Christine

1983

R

This is my third movie review this October and were moving right along with Christine. This film was released in 1983 and was based on a Stephen King novel that shares the name. John Carpenter is the director and he is most known for directing the original Halloween film. This movie was recommended to me a while back and I decided to buy it and watch it. It isn’t really a Halloween movie, but I think it fits right in with the horror genre that is suitable for October viewing pleasure. There aren’t many movies that I can think of where the car is the main focus of the film, but this is one of those films. With all of that being said, let’s get this show on the road.

The film starts out on an assembly line at an old car plant back in 1957. Brand new cars were getting assembled and all the cars were the same color, except this red one. As the car is getting inspected, the inspector’s hand gets smashed by the hood falling mysteriously and another employee sits behind the wheel. The bell rings and it is time for the workers to go home. A few minutes later, the supervisor notices that the red car is playing music and discovers that one of his employees was dead in the car.

The story jumps 21 years after the fact and the main focus is Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) and Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell). Both are seniors in high school. Arnie is the unpopular kid and Dennis is the star football player. They’re friends, but Dennis finds himself defending Arnie a lot, particularly defending him from the school’s group of bullies. One day after school, a red car catches Arnie’s eye. He doesn’t even think twice, he wants to buy that car. George LeBay (Roberts Blossom) is selling the car, because the owner of the car was his brother and he passed away, as did his brother’s daughter and wife. Arnie knows that his parents probably won’t let him have the car, so he decides to keep it at a do-it-yourself garage.

The more time that Arnie spends with the car, the more his personality changes and those close to him are starting to notice him acting strangely. Arnie gets a new girlfriend, Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul), which happens to be the girl that Dennis liked. Dennis doesn’t seem to mind though, but is still concerned about his friend’s well-being, because he becomes obsessed with Christine. For the rest of the film, it shows the struggle between Arnie forming into this new person and his friends trying to stop his destructive behavior.

This is one of those movies that I feel isn’t really in the public knowledge with today’s generation. I have heard of the film, but I have never heard anyone talking about it at great length. It isn’t like the typical horror/thriller genre recommendations such as; Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, Poltergeist, etc. Nobody talks about Christine and I really don’t understand why. I thought the film was great. I would choose it over any of the films that I listed above and I feel like most people would say that is an overstatement. I wasn’t so sure about a car being the main focus of a film, but it has been done in the past, so it wasn’t a huge concern. The film was about the car mainly, but I feel it strayed away from the car enough to work stylistically.

The cast was solid and there were a lot of people in the film that were in other popular things, but not many went on to have bigger roles. Keith Gordon didn’t really act much longer after this film, but he did go on to direct on very popular and great TV shows such as Dexter, Nurse Jackie, Fargo, Better Call Saul, and many others. John Stockwell acted in several films, but his biggest after this one was a small role in Top Gun. Alexandra Paul had a regular role in Baywatch for a few seasons. You probably recognize Roberts Blossom in Home Alone and Kelly Preston was probably most known for being John Travolta’s wife, but she played roles in Jerry McGuire, Twins, Cat in the Hat, and For the Love of the Game. She sadly passed away about 3 months ago. Also, I can’t forget the car. To my knowledge, Christine wasn’t present in any other films, but the car is a Red 1958 Plymouth Fury and Chrysler made this car from 1956-78. From ’56-58, the Fury was a sub-series of the Plymouth Belvedere, so it wasn’t a car that was heavily produced. Over that 3-year span, the cars only came in sandstone and if you wonder why Christine is the only red car of the bunch at the assembly line, this is the reason. I think it is very cool that they threw that historical element in the film.

All-in-all, I really liked this movie. I don’t quite understand why this film isn’t put into the same category as all of those high-profile late 70’s and early 80’s horror film. I think this movie is just as good, if not better than any of those classic movies. I love rock n roll music and it was awesome to hear those old songs in this film, even though you knew something bad was about to happen every time you heard one of those songs. They had one heck of a playlist and I put together a YouTube playlist of all the songs that were in the movie.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

If you haven’t seen this, it is a wonderful October watch and I totally recommend it. This film isn’t for everyone though. It is rated R for a reason. There is a lot of adult language, a good bit of violence, and quite a few scenes that aren’t suitable for younger viewers. With all of that being said though, it is a pretty tame rated R film considering the circumstances. Overall, if you are within the age of 14/15 and up, I think this film is fine. it is a great film and I personally think we should be talking about Christine in the category of top classic horror films.

GRADE: 4.7/5

Yacs

Movie Review: Christine

GRADE: 4.7/5