People have always been fascinated by the subject of evil. Where does it come from? What forms could it take? But there are two people who understand fear better than anyone. In 1983, John Carpenter directed the filmChristinebased on the bookby Stephen Kingthat came out the same year. This project was the perfect blend of two top-of-their-game auteurs.
Let’s take a look atChristine40 years after its 1983 release.
When King Met Carpenter
Stephen King was at the top of his game in the early 80s. He was churning out horror novels at the most rapid-fire pace, and people loved it. The year before, he had seen the publishing of his first Dark Tower novel,The Gunslinger,which would go on to spawn one of the most successful series of the 20th century.
At the same time,John Carpenter was creatingsome of the most cutting-edge horror films of the time. In the previous six years, he had churned out hits likeHalloween(1978),Escape From New York(1981), andThe Thing(1982). These movies are still considered iconic, and Carpenter was at the top of his game.
Related:Here Is Every ’80s Stephen King Adaptation, Ranked
However, both of these men, though at the top of their respective genres and media, were prone to developing silly projects. King has often been cited as an author who suffers from having a famous name, leading publishers to put out whatever he writes, regardless of quality.
This has led to less-than-stellar books with cult followings, such asCell, The Regulators, andFrom A Buick 8. Meanwhile, Carpenter’s work occasionally suffers from great ideas and poor execution. He is known for a variety of films that haveimmense cult followingseven though they are considered to be less-than-stellar:Dark Star(1974),Assault on Precinct 13(1976), andThe Fog(1980) are movies that can be described as the ideas of a man who loves to make movies.
And that is the major theme with these two men. They are both so entrenched in their love of the work that they are bound to have misses. However, that also means that when they do have a hit, it will rocket them and their work back into the public eye. That is why, in 1983, they inadvertently came together to create the filmChristine.
Plot of Christine
The plot ofChristinefollows a young man named Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) who buys an old 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine. He wants a car and decides it would be fun to restore Christine to her former glory.
What Arnie does not realize is that when Christine was being built, she seemed to have murdered a factory worker, her previous owner, and that both of the owner’s parents committed suicide in the car. She might be cursed, but Arnie only has eyes for Christine, even when his parents make it clear that they do not want the car restored at their house.
Being around Christine begins to change Arnie. No longer the dorky kid with taped-up glasses, Arnie is now a cooler guy with an attitude problem. He begins acting overconfident, dresses better, and even loses the glasses in favor of a more tough-guy look.
During the course of the film, we also see a change in the relationship between Arnie and his friend Dennis (John Stockwell). What begins as a normal friendship goes downhill when he urges Arnie not to buy Christine. Later, during a football game, Dennis is distracted when he notices that Christine is now in perfect condition. Seemingly, due to this, Dennis is distracted and subsequently severely injured. This puts a quickend to his athletic career.
Christine continues to wreak havoc on those who get between her and Arnie. When he starts a relationship with a beautiful new student named Leigh (Alexandra Paul), the car attempts to murder her at a drive-in movie by not locking Arnie out as he attempts to save her from choking.
As the movie continues, Christine starts driving on her own and murdering people, often sustaining damage that is almost magically healed. When a police detective (Harry Dean Stanton) begins to investigate, Arnie seems to have alibis for every crime. Eventually, everyone realizes that Arnie is somehow possessed by the car, and they attempt to destroy Christine before it’s too late.
A Cult Classic
Let’s be clear: this film was released the same year as the book and was therefore given quite a bit of hype. King and Carpenter! It was going to be a thrill ride. Despite its cheesiness (when driverless, Christine always has blacked-out windows), the film did pretty well at the box office. It had very mixed reviews, although it still has a 74% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Related:Stephen King’s Christine Remake: Plot, Cast, and Everything Else We Know
That being said, Stephen King has pointed to it as one of the worst adaptations of his work. In 2003, he said,“Christine [sic] should have been good but [It’s] actually sort of boring.”On the flipside, Carpenter said he enjoyed making the film, was very happy with the actors, and thought the audience reaction was mainly positive.But John Carpenterseems to be the type of director who always fears his films will not be greenlit, and when they are, he is ecstatic to simply be working. This is despite the fact that he became an acclaimed director quite early on.
Now, 40 years later, Christine is still a cult hit, although audiences understand it to be a product of its time. Studios saw a chance to snatch up a Stephen King project and found an equally admired director to do it.
