Plot
A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.
Release Year: 1983
Rating: 6.4/10 (23,963 voted)
Director:
John Carpenter
Stars: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul
Storyline Highschool geek Arnie Cunningham falls in love with "Christine", a bright red 1958 Plymouth Fury which has seen much better days. Setting himself the task of restoring the car to its original condition, his friends notice that the car is not the only thing that is changing. Arnie seems to spend more and more time with his car. He's also developed a sort of cocky arrogance which does not seem like the real Arnie at all.
Writers: Stephen King, Bill Phillips
Cast: 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 Wells
Steven Tash
-
Rich Cholony
Stuart Charno
-
Don Vandenberg
Kelly Preston
-
Roseanne
Marc Poppel
-
Chuck
Robert Darnell
-
Michael Cunningham
Taglines:
She'll possess you. Then destroy you. She's death on wheels. She's...
Filming Locations: 1037 Buena Vista Avenue, South Pasadena, California, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $9,700,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $3,408,000
(USA)
(11 December 1983)
(1045 Screens)
Gross: $21,200,000
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Christine was said to be a 1958 Plymouth Fury, which had similar panels and trim to the 1957 model. When the Fury name was introduced, it was essentially a sport and trim package on the Belvedere - notably two doors, gold anodized trim, gold grille and dual four-barrel carburetors. Christine, as shown in the movie, could have been any two door Belvedere with a 318 or 350 engine. Although over 5300 Furys - and far more Belvederes - were built in 1958, they have since become very rare and are now collector's items. There were 13 or 16 (depending on source) Belvederes/Furys smashed in the making of the movie (out of the roughly 25 used during filming), but it is unknown whether they were 1957 or 1958 models, or a combination. In any event, Plymouth enthusiasts were infuriated, although the movie popularized the car and probably saved many of them - in the same way that
Back to the Future did for the DeLorean. In the original Stephen King book, the car had four doors but this was changed to a two-door model when it was realized that there never was a four-door 1958 Plymouth Fury. Although all 1958 Plymouth Furys had Buckskin Beige exterior paint and gold anodized aluminum side trim and grille, the book mentions that this particular car was custom ordered in Ford red.
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes:
In the scene when Christine smashed repeatedly into the silver Camaro at the gas station, there is no motor in the Camaro. The hood of the Camaro gets knocked off the hinges and is twisted sideways on the car. As Christine is in reverse and dragging the Camaro along you can see down through the hood that the engine compartment is empty. Minus a transmission, also.
Quotes: Arnie Cunningham:
Has it ever occurred to you that part of being a parent is tryin' to kill your kids?
User Review
Keith Gordan and John Stockwell shine in this classic horror movie
Rating: 8/10
Ah, do I remember the day that I saw Christine, which is disturbing
since I was only 6 years old, but my sister said "Do you wanna watch
Christine?" and I was confused, my name is Kristine, but she told me
about this little horror movie and thanks to her I couldn't go near our
family car for a few months. This is a movie that has always stayed
with me and still scares the heck out of me when I watch it in the
dark. Who knew that even before taking a driver's ed class that cars
could scare me? But this isn't just any ordinary car, this is a killer
car! This is a car with ghosts in it and you wouldn't like them if you
make them angry or try to take their owner away. Christine is the car
that you definitely don't wanna mess with, otherwise you may have to
face those bright lights and loud rock and roll music, what happens
next, you may not wanna know.
Arnie Cunningham, a typical high school nerd with only one friend, a
childhood companion named Dennis Guilder, a popular jock. Arnie's life
begins to change when he discovers Christine, a red 1958 Plymouth Fury
in serious need of repair. Arnie begins to restore Christine to her
original beauty, but as he spends more and more of his time repairing
her, those in his life notice that he is changing as well. Formerly
shy, Arnie develops a cocky arrogance. Dennis, as well as Arnie's new
girlfriend Leigh, discover that the car has a deadly past. The previous
owner, Roland LeBay, became consumed with Christine and he paid for it
with his life. Leigh and Dennis try to save Arnie from a similar fate.
They realize that the only way to save Arnie is by destroying
Christine. Christine, however, isn't ready to give up Arnie without a
fight.
Christine is a classic horror movie that for me will always deliver on
the good scares. I still have a hard time watching it. I think the
scariest scene for me will always be the last scene where Leigh and
Dennis face off with Christine and you see that Arnie just completely
gone. I'm honestly shocked that Keith Gordon didn't continue on with
his acting career, he just blew me away as Arnie, reading the book I
couldn't picture anybody else. He's absolutely incredible. John
Stockwell also pulls in a good solid performance as well. This is one
of the rare horror movies that is over all very enjoyable and if it
doesn't scare you, I still think you will like it, it has a great story
and a very good cast and crew. I highly recommend that you see this
movie if you get the chance, it's a classic.
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