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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Christine" is a high-octane
horror/thriller about a Plymouth Fury with a mind
of her own. Based on Stephen King's best seller,
director John Carpenter transforms King's creepy
prose into a disturbingly good film. It's amazing
how much pure evil personality he gets out of that
car.
The film stars Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham, a
bookish high school nobody who's belittled and
controlled at home by an over-possessive mother
(Christine Belford) and weak paternal figure
(Robert Darnell) and taunted at school by the
local bully, Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander).
Arnie's one salvation is his friendship with jock,
Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell) and his burgeoning
lust for Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul). However, as
the film progresses it becomes obvious to all that
there's just something a little bit not right
about Arnie's devotion to "Christine." After Arnie
buys the run down vehicle and spends every waking
moment and dollar to fix her up, Buddy and his
gang defile the car during one night of unbridled
vandalism. That "Christine" refuses to remain a
wreck is the result of her love for Arnie and her
all consuming hatred for anyone who gets between
them. Watch out -- this is one mean automobile.
Road and Track has nothing on this babe! John
Carpenter's direction is both reserved and slick;
teasing the viewer with maniacal pacing that
really builds the film's thrills and chills to a
magnificent crescendo. In the process, he creates
a personality for an inanimate object that is
absolutely terrifying and believable on the
screen.
Columbia TriStar made "Christine" previously
available on DVD. This new special edition
represents the exact same video and audio quality
as its predecessor, adding three new and
informative featurettes, an audio commentary by
Carpenter and a theatrical trailer to the mix. The
add ons are worth a repurchase. As for the film
itself, the anamorphic transfer is remarkably
smooth with bright, vivid colors, nicely rendered
fine detail and very rich and solid blacks.
There's very little in the way of either edge
enhancement or pixelization for a generally smooth
visual quality. Occasionally there is a hint of
film grain but this is not distracting. The audio
is 5.1 and very aggressive for a film of this
vintage. |
