John Carpenter’s “Christine” is a slow-burn horror movie about a car that wants to kill you. It is also a coming-of-age story about a nerdy high schooler named Arnie Cunningham who buys a sentient 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine and lets it change him completely. The film is based on Stephen King’s 1983 novel and was released in the United States on December 9, 1983, by Columbia Pictures.
Keith Gordon plays Arnie, a bullied teenager who buys Christine from the home of George LeBay, played by Roberts Blossom. The car was built in Detroit in 1957, where it slammed its hood shut on a worker’s hand and killed another worker who dropped cigar ash on its seats. That history hangs over the whole film, and it pays off in the final act.
Trailer, via Park Circus.
The Car
Christine is the real villain here. The film spends its middle stretch letting Arnie restore the car at a local garage owned by the gruff Will Darnell, played by Robert Prosky. As Arnie works, the car starts to speak to him through its radio, playing 1950s rock and roll. The sound design is simple but effective, and it sets a tone that the film leans on heavily.
The car’s influence is visible in Arnie’s behavior. He grows confident, then arrogant, and the film watches his friendships fray around him. His girlfriend Leigh, played by Alexandra Paul, and his best friend Dennis, played by John Stockwell, try to reach him. They get a Fury like no other.
The Cast
The casting choices matter. Gordon brings a quiet intensity to Arnie that holds the film together. He was working in theater at the time and had appeared in Jaws 2, though his performance here is more restrained than that. Stockwell was cast at an audition in Los Angeles.
Paul’s Leigh is described as a new student who has rejected all her other admirers at school. The film gives her little beyond that, but the source material is thin on her characterization. The role was initially offered to Brooke Shields, who was fresh off The Blue Lagoon. Carpenter and his team declined that choice, settling on young actors who were still unknown.
LeBay’s Confession
Dennis confronts LeBay, who discloses that his late brother was also obsessed with Christine, his five-year-old niece choked to death in the car, and his sister-in-law and later his brother both committed suicide in it. That weight is carried through the film’s final act.
The Middle Stretch
The film slows down in its middle stretch, and some viewers will find that frustrating. The restoration scenes, while necessary to set up the car’s influence, do not move the story forward quickly enough. The film is 110 minutes long, and that pacing issue is most noticeable in the middle third.
But the payoff arrives. When Christine finally speaks and acts on its own, the film snaps back into focus. The scares are real, and the film earns them through the patient setup it built earlier.
A Solid, Flawed Film
“Christine” is not a great film. It is a solid one, with a strong premise and a capable cast that gets underused in some stretches. The car is genuinely unsettling.
The film’s weakness is structural. It takes too long to get to the point, and some characters are given less depth than the story demands. But the core idea — a car that corrupts its owner — is strong enough to carry the film.
The Film’s Legacy
“Christine” remains a solid entry in Carpenter’s catalog. It is a film that rewards patience and punishes impatience. It is not a great film, but it is a good one.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Release date | December 9, 1983 |
| Current year | 2026 |
| Years since release | 42 |
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