Christine (1983) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline: How do you kill something that can't possibly be alive?

She was born in Detroit...on an automobile assembly line. But she is no ordinary automobile. Deep within her chassis lives an unholy presence. She is CHRISTINE-a red and white Plymouth Fury whose unique standard equipment includes an evil, indestructible vengeance that will destroy anyone in her way. She seduces 17-year-old Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) who becomes consumed with passion for her sleek, rounded, chrome-laden body. She demands his complete and unquestioned devotion and when outsiders seek to interfere, they become the victims of Christine's horrifying wrath. John Carpenter brings Stephen King's best-selling novel to life in this chilling thriller.

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. Written by Murray Chapman

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, March 18, 2013 -- Who would have thought that horror fans would be such avid collectors of films on home video, especially some films that frankly weren't that highly regarded in either their original theatrical releases or previous home video iterations. When Twilight Time debuted its "limited edition" model a couple of years ago, their first releases tended to be fairly high profile catalog titles like The Egyptian, and they continued to mine the archives at both Fox and Sony-Columbia for a rather splendid array of both well known offerings and relatively underappreciated gems. One of the things that has continued to surprise me over the years is that there aren't 3,000 people who want any given title, a surprise that actually has carried over from another medium that Twilight Time's creative team was involved in before matriculating to Blu-ray, limited editions of original soundtrack recordings. How could there not be 3,000 people in the world interested in buying, say, a classic soundtrack by the incredible Alfred Newman? And yet, looking over the now rather long history of both limited soundtrack releases and ultimately the newer phenomenon of limited Blu-ray releases, despite (or perhaps because of) the hew and cry that has been raised over both the limited edition strategy as well as the pricing, very few Twilight Time titles have actually sold out, and the ones that have sold out have tended to be horror (or horror related), including Fright Night and Night of the Living Dead (two other sold out titles aren't really horror films, but have what might be considered certain "horror" elements in terms of monsters and the like, including Journey to the Center of the Earth and Mysterious Island). Christine has joined that select few Twilight Time titles that have sold out, and in fact it sold out spectacularly quickly, something which might surprise at least some more cynical observers who might not think of the film as a semi-forgotten classic. The fact that Christine was directed by John Carpenter no doubt adds to its cachet, not to mention the always marketable fact that it was based on a Stephen King novel, but the cold hard truth is Christine was met with at best a mixed critical reaction during its theatrical run, and while it did okay at the box office, it was certainly no major blockbuster. And yet it has such a potent fan base that it managed to burn through the limited 3000 copy run in a matter of mere hours, while other, much better known (and remembered) films are still waiting to be snatched up by collectors. Such are the vagaries of the home video market, peculiarities that are perhaps ripe to be exploited by some future doctoral candidate in sociology.

As I discussed in my Cujo Blu-ray review, Stephen King loves to exploit our seemingly innate fear of the mundane in his stories. This fear may start when we're but children, frightened of noises we can't explain or of shadows that loom in our bedrooms that take on sinister meanings in our minds. King catapults those atavistic responses into completely new territory in many of his most famous novels and short stories, with everyday items, animals or people suddenly inhabited by some inchoate evil essence. In Cujo things were a bit more literal than usual, with a poor dog being infected by rabies and going on a murderous rampage. Other King outings posit evil in a slightly more abstract form, and that's the case in Christine. While King's source novel had a bit more "tangible" form of this evil (that being the spirit of a demented former owner of the car), in the film the bright red 1957 Plymouth Fury named Christine is bad to the bone (and/or grille) even as she rolls down the assembly line.

There's something just a little intentionally provocative about this plot conceit, given Americans' overt love affairs with their cars. This love is depicted as outright obsession in Christine, when nerdy teenager Arnie (Keith Gordon) stumbles on the ruined wreck of the car (in the 1970s) and decides he must have "her". His best friend, football jock Dennis (John Stockwell), tells him he must be crazy, and as Dennis will soon find out, that's a bit of an understatement. Christine has a mind of her own, and as Arnie begins restoring her, she "reaches out and touches" Arnie, sucking him into a new, cockier identity.

The film plays almost like the flip side of a John Hughes comedy, with high school bullies getting their comeuppance (and then some) at the hands of a car who (which?) has "decided" Arnie is her new partner and all others be damned. The film is notable in that, aside from one or two outright shock sequences, the horror here is not especially graphic. In fact, the film coasts much more on mood than anything that's actually depicted (again, with a couple of notable exceptions), which may be why it's both scary and weirdly charming.

I have several rather odd collecting habits, and at least a couple of them are extremely spendy. While I understand some people's aversion to paying a lot for something, on a certain level I have a kind of different attitude about the "limited edition" phenomenon, which is, "If you want it, get it. If it's too much, don't". Of course this may seem insensitive to those who don't have a lot of pocket change lying around to spend considerable dough on an expensive release, and it also doesn't take into account the incredibly fast sell out that Christine experienced, which obviously caught a lot of people by surprise, leaving them to have to deal with incredibly expensive after market sellers (take a gander at the Amazon Marketplace prices listed above, but have your defibrillator handy). Does Christine intrinsically deserve this market adulation? Who's to say? A fan is a fan, and those with the wherewithal (either financial or internet accessibility wise) to secure this release probably couldn't care less what some mere critic might think. But the fact is, this is a rather breezy film with a piquant sense of humor, and for a King-based outing, it's surprisingly gore and even violence free, with hints of mayhem offered at least as much as any overt destruction. Carpenter directs with some unexpected grace in this film, and the performances are all relatively nuanced (or at least as nuanced as they can be given the kind of cartoonish ambience of the movie). This Blu-ray offers spectacular video, excellent audio and some wonderful supplements, and it comes Highly recommended.

[CSW] -3.1- Surprisingly, this John Carpenter horror movie wasn't particularly embraced by audiences or critics at the time of it's release. But in retrospect, this Stephen King novel-to-screen adaptation is one of the best for both men. An adolescent revenge tale at heart, this film is perhaps best remembered for it's dark and creepy atmosphere, it's suspenseful moments and the angst-filled interactions between the film's high school protagonist and those who chastise him. The car scenes are sufficiently satisfying, fulfilling the promises of revenge set up early on. Good acting, good FX and a musical score that matches the suspense make this memorable.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.

º º