Christine: Columbia Pictures
Rating: USA: R/ UK: 18/ Australia: M

After recently viewing David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, The Dead Zone, I started to think about the film translations of King’s books. The general consensus is that King has fared poorly in having his novels adapted for the big screen—and I’d probably agree. However, not everything has turned out terribly—Kubrick’s The Shining is a great film, as is Cronenberg’s. From there, the quality drops off a bit, but there’s still at least one film that stands out as a good film in its own right, and a decent adaptation of the novel it was based on—John Carpenter’s 1983 version of Christine.

Christine is yet another riff on the old ‘haunted car’ horror story, but this one somehow seems more detailed than the ones offered in films like The Car--which is probably attributable to the fact that King has created some engaging characters, and Carpenter has done a decent job with the film’s casting.

Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon: Back to School) is a nerdy high school kid—he dresses in outdated clothes, he wears some goofy looking glasses, he can’t get a date…you know the drill. He does, however, have an unlikely best friend in jock Dennis (John Stockwell: Top Gun). After a tough first day of school (wherein Arnie has a knife pulled on him by the ringleader of a gang of bullies) he finds true love—in the form of a dilapidated 1958 Plymouth Fury.

Arnie buys the Fury (which the seller informs him is named Christine) despite Dennis’ protestations and his parent’s displeasure. He stores the car at a do-it-yourself garage run by Will Darnell (Robert Prosky: Dead Man Walking)—and then begins the task of restoring it. The act of putting Christine back together brings about a change in him—he loses the glasses, gets a girlfriend, Leigh (Alexandra Paul), and becomes a bit rebellious. Meanwhile, Christine starts killing anyone who might come between her and Arnie—and only Dennis and Leigh can stop the demonic automobile.

In the King canon, Christine is essentially a middle of the road novel—it isn’t in the classic league alongside books like The Shining or ’Salem’s Lot, nor is it in the awful category with books like Insomnia--in short, it’s average. So, it should come as no real surprise that as a film, Christine is a fairly middle of the road offering as well—not nearly as good as Carpenter’s classics like Halloween and The Thing, but not nearly as awful as a film like Vampires, either.

Carpenter’s direction here is workmanlike. It’s not as flashy as some of his earlier films (probably because regular cinematographer Dean Cundey wasn’t involved with this movie), but it does have its moments. The shots of Christine rebuilding herself after sustaining some massive damage are nice, as are the scenes where the car’s two super-bright headlines flash on, catching some unsuspecting victim completely by surprise (what makes these scenes even stronger is Carpenter’s simple synthesizer score—the high pitched note during these scenes is really a great example of how to effectively score a horror film sequence). Other than those two scenes, though, the rest of the direction is pretty average—not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just a little more ordinary than hardcore Carpenter fans have come to expect.

What really keeps the film from degenerating into pure schlock territory are the performances. The cast is, for the most part, pretty good. Gordon and Stockwell are believable as the nerd and the jock respectively—both characters are likeable, and while the acting isn’t Oscar caliber, it is decent. Robert Prosky steals every scene he’s in as the mush-mouthed garage owner Will Darnell. And finally, Harry Dean Stanton makes the most of a small part, playing a cop investigating the mysterious deaths happening in the community.

Yet, while there are several good performances in the film, there are also a few bad ones. Fortunately, most of these are from minor characters, but they do still detract from the film overall. Alexandra Paul is totally unbelievable as Leigh, who’s supposed to be the most attractive girl in school. Paul over-emotes many of her lines here, giving every scene she’s in an air of cheesy melodrama. Still, it’s a restrained performance when compared with that of William Ostrander. Ostrander plays school bully Buddy with such an over the top glee that he makes Shatner look like Olivier. Any fear that this character is supposed to instill (particularly in his big scene early in the film) is negated by Ostrander’s overacting. You just can’t help but laugh at this guy who you should be fearing.

The film’s other weakness deals mainly with the script itself. Simply put, Christine doesn’t seem like much of a horror film. Sure, there’s a car that drives itself and kills people, but for much of the narrative, the movie focuses on the change in Arnie’s personality, the strained relationships between him and his girlfriend, family, and best friend, and his love of Christine. In some ways, it feels more like a pilot for Dawson’s Creek than an out and out genre film.

The other problem deals with the handling of Arnie’s character specifically. The film never gives us any kind of time frame for the events that are happening—it could be a week, it could be a few days…we just don’t know. Because of this, Arnie’s metamorphosis seems a bit overly dramatic. One day, he’s a loser who has no chance of ever even talking to a girl, let alone dating one, the next he’s got the hottest girl in school making out with him and a completely new look. All in all, it seems a bit forced.

As is to be expected, Christine features a strong score provided by Carpenter himself. Basically, it’s that same ominous, synth-heavy stuff we’ve heard in earlier films like The Thing, but it’s still amazingly effective. Of course, Carpenter’s score isn’t the only music in the film. On several occasions, we’re treated to some rock and roll oldies—which isn’t anything special, except that if you listen closely, the lyrics fit the action of the scene they’re used in—as if Christine is vocalizing her thoughts through the music. It’s a nice touch and helps personify the car even more.

Gore-wise, there’s not a lot here. Carpenter keeps most of the violence offscreen and out of camera range. Even the most squeamish of viewers should be able to watch this movie with no problem. Gore fans, however, are likely to be disappointed by the lack of onscreen carnage.

Ultimately, Christine is another solid adaptation of a Stephen King novel. It’s not a standout piece for either King or Carpenter, nor one of the best adaptations of King’s work, but it’s certainly an entertaining little film. Carpenter’s competent direction, a decent cast, and one ticked off 1958 Plymouth Fury make this a horror flick well worth checking out.




Recommended: Yes