Christine (1983)

A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), Bill Phillips (screenplay)

Stars:

Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keith Gordon	...	Arnie Cunningham
John Stockwell	...	Dennis Guilder
Alexandra Paul	...	Leigh Cabot
Robert Prosky	...	Will Darnell
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Detective Rudolph Junkins
Christine Belford	...	Regina Cunningham
Roberts Blossom	...	George LeBay
William Ostrander	...	Buddy Repperton
David Spielberg	...	Mr. Casey
Malcolm Danare	...	Moochie
Steven Tash	...	Rich
Stuart Charno	...	Don Vandenberg
Kelly Preston	...	Roseanne
Marc Poppel	...	Chuck
Robert Darnell	...	Michael Cunningham

Storyline

In 1957, in Detroit, a red Plymouth Fury is built and is the cause of two accidents, one of them fatal, still in the assembly line. Twenty-one years later, the outcast and bullied nerd Arnold "Arnie" Cunningham is getting a ride with his best and only friend Dennis Guilder and he sees the wrecked car for sale in a garden. Arnie immediately falls in love with the car. The car was given the name Christine by its first owner. He brings the car to a repair shop of the despicable Will Darnell and works hard to restore the classic car. While he works in the restoration, he changes his personality to a cocky teenager and he dates the most beautiful girl in the high-school, Leigh Cabot. Soon Arnie becomes selfish and jealous of the supernatural Christine that kills everyone that is a threat to them.

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Plot Keywords:

killer car | year 1978 | year 1957 | friendship | darkness | 

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Taglines:

Seductive. Passionate. Possessive. Say hello to Christine...Your Girlfriend The Car.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 December 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Christine

Filming Locations:

Pickwick Drive-In Theater - 1100 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,408,000, 11 December 1983, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$21,200,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Delphi Premier Productions,Polar Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the climax, Christine is clearly seen with a crumpled hood which resembles "teeth". After the initial confrontation with Dennis and the bulldozer, but before withdrawing into the shadows to reconstitute.

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Goofs

When Arnie visits Dennis in the hospital and places the paper cup on Dennis' toe, the foot does not match Dennis' foot. As the camera angle changes, you can see the bottom of Dennis' foot and looking at the toes, the shape does not match the foot in the scene with Arnie.

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Quotes

George LeBay: What the hell do you want?
Dennis Guilder: I know about your brother. I know he died choking on exhaust fumes.
George LeBay: You don't know shit, kid. My brother died because he wanted to. He ran a rubber hose from the exhaust pipe.
Dennis Guilder: Arnie would have never bought that car if he'd known somebody died in it.
George LeBay: Either you're dumber than you look, or you don't know your friend very well. He had the same look in his eye that my brother always had. Probably the only thing my brother ever loved in his whole rotten life was that car. ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits when the titles are appearing, Christine's engine can be heard.

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Connections

Referenced in True Blood: Beautifully Broken (2010)

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Soundtracks

Pledging My Love
Written by Fats Washington and Don D. Robey
Performed by Johnny Ace
Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.
Duchess Music Corp.

User Reviews

Christine, The Car-Killer

In 1957, in Detroit, a red Plymouth Fury is build and causes two accidents, one of them fatal, still in the assembly line. Twenty-one years later, the outcast and bullied nerd Arnold "Arnie" Cunningham (Keith Gordon) is getting a ride with his best and only friend Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell) and he sees the wrecked car in a junkyard. Arnie immediately falls in love with the car and calls it Christine. He buys the car and brings it car to the repair shop of the despicable Will Darnell (Robert Prosky) and works hard to restore the classic car. While he works in the restoration, he changes his personality to a cocky teenager and he dates the most beautiful girl in the high-school, Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul). Soon Arnie becomes selfish and jealous of the supernatural Christine that kills everyone that is a threat to them.

"Christine" is remarkable and unforgettable feature from John Carpenter and it is difficult to find out who that has not seen this movie at least once. The classic story of a supernatural car that fall in love with its owner is not dated and has outstanding special effects for a 1983 movie. This is practically the first successful feature of the gorgeous Alexandra Paul and Keith Gordon and John Stockwell have great performances. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Christine, O Carro Assassino" ("Christine, The Car Killer")