1983 Directed by John Carpenter
Geeky student Arnie Cunningham falls for Christine, a rusty 1958 Plymouth Fury, and becomes obsessed with restoring the classic automobile to her former glory. As the car changes, so does Arnie, whose newfound confidence turns to arrogance behind the wheel of his exotic beauty. Arnie's girlfriend Leigh and best friend Dennis reach out to him, only to be met by a Fury like no other.
Keith Gordon John Stockwell Alexandra Paul Robert Prosky Harry Dean Stanton Christine Belford Roberts Blossom William Ostrander David Spielberg Malcolm Danare Steven Tash Stuart Charno Kelly Preston Marc Poppel Robert Darnell Douglas Warhit Richard Collier Bruce French Keri Montgomery Jan Burrell Charles Steak Art Evans John Richard Petersen
John Carpenter's Christine, Stephen Kings Christine
Horror, the undead and monster classics Intense violence and sexual transgression horror, gory, scary, killing or slasher scary, horror, creepy, supernatural or frighten horror, creepy, eerie, blood or gothic horror, creepy, frighten, eerie or chilling car, action, cars, adrenaline or driving Show All…
I respect this movie's commitment to trying to make the insult "shitter" happen.
Surprisingly layered for a film about a killer car. It can be read as an indictment of consumer society and car culture. It can be read as a sly subversion of nostalgia porn like GREASE and AMERICAN GRAFFITI. And it can be read as a blistering critique of toxic masculinity, of the ways in which the natural desire to grow into yourself as a man can warp and curdle into something destructive — and ultimately fatal — to yourself and others.
Or, you know, you can just watch it as a film about a killer car. Whatever works for you.
such a brutal spit in the face of anyone who had that tacky 50s nostalgia in the 80s—greasers are now psychopaths and the iconography of the plymouth is not just a corrupting force of status and power but also a tool of cruel bodily harm. keith gordon very convincingly plays a guy who really wants to fuck a car. how could you not love this? was very cool to introduce it at a packed screening tonight.
“Okay... show me”
Christine was one of the very first Stephen King books I read, I still have the paperback my mom bought me from Walden books (remember that place?!?) in a local mall and I feverishly read it. A few weeks after school started I’d finished it, and I went out with my folks for dinner and lo and behold in the parking lot of a Stewart’s I saw a Plymouth Fury.
Oh no. I was terrified. Turns out the burger joint was having one of those classic car meetups where a bunch of old tucked in shirt guys all walk around saying the exact same thing to each other: “she’s a…
"There ain't nothing finer than being behind the wheel of your own automobile. Except maybe for pussy."
That scene where the gas station explodes and the car drives away on fire, that is worth the price of admission.
Dork loves car. Car loves Dork. Future Baywatch babe loves dork. Car gets jealous. Greaser Bullies hate the Dork & the Car. Car gets even. Dork's best friend tries to help. All hell breaks loose. Carpenter's score is pitch-perfect. It creeps up on us at the right times during some fun chase scenes. New car smell is the 2nd best smell known to man and the moral of the film is: don't shit on Christine.
This film is some kind of perfect.
It starts off as a deeply pessimistic and sardonic high school film, exposing the most common and disgusting traits of young men at that age in all their repulsiveness: these boys are the realistic -maybe a bit too mean- versions of the EWS!! dudes. They like girls, want to be cool, spurt out 50 insults per second and even the nerdiest one of the bunch, Arnie, is sick of being a good boy for his parents. In fact, every character is unlikable, even Arnie's best friend, the cool yet rather nice Dennis, who on the very first day of school mocks Arnie's shyness with girls. Where have all the unlikable lead characters gone?…
