Christine poster & wallpaper

Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul

A nerdish boy buys a strange car with a evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it. John Carpenter brings Stephen King's best selling novel to life in this chilling thriller.

Flixster Users

64% liked it

56,604 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

21 critics

R, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: John Carpenter

Release Date: June 1, 1983

Invite friends to see

Get It:

Stats: 2,082 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

The new CCC jacket The Christine Car Club meets the stars from the movie Christine My Avatar on Christine Car Club Christine Christine [1983] Christine Christine christine-the ending John Stockwell in christine 1984 The Christine Car Club at the All-Chrysler Nationals. christine Christine Stu Charno (Don Vandenburg) and William Ostrander (Biddy Repperton) from the 1983 Movie Christine. Christine Christine Christine
Upload a Photo |

View All Christine Photos (16)

Your Rating


clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (2,082)

  • SirPant
    September 8, 2009
    SirPant
    Not a great adaptation from Carpenter but then it is one of the most overrated books of all time. Quotable but not scary.
  • stopitgoaway
    July 27, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    There are no words that can truly describe the power and passion of Christine.

    Anyone who owns an older car will be able to associate with the obsession that takes over nerdish Arnie's life when he restores Christine, the beautiful Plymouth Fury.

    John Carpenter's excellent dire...( read more)cting brings the car to life to such a point where as you're watching, you become so entranced that you forget she isn't alive.

    The actors are well chosen for the roles they play, and give excellent performances. This, accompanied by excellent photography, special effects, timing and musical score make Christine a definite must-see movie.

    Please Note: The British TV edit cuts out some of the best scenes, so this movie is best seen on DVD or video.
  • kiriyamakazou
    March 28, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Stephen King and John Carpenter teaming up? Excellent. Although the film is pretty successful, it doesn't match the horror or thrill levels you would expect from these two greats. It DOES, amazingly, make you forget that you are watching a film about a killer CAR. Never camp, but...( read more) sometimes comical, the credit can go to the pairing of the car with Keith Gordon. Gordon manages to go from Geek to Badass with a convincing performance. He also brings out rather odd chemistry between himself and the car. Also it's nice to see a Jock and a Geek start out as friends and work on that dynamic. The soundtrack is also perfect and always brings a sinister smile along whenever the radio kicks in.
  • FangsFirst
    May 31, 2008
    FangsFirst
    I've seen a slew of Stephen King films in the past year, despite having outgrown his writing some years ago. The titles of most of his books and many of his stories are ingrained for me, like with many other people in the modern world. A theoretical understanding of the value or ...( read more)quality of his works--and comparative lack thereof when it comes to adaptations--is also seemingly omnipresent, though one that I go against the grain on--not because I can, but because I simply feel that way. I tend to like more of the adaptations than I am "supposed" to, and fewer of the books than I am expected to. I bought this movie for two simple and possibly ridiculous reasons: first, I wanted a ticket to see 30 Days of Night (looking at the date of this review should tell you just how long it then takes me to get around to watching the movies I buy), and second, I wanted to up the John Carpenter content of my DVD collection. I have faith in the man to make an entertaining flick even when faced with monstrous scripts or incompetent actors (see: Ghosts of Mars). I ignored the middling to negative response to the film and simply made my own go of it on my own time, which is my preferred way of seeing movies (private home viewings can be helpful with this attitude as well, preventing the knowing sniggers of those familiar and the attempts to seem "cool" and deride many films by the unfamiliar also absent).

    Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) is a nerd. Pretty much your standard movie nerd: picked on by the bullies, wears unhip clothing, glasses, has controlling parents and no luck with women, which leads to an overactive libido. Somewhat unusually, his best friend is Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell), who is a pretty good looking kid, and a football player. Nothing is made of this, and I was pleased with the movie for that much of it this characterization. He and Dennis are driving home after a particularly nasty bullying by Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander--nice 'chops, Bill), they happen to drive past a rusting, dilapidated 1958 Plymouth Fury, which Arnie cannot resist. He quickly buys it from the previous owner, George LeBay (Roberts Blossom--yes, Deranged's "Ezra Cobb") and begins rebuilding it in the garage of one Will Darnell (Robert Prosky, who is Gremlins 2's "Grandpa Fred" to me, forever and ever). He seemingly disappears from sight, beginning to rebel more and more against his parents, dressing differently and becoming more aggressive, even winning the hand of Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul). Surprised by this at the wrong time, Dennis is nearly crippled in a football game, and watches from his bed as the occasionally-visiting Arnie slowly becomes more and more obsessed with his new car, named Christine. He confronts LeBay, only to find that LeBay's brother, the real previous owner, died seemingly at the very hands of his car. It's rather too late though, as the conflict with Buddy Repperton reaches greater proportions, his gang* managing to completely destroy and deface Christine, leading the car and Arnie to take murderous revenge, leading to a race to save him from the car's influence.

    I've never read Christine (does that sound familiar, to those of you who have read, well, many of my reviews--but especially the Stephen King variety?) so I cannot compare the two, nor do I particularly want to. This is a horror film from my favourite decade for horror films (well, film in general, but especially horror). There's a wonderful feeling of studios being behind horror films in the 80s, of giving them budget enough to do whatever they want, or close enough to it. John Carpenter knows how to shoot, knows how to film, how to light and how to score, and these things congeal into a very entertaining, if unspectacular, horror film. As I've said before, the sharp drop between the number of comedy films in the world to the number of horror films, let alone the percentage of decent ones, tends to make me easy to please in some capacity when it comes to these films. I don't know that I necessarily lower my expectations, but they seem more smoothly in line with my desires for a viewing experience, and this is no exception. It's not amazing or great, but it does it's job and does it well.

    And hey, Harry Dean Stanton plays the cop nemesis to Arnie. That's enough by itself.

    *If anyone else sees Buddy's gang, especially Trelawney (Steven Tash), and thinks, "I'll tell you what the effect is, IT'S PISSING ME OFF!"--you win brownie points with me for totally random associations and memory.
  • SilentWarProductions2009
    December 4, 2007
    SilentWarProductions2009
    Directed by: John Carpenter.
    Starring: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul.

    Out of many of my friends on my list, alot them have it as 'not interested', my curiosity is why? As many know this is directed by none other then John Carpenter.

    Wh...( read more)at helps to make this a step above films more recent like these is its great execution, faith to its source material and an injection of life into one of its leading characters. When you get a film like this, you would automatically think it is silly that its about a killer car, I'd have to agree with you that the premise is silly, but it depends on what angle it is played at and how it is executed....Christine is one of those rare classics that works. For a majority of the film we are introduced to Christine, a beautiful red 1958 Plymouth Fury that stood out on its production line, throughout the film we learn briefly about the history of Christine and we see her ways up until the end of the film, that injection of life into this character is what I enjoy about films focused on something that isn't flesh and bone, it shows talent when you can do something like that and make it believable. John Carpenter was a great choice for a project like this, especially when he is a man who does really well at focusing on the protagonist, he executes the film extremely well and shows great control. The special effects are shockingly brilliant, first time I saw this I was expecting some cheesy special effects when Christine rebuilds herself but I was wrong, it is very, very impressive for its day. The acting is not really anything to jump up and down about, although I did like Keith Gordon's turn with his character, the rest of the leads are quite new and mediocre.

    There was one thing I wanted from the film, I wanted it to be a little darker and meaner, to give the main character a bit more of a scarier edge. But aside from that the film will remain a classic and like Halloween, is one of John Carpenters best.
  • ythelastman89
    November 17, 2009
    ythelastman89
    Just about the best Stephen King adaption out there along with The Shining. John Carpenter was able to take this story seriously and make it believable, something nearly impossible to do in the 80s. It's a great dramatic piece as well as a horror. Arnie is great because he's comp...( read more)letely relateable and you can feel his slip into obsession all the more closely. The music choices were great and definitely creepier than one would expect.
  • TheMichiganMauler
    November 2, 2009
    TheMichiganMauler
    When told the plot about this movie, I could see why many people would shrug their shoulders and not give the movie a chance. But, in all honesty, this is a great film. Another one of those great 80s horror flicks that was cast and filmed as well as it probably could've been. Hig...( read more)hly entertaining. You find yourself siding with the hero who turns into a villain. Fun for the whole family!
  • jackgbowman
    October 26, 2009
    jackgbowman
    john carpenter and stephen king
    another great combo.
  • Epicouros
    October 25, 2009
    Epicouros
    our friend John Carpenter , makes an easy film , but nothing more ....many people liked it cause the car is a nice american car .
    and the question is .....could all these happen to a Volvo car ? lolololol
  • Arianeta
    October 25, 2009
    Arianeta
    Christine is a 1983 horror film about a supernaturally malevolent automobile and its effects on the teenager who owns it, adapted from a novel written by Stephen King. The film was directed by John Carpenter, and set in 1978. Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon), a typical mild manner...( read more)ed high school nerd with only one friend, a childhood companion named Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell), a popular jock. Arnie's life begins to change when he discovers Christine, a red 1958 Plymouth Fury in serious need of repair. Arnie begins to restore Christine to her original beauty, but as he spends more and more of his time repairing her, those in his life notice that he is changing as well...
    When you have in the same movie two horror kings director Carpenter and writer Stephen King the results are great. A very interesting viewing movie which has some nicely atmospheric sequences and creepy scenes when the cherry-red 1958 Plymouth Fury, takes on a personality of its own as a homicidally jealous female who is willing to kill to preserve the affections of its owner, a put-upon teenage nerd. Tight editing and some decent scares make this one of the better King adaptations. Absolute perfect choice for a Sunday night movie!!! Three "survivors" of the many red-and-white 1958
    Plymouth Fury stunt cars used in Christine now reside in private hands, one in California, one in Florida and one in England.

View All Christine Reviews

Critic Reviews

October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is the kind of movie where you walk out with a silly grin, get in your car, and lay rubber halfway down the Eisenhower. full review

View more Christine reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • Muktidaya
    April 26, 2009
    Muktidaya
    hehe i like it!
  • ChristineCarClub
    December 29, 2008
    ChristineCarClub
    Hello again,

    I just wanted to let you know that our website http://www.ChristineCarClub.com and our Myspace Page http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=436872460 are up and running now so stop on by and say hello.

    Cheers,

    Chuck
  • ChristineCarClub
    December 13, 2008
    ChristineCarClub
    Hello Everyone,

    I never knew there were more Christine fans out there. I just wanted to invite everyone to www.PlymouthCentral.com (and www.ChristineCarClub.com which is currently being upgraded) and click on the Forum section in the left hand column. The Christine Car Club is a place to talk about the movie and book while enjoying a great hobby of restoring 1958 and 1957 Plymouths. You don't need a car to join... this is a place for all fans of a great book and film. :) (And it's a FREE club) The Christine Car Club is also the home of two surviving stunt cars from the movie. :) See the actors and stunt cars at http://ccc.informe.com/forum/. Sent me a pm or see you there!!
  • dalillady24
    April 9, 2008
    dalillady24
    I dont know about a sequel,but I have read the book,and I would really like to see someone remake the movie to the way Stephen King wrote it.This film left out a whole lot of the original content such as; character personalities,plot-necessary information,sequence of events,events themselves which would have explained alot to the average person and so on.If you have seen this movie,then you should read the book and watch the movie again.I loved the movie very much,but the book is sooo much better.
  • julesbaumgartner
    July 10, 2007
    julesbaumgartner
    THAT'S ONE WICKED CAR....LOVED IT!
  • pugfan2006
    May 22, 2007
    pugfan2006
    this is the best movie ever
  • tobedeleted
    May 8, 2007
    tobedeleted
    this is my fave movie of all time!i loved it,but now i want to read the book!
  • rockinmexican666
    February 16, 2007
    rockinmexican666
    Rumors of a sequel have been going around... anyone know about it?
  • spetcucristian
    January 23, 2007
    spetcucristian
    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
  • ilovebelairs1957
    October 13, 2006
    ilovebelairs1957
    I heard there was a tv remake of Christine but i never saw it, has anyone else heard of it?
Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Official Trailer

View Larger Christine Trailer

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • The Shining
    The Shining (57%)
  • 1408
    1408 (69%)
  • Carrie
    Carrie (70%)
  • The Exorcist
    The Exorcist (62%)

More Movies like Christine

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Christine : Watch Free on TV

Christine Trivia

  • Which Stephen King movie is about a killer car?  Answer »
  • in the movie 'christine', is the name christine given to a:  Answer »
  • In which movie are both Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor in?  Answer »
  • what type of car was used in the movie christine  Answer »
More Christine Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Christine Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Christine to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

PC79 Skin by PC79
40 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins