For the most part, film adaptations of Stephen King stories have not lived up to their potential. Most of the time there's no in between as far as quality is concerned - they're either bad or good. That's not to say that it never happens, but it is quite rare, and there are many more bad than good ones. One of the few 'in betweeners' is John Carpenter's Christine. King's story about an evil car made for a surprisingly good novel, but unfortunately John Carpenter couldn't translate it very well to the big screen.
Arnie Cunningham is your stereotypical geek who is just trying to survive high school. He's got the big glasses, he's awkward socially, and he's never even had a girl look his way. Fortunately he's got a really good friend in his polar opposite, Dennis. Dennis has always been pretty good with the ladies, he's a football star, and he's quite popular. One day while driving down the road Arnie spots the love of his life - a rusty old 1958 Plymouth Fury. Unfortunately it's for sale, and after some disturbing conversation with the owner Arnie drives ('putts' is a more accurate term) on over to a storage garage in which he intends to store and work on it.
As time goes by it becomes quite apparent that it's actually the car, Christine, working on Arnie rather than the other way around. The geeky youth quickly begins turning into a contemptuous little brat. He's not the same old Arnie - he begins frequently ditching out on Dennis, fighting with his parents, but perhaps the strangest change of them all is that he begins dating for the first time in his life. Despite this last development Arnie treasures the car above all else, and when his enemies begin to die from being run down by a mysterious car it becomes apparent that the haunted vehicle puts Arnie on a similar pedestal.
It's not surprising that John Carpenter chose to ditch most of the backstory in the novel in favor of an acceptable runtime but much of it was what made the paperback such a great read. One thing I disliked in particular is that we're never given any inkling of exactly why Christine is possessed. It's left to the imagination but the film doesn't give any clear clues. At one point Arnie makes a statement similar to one made by the car's previous owner, but that's pretty much all we're given as far as reasoning goes.
Another problem is that John Carpenter tried too hard to make this more of a horror story than it actually is when Arnie's character degradation is much more interesting. I would almost go so far as to say that Christine would have been a stronger film if the car wasn't possessed at all - Arnie would have been a perfectly acceptable antagonist in this case. Christine just isn't very scary - there's only one moment in the entire film that I would consider at all frightening.
Despite it's shortcomings the characters are still enjoyable. John Stockwell plays Dennis quite well and his friendly demeanor makes the character very likeable. Keith Gordon does an alright job as Arnie but his metamorphosis was a bit uncomfortable, but this actually enhances the character. Outside of these the performances range from average to bad, but besides Alexandra Paul's boring portrayal of Arnie's girlfriend nothing particularly bothered me. In my opinion John Carpenter made some pretty good calls for the cast.
With a film of this sort, coming from the 80s, it's only fair to expect some terrible special effects. Much to my surprise they're actually pretty well done. The film features scant amounts of gore and as such Christine was saved from being more cheesy than it already is. The highlight of the effects isn't in the blood - the filmmakers were able to do some really wonderful looking things with the car. Frequently throughout the film, Christine undergoes major body damage. Through some unknown process the damage is undone right before our eyes. It looks surprisingly realistic and it makes for some of the most eerie moments in the film.
Final Recommendation There's nothing terribly wrong with Christine - it's just not that great of a movie. As a horror film it fails to bring on the scares but the story is interesting enough to keep you watching. Thanks to some competent effects and performances Christine is saved from being the terribly cheesy film that most probably expect it to be. I recommend it, but it really won't satiate the appetite for a good horror film.
A gawky teen turns cool and bad with his restored 1958 two-tone Plymouth Fury. Directed by John Carpenter. From the Stephen King novel.More at HotMovieSale.com
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