‘You better watch what you say about my car. She’s real sensitive...’
The combination of Stephen King and John Carpenter could never fail. It’s impossible. King was hot shit in 1983 following the cinematic success of Carrie, The Shining and Cujo and Carpenter was coming off the back of Halloween and The Thing. Their pairing results in a film that retains the power to shock despite its corny concept…
Arnie Cunnigham (Keith Gordon) is the archetypal high school nerd in 1950s America. He’s pushed around by bigger kids (notably by William Ostrander’s Buddy Repperton who sports the most wonderful head of hair this side of Steve Harrington). He wears Rivers Cuomo glasses. He probably has asthma. The whole nine yards. His fortunes begin to improve when he befriends the kindly Dennis (John Stockwell) and falls for local knockout Leigh (Alexandra Paul). Can all this luck really be down to his new car? The titular Christine is a 1957 Plymouth Fury with strange powers and a bad attitude.
A killer car movie would have been old hat even in the ’80s but this love letter to 1950s Americana and cheesy B-movies perfectly captures the era that Tom Hanks is constantly trying to hark back to. Carpenter wisely provides a subtle score instead allowing the needle drops to bring the nostalgia. The excellent soundtrack and the presence of David Lynch favourite Harry Dean Stanton results in a timelessness that serves the subject matter well. It helps that Gordon is fantastic as Arnie in a performance typical of Carpenter – a director who has always excelled at coaxing great performances from his cast.
Christine is neither Carpenter’s nor King’s best work but it is better than a film about a killer car has any right to be. A minor horror classic.