Christine

Name: Christine
Genre: Horror
Released: December 9, 1983
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 57
Cast: John Stockwell, Keith Gordon

1983

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Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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Universal acclaim based on 134 Ratings

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8.3

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8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 134 Ratings

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Christine

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Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: December 9, 1983 | R

Starring: John Stockwell, Keith Gordon

Summary: 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

Genre(s): Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert

Christine is, of course, utterly ridiculous. But I enjoyed it anyway. The movies have a love affair with cars, and at some dumb elemental level we enjoy seeing chases and crashes. In fact, under the right circumstances there is nothing quite so exhilarating as seeing a car crushed, and one of the best scenes in Christine is the one where the car forces itself into an alley that's too narrow for it. Read full review

Gary Arnold

Christine does indeed suffer from the preposterous, low-octane nature of the devil-car pretext. But this satanic nonsense is saved from strictly facetious appeal by a few sensational pictorial effects, notably the sights of Christine speeding after a victim while engulfed in flames or miraculously repairing her own battered body, and by the no-nonsense performances of an excellent cast, especially Keith Gordon as the obsessed and transformed Arnie Cunningham. Read full review

Dave Kehr

This 1983 feature was Carpenter's best film since Halloween but still couldn't recapture the perfect balance of visceral shock and narrative integrity that defined his first success. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Christine seems like a retread. This time it's a fire-engine red, 1958 Plymouth Fury that's possessed by the Devil, and this deja vu premise (from the novel by Stephen King) combined with the crazed vehicle format, makes Christine appear pretty shop-worn. Read full review

Janet Maslin

The early parts of the film are engaging and well acted, creating a believable high school atmosphere. Unfortunately, the later part of the film is slow in developing, and it unfolds in predictable ways. The special effects are good, the performances are nicely deadpan, and the score is clever. But Christine herself is something of a bust. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Christine just boils down to another average adaptation of one of the increasingly weak Stephen King novels that hit Hollywood like a bad rash in 1983. Read full review

Empire Kim Newman

Adapted from the Stephen King killer car novel, this John Carpenter film is more like an assembly line vehicle than a customised job, but is nevertheless a slick, entertaining piece of work. Read full review

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User Reviews

eva3si0n

Dec 25, 2022

Christine is a cult thriller by John Carpenter. Perhaps one of his best films. Christine is a great thriller that has both mysticism and suspense. Yes, the first 20 minutes of the film may seem boring, the plot is really slowly spinning. But then the film looks literally in the same breath.Christine is a cult thriller by John Carpenter. Perhaps one of his best films. Christine is a great thriller that has both mysticism and suspense. Yes, the first 20 minutes of the film may seem boring, the plot is really slowly spinning. But then the film looks literally in the same breath. And after all, Christine does not have a gigantic budget, not a stellar cast. That's the greatness of John Carpenter. He makes cult films without a budget, sometimes so far for the mass audience that they acquire cult status only after a few years. For me, Christine stands in the ranking of Carpenter's best films in one place with The Thing. Now such thrillers are almost not removed, and the mysticism is no longer so gracefully presented to the viewer. I can only advise everyone to watch this masterpiece… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

tellmikeyy

Aug 2, 2022

All time classic supernatural thriller. Good acting and cheesy lines make for a great watch.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Covet

Mar 25, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Christine is John Carpenter's second best film next to Halloween. The movie is offbeat and is loads of fun because the demonic car in the movie is endangering most of the actors. Many scenes are legendary as the scene where moochie is running then gets trapped and the car crushes him. Later the detective tells Arnie that moochie's body was found in 2 pieces. The car is trashed by bullies that dislike Arnie then for revenge the car goes after them. All of the scenes are original and the actors give classic performances as in Halloween. This a must see movie, one of the best from the 80's.… Expand

24 of 24 users found this helpful240

FilipeNeto

Dec 3, 2019

t's a good movie, but it has its flaws.

This movie is based on a horror novel by Stephen King and expertly directed by John Carpenter, a devoted master of horror cinema. It basically tells the story of Christine, a fifties car that has a spirit of its own and an instinctive will to kill.t's a good movie, but it has its flaws.

This movie is based on a horror novel by Stephen King and expertly directed by John Carpenter, a devoted master of horror cinema. It basically tells the story of Christine, a fifties car that has a spirit of its own and an instinctive will to kill. The car belonged to the same owner for decades but, after death, was sold by his brother, in very poor condition, to teenager Arnie Cunningham, a shy, withdrawn teenage geek. As he restores his new car, Arnie changes: changes the way he dresses and is, becomes brash and cocky, arrogant even, and quickly realizes the supernatural characteristics of the car. But as his enemies mysteriously die, and as the police increasingly watch them closely, Arnie's parents and friends are becoming aware that the car is a bigger problem than they thought.

Well, I must say I really enjoyed this movie. It has style, charm, a good rhythm and holds us until the end. The script is good, and can turn an inanimate object into a real villain. The merit is probably from Stephen King. I really think the book is better than the movie (for example, if the movie never explains the origin of Christine's evil, the book explains it logically and might even have been taken advantage of by the movie). There are good moments of action and some notable scenes, such as the car repairing itself. The use of rock-and-roll music as a supernatural sign of the car's spirit presence was clever. We also have good action scenes but (which is curious being a Carpenter movie) there is virtually no drop of fake blood or gut strewn on the floor, which may disappoint those who love the massive gore. But I, for my part, handled it well. What really displeased me was the ending. Totally anti-climatic and warm, far from what this movie required.

The cast is composed of actors who were not known at the time, not being the kind of movie we see for the quality of the cast and his work: Keith Gordon did a good job as Arnie but slowly becomes a nasty being . The problem with this is that we don't feel sorry for him in the end. John Stockwell saves the day in the end and does what we could expect of him, while Alexandra Paul is not much more than a permanent damsel in distress. The rest of the cast is deleted and appears only when it has to be. At the technical level, the movie is much more interesting. Not having brilliant cinematography, it makes up for the visual, special and sound effects, which are pretty good considering the time the film was made. The cars are beautiful and the movie's soundtrack is truly good, with high quality songs and a strong bet on rock-and-roll (although George Thorogood & The Destroyers' opening song is equally excellent and a hard-rock classic).

In short, although not brilliant and flawed, it is a film that still deserves our attention. It has gained classic status and has fans, and it gives us an hour and a half of good entertainment, although there is much better out there.… Expand

0 of 27 users found this helpful027

MattBrady99

Jan 13, 2019

"Her name's Christine."

"I like that." 'Christine', like most Carpenter movies is an under-appreciated thrill ride with a twisted sense of humor. Solid performances, excellent score and John Carpenter can any movie stylistic despite the absurd concept. However, I wish Harry Dean Stanton"Her name's Christine."

"I like that."

'Christine', like most Carpenter movies is an under-appreciated thrill ride with a twisted sense of humor. Solid performances, excellent score and John Carpenter can any movie stylistic despite the absurd concept.

However, I wish Harry Dean Stanton had more to do.… Expand

1 of 24 users found this helpful123

Panchogul

Apr 15, 2020

Christine (1983)

Sinopsis: Arnie Cunningham, un joven que sufre acoso escolar, consigue el automóvil de sus sueños: un Plymouth Fury del 58. Arnie se obsesiona con el vehículo y este cobra vida propia y empieza a asesinar a quienes se interponen entre ellos. Opinión: Tengo opinionesChristine (1983)

Sinopsis:

Arnie Cunningham, un joven que sufre acoso escolar, consigue el automóvil de sus sueños: un Plymouth Fury del 58. Arnie se obsesiona con el vehículo y este cobra vida propia y empieza a asesinar a quienes se interponen entre ellos.

Opinión:

Tengo opiniones encontradas con respecto a este clásico de John Carpenter basado en la novela homónima de Stephen King.

Los efectos especiales es quizás el aspecto mejor logrado de esta película, el auto en cuestión es una preciosidad, hasta yo babearía por un auto así, pero en vez de llamarlo Christine le pondría Robert Pattinson, pero bueno. Los personajes son una pereza total, el protagonista hace un buen trabajo, pero es desagradable y cae mal y los demás parecen que tuvieran depresión todo el tiempo. Por último la historia y ritmo es a mi juicio el punto más débil, la ejecución es débil y penosa, el ritmo es insufrible, los 110 minutos de duración se me hicieron eternos, pero bueno, logré quitarme la curiosidad, ya que desde hace años que quería ver esta película y nunca me había hecho el tiempo de hacerlo.

Tiene escenas muy buenas y vistosas, pero por si solas son fáciles de olvidar y la banda sonora no ayuda en lo absoluto.

Valoración:

3 ⭐ de 5 ⭐… Expand

0 of 23 users found this helpful023

OriginalDanger

Sep 6, 2020

Christine is a 1983 horror directed by John Carpenter... John Carpenter is a great film maker and he brought us The Thing which was really good as a gory horror movie with added creepy music, The Thing was about some lifeform possibly from outer space immitating humans and taking over theirChristine is a 1983 horror directed by John Carpenter... John Carpenter is a great film maker and he brought us The Thing which was really good as a gory horror movie with added creepy music, The Thing was about some lifeform possibly from outer space immitating humans and taking over their bodies or something and Kurt Russell was great... Christine is basically a story about a red car which kills people and Keith Gordon who plays Arnie Cunningham buys it from some old man who doesn't tell him other people have died inside the car. The car is trashed by hoodlums that Arnie knows and the car goes on a revenge spree killing the people who trashed it, the car even drives full of flames and runs down somebody. A gas station explodes which is a good part and a few people die from the car including Arnie eventually at the end and the car is trashed properly and ends up at a tip or junkyard completely demolished and crushed. This is one of the worst films I've ever seen especially for a horror movie as it was neither entertaining or scary or a good story. The fact it won positive awards is a joke and the acting is awful and the ending was disappointing. I think the only good and half decent acting in Christine was by Harry Dean Stanton and Alexandra Paul was pretty cute but besides that the rest of the cast were bloody awful. Christine is a poor horror movie that lacks in almost every department and is missing that spark and the car wasn't scary or impressive and the film was ridiculous in every way possible. Avoid this film and John Carpenter should be ashamed.… Expand

0 of 28 users found this helpful028

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