Christine

Rating:
Summary: What's Under This Hood Is Purely And Simply EVIL
Review: Stephen King's novels have formed the basis for a great many horror films over the last quarter century. Some have been superlative (CARRIE, THE SHINING), others just terrible (PET SEMATARY, MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE). CHRISTINE can be counted among the superlative ones. Under the expert hands of HALLOWEEN director John Carpenter, this film provides the requisite chills and atmosphere minus a lot of unnecessary blood and gore.

Keith Gordon stars as a geeky high school student named Arnie Cunningham who is always getting picked upon by the local school bullies (sound familiar?). But when he eyes a rusted old 1957 Plymouth Fury, his life really turns around. Over the objections of his best friend (John Stockwell), he fixes it up at a local garage (run by a salty-tongued Robert Prosky) to a point where the car is as good as new. Gordon even starts up a relationship with the high school dream queen (Alexandra Paul). There's just one problem, though. Christine won't let it go that far.

For this '57 Fury is definitely possessed, and pretty soon it takes possession of Gordon. When the school bullies retaliate against Gordon by trashing Christine, the car repairs itself and goes after the perpetrators one by one. But the car also reacts in a jealous and homicidal way against Paul, who nearly chokes on a hamburger at a drive-in with Gordon. And when Paul and Stockwell come to realize that Gordon is indeed totally over the edge, they plot to destroy the car, using a bulldozer inside Prosky's garage. Unfortunately, Gordon dies in the final melee. And although Christine itself seems to be crushed to a metal cube, in the tag end scene, a metal piece can be seen repairing itself...

Although the setting of the film is changed from King's novel (there, it was western Pennsylvania; in the film, it's southern California), CHRISTINE for the most part stays true to the basic essentials of the book in its depiction of high school bullies and teenage life during 1978-79, which is the era depicted. There is a certain appropriateness to having Christine's radio play nothing but early rock and roll records, like Little Richard's "Keep A Knockin'", and Thurston Harris' "Little Bitty Pretty One", while most of the other songs are of the late 70s ("Runaway" by Bonnie Raitt, "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers).

Carpenter makes sure that the emphasis on the movie is on the situations in Gordon's life that lead him to Christine, and how letting his life get totally dominated by that car eventually scares the living daylights out of Stockwell and Paul. Furthermore, he does this in the same suspenseful fashion that made HALLOWEEN work to such a tee. His and Alan Howarth's synthesizer-dominated music score lends further atmosphere to the proceedings. Some may complain about the slight excess of profanity in the screenplay, but it is typical of King's work and appropriate in the way it depicts teenage behavior.

CHRISTINE does, as many point out, bear a resemblance to the much underrated (or much maligned) 1977 thriller THE CAR. But it is unique in its own way. And for those seeking something more than mad slashers and buckets of blood, CHRISTINE is well worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: Great, Great, Great DVD. King and Carpenter score big time.
Review: Great but mean spirited movie about a teenager who is horribly rejected by his fellow classmates, until the day he discovers Christine a 1958 Plymouth Fury, that just happens to have a mind of its own. Based upon Stephen Kings novel of the same name and directed by fellow horror great John Carpenter, Christine really delivers the goods. An incredible score, and great special effects, along with good beliveable acting, and edge of your seat suspence Christine is a movie with very few flaws if any. I personally though that Robert Prosky stood out as the foul mouthed garage owner Will Darnell, his performance echoes R. Lee Ermy in Full Metal Jacket. But the real star of the film is the car itself, using special effects to highlight the cars rebilding itself is deff. a highlight of the movie, and why haven't they made some sort of a sequel? Most of the King movies that have been made into sequels have been pretty lame, over the past ten or so years, but I feel that if King and Carpenter could get togeather again, we would have a story that should continue, due mainly to the ending of the novel, and the movie as well the story really dosen't end. And as a afterthouht! Ever wonder why the audience wanted to see the car win? It was they felt the respect and love shared between Arnie and Christine!

Rating:
Summary: simply the best
Review: I thought this movie was a great ride. Not only is it sensational , but it's also a great mix of horror,suspense,action. Trust me,rent it,and I'm sure you'll love it as much as I did.

Rating:
Summary: Mechanized Death...
Review: Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) is the school nerd, hassled and threatened by the school tough-guys. His friend Dennis (John Stockwell) is the football jock with a heart of gold. One day, Arnie spots Christine, and falls madly in love with her. Christine is a cherry red, 1958 Plymouth Fury. Of course, what we see is a rusted-out pile of junk. Arnie sees Christine with the intoxicated eyes of love. Arnie buys her and she becomes the object of Arnie's obsession and center of his universe. Soon, Arnie's personality begins to change. His nerdy innocence is replaced by a coarse, arrogant persona. His new "confidence" allows him to successfully woo the most beautiful girl in school, played by Alexandra Paul. Unfortunately, there's only room for one gal in Arnie's life, and she doesn't like competition! Christine slowly turns Arnie into a psychotic throwback to the 1950s, a gearhead who spends most of his time in the garage working on Christine. After the school toughguys destroy Christine with sledgehammers, she rebuilds herself while Arnie looks on. Christine then sets off on a rampage of vengeance, killing those responsible for "hurting" her. In one memorable scene, Christine shreds her sides off in order to crush one of the aforementioned punks called Moochie Welch in a narrow dead end. She also blows up a gas station and drives (on fire) down the road, seeking another victim. Great stuff! John Carpenter took a fairly good Stephen King book and fashioned a near classic horror movie. Would make a great triple feature with THE CAR and KILLDOZER. Check it out...

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, DVD lacks extras, hopefully special edition DVD
Review: Christine is a horror-thriller which adapted from the bestselling novel by horror writer Stephen King. Although I haven't read the novel, the movie itself is pretty descent. Arnie Cunningham is a unpopular kid in school who gets bullied and taunted. But he does have a good friend Dennis, a popular jock in school who always sticks up for him, and descent parents. One day Arnie finds an old Plymouth Fury for sale and purchased it despite the pleas of his best friend that the car is ...not worth the sale price. Soon after buying the car, Arnie spends most of his time fixing her up and less and less time with his friends and family. Arnie even managed to get a girlfriend (the movie never explained how he got her but maybe the novel has) As the movie progresses, we see that Christine (the car) is more than just an old automobile, it kills anyone who tries to get in her way and it changed Arnie into a maniac who only cares about his car. Although the plot may sound stupid of a car killing people, but I think the movie is very descent with descent acting and interesting characters. Horror fans should give the movie a rent. The DVD itself is pretty good with good picture and sound qualities. As for the extras, however, is a bare bones disc. The only extra there is cast & crew info. I really hope that Columbia Pictures will in the future release a Special Edition of the movie with commentary by Carpenter and Stephen King, Trailers, Making of the movie, and more. I recommend this movie to horror and Stephen King fans.

Rating:
Summary: John Carpenter lays an egg... a big, rotten egg
Review: It looks like I might be in the minority on this one, but here goes... "Christine" sucks. It sucks hard. It sucks on toast.
Maybe it was scary when it first came out. But it does NOT hold up well. I remember watching it as a wee lad and thinking it was cool. But I also remember not being scared by it at all. The mere concept wasn't scary to me. I knew that cars can't come to life with no one behind the wheel and run over fat bullies named Moochie. A car that runs by itself? Kinda cool, but not the stuff of MY nightmares. That's fatal flaw #1.
But wait, there's more! The acting is atrocious. The dialogue is weak. The plot thuds along. By the time the head bully gets run over, it's so anti-climactic it's as if the movie itself gave up trying to scare us, or even impress us in any way with any sort of flair or visual style.
Carpenter fans will slap their heads in disbelief. King fans will projectile-vomit. But I guess Keith Gordon fans, if there are any, will enjoy themselves. And if you want to see a really cool car, this movie will hold your attention for a few minutes. But otherwise, stay away from this big, smelly turd of a movie. It easily competes with "Maximum Overdrive" as the worst King adaptation EVER.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad adaptation could have been stronger
Review: Christine, John Carpenter's version of the Stephen King book, doesn't add up despite some great elements. But after having read the novel I don't think there was much else he could do.

This movie has at least one or two unforgettable scenes centering around the 58 Plymouth Fury. Carpenter takes an (almost) everyday object (it IS a classic) and injects it with pure menace.

The source novel was a lengthy affair that personally never impressed me despite a great effort by King. The novel, despite King taking his time, just never grabbed me, and in the end it came off as just...silly. The car was evil simply because the guy who bought was just such a [jerk] and was just "evil". That extra dimension doesn't really make its way into the film, despite a great little bit by Roberts Blossom as LeBey.

The film, instead, opens with Bad to the Bone on the soundtrack (before that song was beaten sour rotten to death in film and TV) as Christine rolls off a Detroit assembly line. Because we SEE the car--photographed beautifully--we can attach the underlying menace of the book to something striking on screen.

The principles are all good here. Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham has the nerd-with-taped-up-glasses bit down perfect. (What's with the black leather vest later?) His friend, played by John Stockwell (who, like Gordon, also directs films now) is Arnie's slightly doofey friend is believable enough as the high school jock. And a future Baywatch gal plays the chief female.

The music is by Carpenter, too, and while not as strong as his other efforts, provides at least one or two really creepy passages with great synths.

The film feels too short, too rushed. The novel goes on and on and establishes strong characters and background story. The film relies heavily on a few great set pieces featuring Christine's bloody night drives. (The death of Moochie is a classic sequence, starting with the faint notes of "Harlem Nocturne" before the chase.) Arnie seems to snap almost overnight, and the background characters are too faint.

The 3 stars is for the film overall. But I'd turn it up to 4 for King and Carpenter fans. There are plenty of memorable moments here, and you'll never see a tailfinned car again the same way.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent.
Review: I read Christine before I saw it, and all in all I think Carpenter did well adapting the brick-thick novel to a two hour movie. Christine herself is stunningly beautiful and heartwrenchingly dangerous; the use of appropriate 50s rock songs adds a lot of suspense to the film. The sound effects when Christine's duals flick on are deeply chilling. In fact, the car herself and the transformation of Arnie from charming nerd to possessed puppet are the best parts of the movie. Dennis Guilder and Leigh Cabot struck me as uninteresting, whereas Arnie's chemistry with his car sets the mind on fire. See this movie if for no other reason than to watch Christine's mangled body slowly bend itself back into shape, inch by inch. All the major happenings in the novel are there in the film, if a little abridged; there is enough raw power in the car scenes to carry the rest of the film through. See it if you're a car person; don't see it if you are afraid of driving too fast.

Rating:
Summary: Christine (1983)
Review: Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton.
Running Time: 110 minutes.
Rated R for violence and language; not nearly as graphic as it could be--a Carpenter trait.

Based on Stephen King's highly popular bestselling novel, "Christine" is perhaps director John Carpenter's second best film (behind "Halloween", obviously) and a sure-fire treat for all those who enjoy King adaptations, Carpenter created films, or just good ol' fashioned suspense. The film centers around a demonically possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury with a strange history--the workers who completed the construction of the car were mysteriously killed and the initial owner of the vehicle took his own life after his wife suddenly died.

Keith Gordon stars as Archie Cunningham, a classic geek in high school who wears nerdy frames and eats packed yogurt for lunch. He is the butt of many jokes, but jock star Ryan Stockwell is still his best buddy. After school one day, Archie comes across Christine, the devilish car. He fixes her up and proceeds to become obsessed by her. A new-found confidence prompts Arnie to ask the cutest girl in the school (Alexandra Paul) out for a date and they quickly fall in love--but Christine does not approve. The car demands Arnie's complete and unquestioned devotion and when outsiders seek to interfere, they become the victim's of Christine's horrifying wrath.

A superb performance from Gordon in the lead role, transforming himself from a laughing stock class dork to an arrogant, obscene maniac who gets so comsumed with Christine that will be anything to preserve the safety of the car. Excellent script from Bill Phillips, unraveling the King masterpiece with a quick deliberance that keeps the audience on the edge of their toes and waiting for Christine's next move. Outstanding direction and musical score creation by Carpenter, using specific lighting arrangements and camera angles to add to the suspense, all the while producing a terrifying musical accompanyment. Even though it is not overly terryfying with sudden jolts of scares, "Christine" is horror/suspense at its very best and a hidden gem of the thriller genre. One of the best, most unheralded horror films of the early part of the decade.

Rating:
Summary: better than i remember
Review: for some reason i thought this movie was only mediocre, but then i rewatched it, and to be honest, it is quite good. john carpenter did a good job making it. good acting, good effects. good job overall. quite enjoyable.