Review of Christine (1983) by Chad H — 12 May 2011

3.9/5.

Christine offers a very strange, and one may be able to call it stupid, premise. It features a possessed car killing people. Interesting, but stupid if you ask me. Yet John Carpenter manages to overcome it and deliver a pretty damn good thriller.

Arnie is a nerdy high schooler who is picked on a lot and whose only friend is Dennis, a popular football player. Then one day, Arnie spots Christine, and old, beaten up, red Cadillac, and falls in love with the car. He buys it for cheap and fixes it up. But soon, his friends and family begin to notice something odd about Arnie. He's changed, and it may have something to do with the car. Then Arnie's bullies begin to die. Is it Arnie, or something much worse?

I'm gonna be honest, I laughed a little when I heard the premise of a killer car. It sounds stupid. But with decent directing and filmmakers who know horror, it could work. And this film works, and it's thanks to John Carpenter.

Adapting a story by Stephen King, Carpenter establishes an eerie, creepy tone for the film from the beginning. It's dreary and grimy, especially so near the big finale with the car. The film still isn't scary, if it can't be scary, go for creepy, and Christine is creepy.

Possibly the scariest thing about the movie is Arnie's transformation, portrayed so well by Keith Gordon. The character goes from being a timid little geek to an obnoxious, reckless jerk, and even more so to a very scary individual. It gets even creepier when he's with the car. Gordon and Christine have the best chemistry that the duo of a boy and a car could have.

Speaking of the car, the effects with the car are cool. We see it uncrumble and fix itself, roll down the street on fire, and it's undeniably creepy and impressive. The car is a character in and of itself, turning on the radio to certain songs to display certain emotions. Very well-done.

My biggest complaint, though, is the ending. *SPOILER* The car is destroyed (supposedly) and crushed, but the characters seem to be almost apathetic about everything that happened regarding the car and Arnie. I was very let down by the ending.

All in all, Christine is a successful, if not very scary, adaptation of a King novel. Carpenter's direction is creepy and effective, and Keith Gordon's creepy performance makes it even more so. The car effects are also very impressive. It's an enjoyable film. Just don't piss off Christine. She will own you.