Christine Reviews

This slick, well-made, but strangely uninvolving horror film from John Carpenter stars a killer Plymouth Fury that has a will of its own. CHRISTINE's strong first half paints an insightful portrait of modern high school life as seen through the eyes of an unpopular nerd, Arnie (Keith Gordon). The status-seeking teen finally makes a bid for independence by getting himself a hip car, which he names Christine. Unfortunately, the car is demonically possessed and begins to take over its owner's personality. Up to this point the movie is fine, but the last half of the film degenerates into a tedious and repetitious car chase in which the driverless (?) Plymouth runs down all of Arnie's enemies (shades of THE CAR). Robert Prosky is fine as the crotchety garage owner; Harry Dean Stanton is totally wasted in a thankless part that could have been played by an extra. The special effects by which the car heals itself are impressive but much too long. Basically, 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.