Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

Christine (Special Edition)
During post-war, pre-inflation 1957, the Detroit assebly lines were the bread and butter of the American economy. It was a time of cheap Gas, plentiful steel, and an insatiable hunger for the dream-machines that were cranked out by the Big Three, FORD-GENERAL MOTORS-CHRYSLER. John Carpenter, opens the film in are-created Plymouth plant in Detroit, late 1957, where a singular red and white Fury rolls down the line amid the roar of machinery and the whine of air-tools. Finned, fitted, sleek and shiny, another new '58 is ready to cruise. The foreman is glad to see this one go. It has been trouble all the way down the line, killed a line worker - somehow even the air feels cold as the car goes by. Some cars are just - born bad. Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) is the school - jerk. There's no getting around it. The minute you see the adhesive holding his glasses together, the moment the Garbage bag breaks all over the driveway, you know this guy.
Arnie Cunningham's parents refuse to let him keep the car, but the car already has a bad influence on him. He defies his parents and keeps the car at Darnell's Garage, where he starts working part-time to make enough money to restore it. John Carpenter is an accomplished musician and has scored many of his own films. For Christine he uses a selection of '50s and '60s rock and roll to puntuate the events and dialogue.
Carpenter is quoted to have said, "You can't take certain machines for granted. Ever. Not for a second. Or they will come and bite you"!

She can't (and won't) drive 55.... Stephen King's novel about the twisted love affair between a boy and his car gets transferred to the screen, courtesy of suspense master John Carpenter. Although lacking some of the more outré supernatural elements of the source material, this high-octane cinematic tune-up more than delivers the goods, horror-wise (Christine's midnight rampages will never be forgotten)--as well as being a sly exposé of the random cruelties within the high-school pecking order. Keith Gordon (who has gone on to become a stellar director in his own right, with films such as A Midnight Clear and Mother Night to his credit) gives a wonderfully controlled central performance.

Keith Gordon makes the most of the lead role as the nerdy Arnie who quickly becomes the disturbed owner of "Christine". Support cast, including John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul and Harry Dean Stanton have precious little to do, though Robert Prosky does a good job of being gross.

Carpenter's atmospheric original score is backed up by a well-chosen collection of rock classics, including George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" (the titular character's all-too-apt theme song). I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before, but the 50s music was interesting in that most of it came from artists who suffered untimely, tragic deaths....Buddy Holly and Richie Valens of course were killed in a plane crash at the height of their careers...Johnny Ace ("Pledging My Love") died playing Russian Roulette with a pistol....Larry Williams ("Bony Maronie") was killed in 1980 by a gunshot wound to the head; he had been involved with drug dealing for years and it was thought to be a gang execution....I think Dion was still alive at the time this movie was made("I Wonder Why"); I'm not sure about the rest of the Belmonts....