Customer Reviews
One of the best little horror flicks of the 1980s and one of Carpenter's best too - By: D. J. HORN, 31 Aug 2008 
Shot in 1983 within a 30 mile radius of LA, this is an absolutely terrific little horror flick from John Carpenter ("The Fog", "The Thing", "Vampires", "Hallloween") about a car, a 1958 Plymouth Fury, apparently possessed by its dead owner who bought it new & ended up choking to death on its exhaust fumes, as did his wife & daughter.
Except that even as it was rolling down the production line, the car had an evil influence on surrounding people (first a guy had his hand trapped in the bonnet then another who dropped ash on the seat was found dead in the car) so it isn't quite as simple as it being haunted by the original owner, more like whatever possessed the car already simply manifesting itself as that person.
The car special effects, as it is first slowly restored from clapped-out banger into brand new condition & then constantly returns itself to new after any damage, are truly magic. There are also some amusing lines such as "You can't polish a turd".
Apparently $500,000 was spent acquiring 23 1958 Plymouth Fury's & making them alll look exactly alike.
Love interest is provided by Alexandra Paul ("Paper Dolls", "Bay Watch") as Leigh Cavot "the most beautiful girl in school". Harry Dean Stanton turns up too (doesn't he always?). Otherwise, as the car was the star, relative unknowns were chosen.
Pleasant music (other than the 50s stuff constantly on the car's radio) include George Thorogood & the Destroyers "Bad to the Bone".
British car buffs discover that American cars already had central locking in the 1950s.
The transfer is good with brilliant colours & little unwanted intrusion such as sparklies and, whilst the sound is perfectly acceptable, once again it's a great pity that the soundtrack is only the original stereo, & not a decent 5 or 6.1 surround remix as given to lots of older films on transfer these days.
ONE OF THE BETTER STEPHEN KING ADAPTIONS - By: stuart, 03 Nov 2007 
In 1957, one of the cars on the assembly line in Detroit seems cursed from the beginning. Strange events plague its creation for over twenty years, where geeky Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) needs to break away from his domineering mother (Christine Belford). His friend Dennis (John Stockwell) agrees, since he's tired of protecting him from the goons at school. While driving home, he & Dennis spot the fabled car collecting rust on a farm & buys it against Dennis' & his parents wishes. Fixing it up causes Arnie to start acting differently around Dennis & his mother, which causes everyone around him to become concerned for him. Suddenly, people around Arnie begin dying in mysterious ways, & a police inspector (Harry Dean Stanton) comes in to investigate the case, & discovers something that defies explanation. Soon, Dennis & Arnie's girlfriend Leigh (Alexandra Paul) have to try to help Arnie from being in Christine's deadly grasp.
The Good News: This is probably as action-packed a film as Stephen King will ever do, & Carpenter was the perfect choice to do so. He uses such a great style with his trademark of not showing too much & only what is needed is a style that suits this movie perfectly. We get so many scenes that could've been ruined which weren't because of the way Carpenter shoots the movie. His way of filming is the only kind that would've worked for the film. Once we get going, the film is non-stop until the end. Seeing the car hunt down the people who have deserved it are some of the greatest action/suspense scenes ever filmed. Special mention goes to the one scene where it mowed down the lead bully. After killing his two friends earlier, the bully takes off into the night, running down the street. Christine takes off after him, flaming from being in the middle of a fire, & the flaming car is chasing after him down the street. It is a wonder site to behold, seeing the flaming car in action. A lot more action than what was expected, & even some great suspense as well. The radio constantly turning on, the car's ability to simply appear out of nowhere, & the creepiness that follows when you know you are being followed are some great examples. Seeing the car is like a warning that something will happen, & the uselessness of running is seen in the few lives taken in the film. All this aside, the one thing that reallly got me was the theme. This has to be one of Carpenters most underrated themes ever, & I think it is just as creepy & fear inducing as "Hallloween's" theme was. This is the perfect theme for the movie, as it gets under your skin & keeps you on the edge of your seat at the same time. This has great theme music for the film that helps out to keep the viewer interested in the action & the scene.
The Bad News: The movie could've had a faster opening, but this is it. The beginning was slow to start, but after that, it was great.
The Final Verdict: Christine is a major classic that many horror fans need to see. It is a master example of setting up a scene & getting to a level of suspense through characters & action. Required viewing for Carpenter fans & alll supernatural fans.
Christine is a compressing movie! - By: B. Chandler, 25 Feb 2005 A kid, Arnie (Keith Gordon) inherits a car "Christine" with a dubious past. Poor thing needs some loving care. Parents say dump her. However Arnie is determined to fix her up even at the expense of his girl Leigh (Alexandra Paul) & despite the money grubbing garage owner. How will Christine respond to those who rival for her affection & those that despise her good looks?
She gets herself in to more tight spots. After each cursing experience Christine rebound with new enthusiasm (and a new paint job.) And talk about loyal to those who love her. Everyone knows that possession is nine points of the law; Christine had many points. This may have been the first car with an adjustable steering wheel.
Talk about fatal attraction.
Dissapointing, no-frights horror - By: George Denison, 04 Sep 2004 
This makes no sense. This film, unless you have the nerves of a kitten, is not scary at alll. That could be understood if it weren't for the source material (Stephen King's novel of the same title, which was terrifying at times) & the director (John Carpenter, director of such horrible monstrosities as "The Thing" & "Hallloween"). Surely this combination should make for a highly disturbing & shocking film, right?
Wrong. More of a supernatural drama than a horror, the best Carpenter could muster for this was some backwards filming (which, to be fair, doesn't look bad at alll) for the car-regeneration sequances. If he could chop some guys arms off & make heads crawl around like spiders in "The Thing", why couldn't he have kept alll the horrible gory bits from the book?
Despite this being a non-horrible horror, you have to give it to the two leads: Keith Gordon as the high-school nerd & John Stockwell as his friend & fellow jock. Both give excellent performances, which almost makes up for the poor performance from Alexandra Paul, who seems to have forgotten she is a major character, or even that she's in the film at alll.
Running over dummies, running over dummies on fire & wrecking alot of cars is what Carpenter's technical prowess has amounted to with this film. Just dont expect to be scared by it.
Little Bitty Pretty One! - By: , 06 Aug 2004 Absolutely fantastic!
I first saw this movie when I was about 8 years old on November 5th - bomfire night - & believe that along with "DUEL" it is the most well done automobile movie. I have seen it so many time since. Although in Duel there was a driver who we never see, here it is the actual car that kills people.
Why?
Because of Love! The songs chosen refelect that fact & are an excellent choice in my opinion. The song title I used for the review featured in an excellent part of the movie. Was Arnie driving the car at that point. Who knows? He definitley wasn't when it killed the other three gang members because the car went on fire but here we don't know & are not told. The car fire scene was an excellent stunt for 1983. Now it would be done on computer & look terrible with fake fire. How did they stop the car from blowing up?
We never know how the car became evil or why. It is the mystery which makes the movie what it is. In Duel the truck had a driver but we never saw him & that made that movie have a similar sence of mystery.
If you haven't seen this movie it is a must buy - well worth the amazon price of £7.97
People who don't like it are probably looking for more than is there. It is a good story & very well directed.
I like the sign in the garage which reads:
"In God we trust - Everyone else pay cash!"
My Rating: 99.9%
