Year: 1983
Rated R
Rating: * * * stars
Cast: Keith Gordan, Harry Dean Stanton, John Stockwell
After churning out classics like Halloween, Escape From New York, and The Thing, director John Carpenter scored again with the effectively, unsettling Christine. Based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, this is a flick about a car (1957 red Plymouth Fury) possessed by evil spirits and the dorky teenager who's life steadily changes after he purchases it. Keith Gordan (no longer an actor, now a director) plays said character (Arnold Cunningham) extremely well. He does a 180 going from shy, self loathing high school geek to remorseless bad boy (basically he changes his persona as the car becomes more and more evil).
Despite plot holes that come in small doses, an underutilized Harry Dean Stanton (he does great supporting work as detective Rudy Junkins) and a final 15 minutes that drag a bit, this is still incredibly solid direction from Carpenter. The soundtrack (which he also wrote) is eerie synthesizer magic and most of the players in the main cast, have a hard, cynical edge to them. Based on the aforementioned attributes, this film for me, is quintessential 80's horror fare. Look for the scene in which Christine repairs herself after being vandalized by nasty high school bullies. It gives new meaning to the term "show me."
Written by Jesse Burleson
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