It’s incredible that this movie works as well as it does. The appeal of Stephen King’s stories as film projects is how simply they can be pitched. Often, the title alone tells you what you need to know: Pet Cemetery, Thinner. Otherwise, it’s as simple as “telepathic prom queen gets revenge”, “big dog attacks”, “haunted hotel”, “haunted hotel room”. Christine is simply a killer car story on paper. That’s a simple sell. Like most King adaptations, there’s more to it than that. Christine is 1h50m and the car doesn’t even kill anyone until 1h5m. It’s much more a story about teenage rebellion and how that can change a person. The troubling change of Keith Gordon’s Arnie from nerd to badass almost overnight is the bigger threat. I’m a fan of horror that’s more discrete like that. It reminded me of Oculus. Just being around the car changed Arnie, not physically as much as in mannerisms.
John Carpenter brings a lot to this. I’ve never read a King novel, but I always get the sense with his adapted works that the amount that they are horror mostly depends on the director. They can all just as easily be thrillers with a Sci-Fi bend. Carpenter opts to make Christine horror. He does a great job building to Christine’s revenge tour. The first half of the film is all tone setting. When Christine does start killing people, it’s all uncanny. The effect of her repairing herself if so simple, cool, and unnerving. He manages to shoot Christine’s attacks with menace. It’s a minor miracle that it doesn’t just look silly. Christine is by no means a horror classic, but it’s a fine example of how any idea can work if the filmmaker just takes it seriously enough.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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