two soundtracks. There's the music from the 50's that Christine plays whenever her mood changes and then you have the score done by John Carpenter as well. I will admit that the score doesn't sound as great on CD, but I love what he did with it for the movie. Great atmosphere and I wouldn't call this a "horror" movie as it's more of a thriller and there really isn't any blood, except at the very end. Great movie overall and if they did remake this one I wouldn't mind seeing the zombie-Christine-victims in it, as it was in the novel.

Stats
TRT: 1:49:55
First Death: 4:52
Second Death: 1:05:50
Last Death: 1:41:22
Total Deaths: 10 (3 from first owner)
Swears: 73
Tits: 0
Explosions: 1
Scenes with Blood: 2
Meaningful Songs: 15
Times Christine's Name Is Said: 20
Times Christine Rebuilds Herself: 6