Christine (1983 film)

Christine
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Carpenter
Screenplay by	Bill Phillips
Produced by	Richard Kobritz Larry J. Franco
Starring	Keith Gordon John Stockwell Alexandra Paul Robert Prosky Harry Dean Stanton
Cinematography	Donald M. Morgan
Edited by	Marion Rothman
Music by	John Carpenter Alan Howarth
Production companies	Columbia Pictures Delphi Premier Productions Polar Film
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	December 9, 1983 (1983-12-09)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million
Box office	$21 million

Christine is a 1983 American horror film directed by John Carpenter and starring Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, and Harry Dean Stanton. The film also features supporting performances from Roberts Blossom and Kelly Preston. It was written by Bill Phillips and based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, published in 1983. The story, set in 1978, follows a sentient and violent vintage Plymouth Fury named "Christine", and its effects on the car's teenaged owner.

Plot

A 1958 Plymouth Fury is built on the assembly line. While a worker inspects the engine, the car injures him. During closing time, another worker is killed in the Fury when he flicks cigar ash on its upholstery.

Twenty years later, Arnold Cunningham, a nerdy teen, buys the same used Fury Coupe over the objections of his friend, Dennis Guilder, who says it needs a full restoration. Arnie gets into a fight at school with Buddy Repperton, who is expelled after drawing a switchblade. Arnie begins restoring Christine in defiance of his parents at Darnell's Garage. As he spends more of his time repairing her, he changes, shedding his glasses, dressing better, and developing a cocky arrogance.

When Dennis asks out new girl Leigh Cabot, he finds she has a date. As his best friend changes, Dennis returns to Christine's seller to ask about the car. He discovers the Fury's previous owner was obsessed with Christine despite how his wife and daughter died in the car; and that he had kept Christine until he killed himself in her. Leigh and Arnie attend one of Dennis' football games. Dennis not only sees them together, but that Christine is completely restored. Distracted, he is gravely injured. Arnie visits him in the hospital and learns he was almost paralyzed and can never play football again.

Leigh and Arnie's relationship goes well until they attend a drive-in movie. Leigh explains she is too uncomfortable with the car to have sex in it. When Arnie coaxes her back, the car's radio comes on by itself and a blinding light emits from the dash. As Leigh chokes on her food, Arnie discovers the doors have locked by themselves. Leigh unlocks the doors, and another patron saves her. She and Arnie later argue about Christine and their relationship.

Repperton and his friends vandalize Christine. When Leigh consoles Arnie, he lashes out at her and breaks up with her. Arnie returns to the garage later and promises Christine he will rebuild her. As he walks away, he hears creaking metal and sees the engine is fully restored. At his command, Christine restores herself to showroom quality. That evening, Christine runs over Moochie Welch. Detective Rudy Junkins questions Arnie, who says Moochie got what he deserved. Junkins lets him go when Arnie's alibi checks out.

Christine next targets Repperton and his friend Richie Trelawney. After chasing them to a gas station where Repperton's friend Don Vandenberg works, Christine smashes their Camaro, killing Richie. Repperton escapes a gas tank explosion that kills Don, but Christine, still on fire, runs him down. The smoldering car returns to Darnell's garage. When Darnell investigates, the car crushes him in a seat. The police find Darnell's body in Christine, which is again in like-new condition. Junkins questions Arnie again, who becomes angry and provides an alibi.

Leigh requests help from Dennis to destroy Christine and save Arnie. Dennis scratches "Darnell's Tonight" into Christine's hood, then leaves for the garage to hot-wire Darnell's bulldozer. They plan to lure Christine into the garage and destroy it, but Christine surprises them by emerging from a pile of scrap metal. Leigh flees while Dennis runs interference. After side-swiping another car, Arnie is revealed to be driving Christine. While trying to kill Leigh, Christine crashes into Darnell's office, and Arnie flies through Christine's windshield. As he grabs her, Leigh sees he is mortally wounded. Before he dies, Arnie reaches out to touch Christine once more.

Leigh exits the wreckage of the office to tell Dennis Arnie is dead. However, Christine continues attacking, regenerating faster than before. Dennis pulls Leigh into the bulldozer's cab, and they repeatedly smash Christine with it, disabling Christine for good. They return to the junkyard the next day and see the remains of Fury crushed into a cube. Detective Junkins joins them and attempts to console them, congratulating them for stopping Christine even though they were unable to save Arnie. They are momentarily spooked when they hear a 1950s rock and roll song, as Christine favored them, but it turns out to be a workman's boom box; however, Christine's grill slowly begins to unbend.

Cast

• Keith Gordon as Arnold "Arnie" Cunningham
• John Stockwell as Dennis Guilder
• Alexandra Paul as Leigh Cabot
• Robert Prosky as Will Darnell
• Harry Dean Stanton as Detective Rudolph "Rudy" Junkins
• Christine Belford as Regina Cunningham
• Roberts Blossom as George LeBay
• Kelly Preston as Roseanne
• William Ostrander as Clarence "Buddy" Repperton
• Malcolm Danare as Peter "Moochie" Welch
• Steven Tash as Richard "Richie" Trelawney
• Stuart Charno as Donald "Don" Vandenberg
• David Spielberg as Mr. Casey

Production

Conception

Producer Richard Kobritz had previously produced the miniseries Salem's Lot, also based on a Stephen King novel; through producing the miniseries, Kobritz became acquainted with King, who sent him manuscripts of two of his novels, Cujo, and Christine. Kobritz purchased the rights to Christine after finding himself attracted to the novel's "celebration of America's obsession with the motorcar."

According to John Carpenter, Christine was not a film he had planned on directing, saying that he directed the film as "a job" as opposed to a "personal project." He had previously directed The Thing (1982), which had done poorly at the box office and led to critical backlash. In retrospect, Carpenter stated that upon reading Christine, he felt that "It just wasn't very frightening. But it was something I needed to do at that time for my career."

King's novel, the source material for Carpenter's film, made it clear that the car was possessed by the evil spirit of its previous owner, Roland D. LeBay, whereas the film version of the story shows that the evil spirit surrounding the car was present on the day it was built. Other elements from the novel were altered for the film, particularly the execution of the death scenes, which the filmmakers opted for a more "cinematic approach."

Casting

Initially, Columbia Pictures had wanted to cast Brooke Shields in the role of Leigh due to her publicity after the release of The Blue Lagoon (1980), and Scott Baio as Arnie. The filmmakers declined the suggestion, opting to cast young actors who were still fairly unknown. Kevin Bacon auditioned for the role, but opted out when offered a part in Footloose (1984). Carpenter cast Keith Gordon in the role of Arnie after an audition in New York City; Gordon had some experience in film, and was also working in theater at the time; John Stockwell was cast at an audition in Los Angeles.

Nineteen-year-old Alexandra Paul was cast in the film after audition in New York City; according to Carpenter, Paul was an "untrained, young actress" at the time, but brought a "great quality" about the character of Leigh. According to Paul, she had not read any of King's book's or seen Carpenter's films, and read the novel in preparation.

Filming

Christine was shot largely in Los Angeles, California, while the location for Darnell's garage was located in Santa Clarita. Filming began in April 1983, merely days after the King novel had been published. The film's stunts were primarily completed by stunt coordinator Terry Leonard, who was behind the wheel of the car during the high-speed chase scenes, as well as the scene in which the car drives down a highway engulfed in flames.

The car

One of the two remaining models of Christine used in the film

Although the car in the film is identified as a 1958 Plymouth Fury—and in 1983 radio ads promoting the film, voiceover artists announced, "she's a '57 Fury"—two other Plymouth models, the Belvedere and the Savoy, were also used to portray the malevolent automobile onscreen. John Carpenter placed ads throughout Southern California searching for models of the car, and was able to purchase twenty-four of them in various states of disrepair, which were used to build a total of seventeen models of the Fury.

Total production for the 1958 Plymouth Fury was only 5,303, and they were difficult to find and expensive to buy at the time. In addition, the real-life Furys only came in one color, "Buckskin Beige", seen on the other Furies on the assembly line during the initial scenes of the movie. Several vehicles were destroyed during filming, but most of the cars were Savoy and Belvedere models dressed to look like the Fury.

Originally, Carpenter had not planned to film the car's regeneration scenes, but decided after the shoot had finished to include them. The shots of the car regenerating itself were shot in post-production and done using hydraulics.

Of the twenty cars used in the film, only two still exist. One is a stunt vehicle with a manual transmission and now resides in the hands of a private California collector. The other vehicle was rescued from a junkyard and restored by collector Bill Gibson of Pensacola, Florida.

Release

Box office

Christine was released in North America on December 9, 1983, to 1,045 theaters.

In its opening weekend Christine brought in $3,408,904 landing at #4. The film dropped 39.6% in its second weekend, grossing $2,058,517 slipping from fourth to eighth place. In its third weekend, it grossed $1,851,909 dropping to #9. The film remained at #9 its fourth weekend, grossing $2,736,782. In its fifth weekend, it returned to #8, grossing $2,015,922. Bringing in $1,316,835 it its sixth weekend, the film dropped out of the box office top ten to twelfth place. In its seventh and final weekend, the film brought in $819,972 landing at #14, bringing the total gross for Christine to $21,017,849.

Critical reception

Based on 24 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Christine has an overall 67% approval rating from critics and an average score of 5.7 out of 10. Variety gave the film a negative review, stating: "Christine seems like a retread. This time it’s a fire-engine red, 1958 Plymouth Fury that’s possessed by the Devil, and this deja-vu premise [from the novel by Stephen King] combined with the crazed-vehicle format, makes Christine appear pretty shop worn."

Roger Ebert gave the movie three out of four stars, saying: "by the end of the movie, Christine has developed such a formidable personality that we are actually taking sides during its duel with a bulldozer. This is the kind of movie where you walk out with a silly grin, get in your car, and lay rubber halfway down the Eisenhower." Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave the film a middling review, saying: "The early parts of the film are engaging and well acted, creating a believable high-school atmosphere. Unfortunately, the later part of the film is slow in developing, and it unfolds in predictable ways." Time Out said of the film: "Carpenter and novelist Stephen King share not merely a taste for genre horror but a love of '50's teenage culture; and although set in the present, Christine reflects the second taste far more effectively than the first."

Home media

The film was released on VHS by Columbia Pictures, and later in a special edition DVD in 2004. On March 12, 2013, Twilight Time video released the film on Blu-ray for the first time in a limited edition run numbered at 3,000 copies. On September 29, 2015, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment re-released the film on Blu-ray.

Soundtrack

Untitled

Two soundtracks were released, one consisting purely of the music written and composed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth, the other consisting of the contemporary pop songs used in the film.

Christine: Music from the Motion Picture (by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Arnie's Love Theme"	1:15
2.	"Obsessed with the Car"	2:07
3.	"Football Run/Kill Your Kids"	2:42
4.	"The Rape"	1:10
5.	"The Discovery"	1:30
6.	"Show Me"	2:36
7.	"Moochie's Death"	2:25
8.	"Junkins"	3:33
9.	"Buddy's Death"	1:27
10.	"Nobody's Home/Restored"	1:44
11.	"Car Obsession Reprise"	1:53
12.	"Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)"	2:30
13.	"Talk on the Couch"	1:23
14.	"Regeneration"	1:25
15.	"Darnell's Tonight"	0:13
16.	"Arnie"	1:01
17.	"Undented"	1:54
18.	"Moochie Mix Four"	2:26

Songs appearing in film

The soundtrack album containing songs used in the film was entitled Christine: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and was released on LP and cassette on Motown Records. It contained 10 (of the 15) songs listed in the film's credits, plus one track from John Carpenter and Alan Howarth's own score. The track listing was as follows:

1. George Thorogood and the Destroyers - Bad to the Bone
2. Buddy Holly & the Crickets - Not Fade Away
3. Johnny Ace - Pledging My Love
4. Robert & Johnny - We Belong Together
5. Little Richard - Keep A-Knockin'
6. Dion and The Belmonts - I Wonder Why
7. The Viscounts - Harlem Nocturne
8. Thurston Harris - Little Bitty Pretty One
9. Danny & The Juniors - Rock n' Roll is Here to Stay
10. John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)
11. Larry Williams - Bony Moronie

The following tracks were not included on this LP release, but were used in the film and listed in the film's credits:

• Abba - The Name of the Game
• Bonnie Raitt - Runaway
• Richie Valens - Come on Let's Go
• Tanya Tucker - Not Fade Away
• The Rolling Stones - Beast of Burden

See also

• List of films about automobiles

Bibliography

• Benjaminson, James (1994). Plymouth, 1946-1959. Motorbooks International. ISBN 978-0-87938-840-9.
• Von Doviak, Scott (2014). Stephen King Films FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the King of Horror on Film. Applause Theatre & Cinema. ISBN 978-1-48035-551-4.
• Autopia: Cars and Culture. University of Chicago Press. 2004. ISBN 978-1-86189-132-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)

External links

• Christine at AllMovie
• Christine at Box Office Mojo
• Christine at IMDb
• Christine at Rotten Tomatoes