) is a 1983 American supernatural horror film co-scored and directed by John Carpenter and starring Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky and Harry Dean Stanton. The film also features supporting performances from Roberts Blossom and Kelly Preston.

John Carpenter’s Christine

Written by Bill Phillips and based on Stephen King’s 1983 novel of the same name, the movie follows the changes in the lives of Arnie Cunningham, his friends, his family, and his teenage enemies after he buys a classic red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine, a car that seems to have a mind of its own and a jealous, possessive personality, which has a bad influence on Arnie.

• CinemaClown
• Jul 10, 2017

Details

• Release date
• Country of origin
• Official site
• Language
• Also known as
  • John Carpenter’s Christine
• Filming locations
  • Calabasas High School – 22855 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas, California, USA(Football game scenes.)
• Production companies
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Box office

• Budget
  • $9,700,000 (estimated)
• Gross US & Canada
  • $21,017,849
• Opening weekend US & Canada
  • $3,408,904
  • Dec 11, 1983
• Gross worldwide
  • $21,045,293
• Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
• Sound mix
• Aspect ratio
  • 2.35 : 1

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• A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.
• In 1957, in Detroit, a red Plymouth Fury is built and is the cause of two accidents, one of them fatal, still in the assembly line. Twenty-one years later, the outcast and bullied nerd Arnold “Arnie” Cunningham is getting a ride with his best and only friend Dennis Guilder and he sees the wrecked car for sale in a garden. Arnie immediately falls in love with the car. The car was given the name Christine by its first owner. He brings the car to a repair shop of the despicable Will Darnell and works hard to restore the classic car. While he works in the restoration, he changes his personality to a cocky teenager and he dates the most beautiful girl in the high-school, Leigh Cabot. Soon Arnie becomes selfish and jealous of the supernatural Christine that kills everyone that is a threat to them.—Mitchell McCreath.
• Repeatedly singled out for his awkwardness, the unpopular and wimpy school nerd, Arnie Cunningham, finally finds solace in Christine–a once bright-red 1958 Plymouth Fury, and now a twenty-one-year-old rusty pile of junk. Determined to restore the classic car to its original condition, Arnie will alienate himself more and more from his already few friends, as a subtle, yet remarkable transformation takes place. But, who is this cocky new Arnie that has emerged from the ashes? Has Christine–the glossy metallic temptress–something to do with it, and the seemingly endless trail of warm blood in the peaceful town of Rockbridge?—Nick Riganas
• Highschool geek Arnie Cunningham falls in love with “Christine”, a bright red 1958 Plymouth Fury which has seen much better days. Setting himself the task of restoring the car to its original condition, his friends notice that the car is not the only thing that is changing. Arnie seems to spend more and more time with his car. He’s also developed a sort of cocky arrogance which does not seem like the real Arnie at all.—Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
• Arnie Cunningham is a typical high school nerd who is picked on, overruled by his parents, and has very few friends. Until he meets Christine, a run-down 1958 Plymouth Fury and buys her. Arnie learns that Christine has a thing for him and devotes his time to restoring her to mint condition. But overtime, Arnie begins to change and becomes disconnected with reality and his friends. Arnie’s girlfriend Leigh and best friend Dennis find out that Christine’s previous owner cared about nothing else when he bought her and find out that Arnie is becoming just like him.—Geoffrey A. Middleton {gamidd01@morehead-st.edu}
• It’s 1958 in Detroit. We are inside a car factory where numerous Plymouth Fury’s are being assembled. Among the rather plain-colored vehicles, one of them stands out: a bright-red one. During the process, this particular red car is being fussed about by one factory worker who has his hand injured when the vehicle’s hood comes down on it. Another factory worker takes a seat inside the vehicle; he will be found dead afterwords.Present day, September 16, 1978 in Northern California. Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) is a meek teenager who spends his weekends playing Scrabble with his parents (Christine Belford and Richard Darnell), who still treat him as a child. Arnie and his best friend Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell) are going to their school, as usual. Arnie is clumsy, and his black-rimmed glasses characterize him as being nerdy. Dennis is a football player, who still befriends Arnie and tries to stand up for him.During shop class, Arnie is bullied by several students led by Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander). Dennis tries to stop the bullies, but he can’t be all the time checking on weak Arnie. Today, Buddy stamps on Arnie’s sack-lunch and also breaks his glasses. When both Arnie and Dennis tell the shop teacher that Buddy had a switchblade in his possession when he teased Arnie, it looks that the only consequence will be bad for Arnie, as Boddy announces he will take his own back pretty soon.Arnie and Dennis start their way back to their homes. Arnie notices a used Plymouth Fury with a placard announcing “SOLD”. Supposedly, this is the same vehicle that we saw on the Detroit assembly line… only now it’s dirty, gritty, broken, with pieces peeling off or falling apart. In spite of everything, Arnie falls in love with this car. He immediately wants to buy it. The owner, George LeBay, tells the story of the car: he inherited it from his dead brother, Roland. The current owner also tells Arnie that the car has a name: Christine.Arnie drives Dennis home in his new car. Once at home, Arnie’s overprotective parents angrily start pestering him for having spent his money on a car without consulting them, and especially one in Christine’s wrecked condition. Arnie angrily shouts back that throughout his life, they haven’t allowed him to have something he truly wants, and that he is dead-set on keeping Christine. However, his parents refuse to have it parked in their driveway. Arnie decides to take it to a local junkyard garage run by an irritable middle-aged man named Will Darnell (Robert Prosky) for storage.Over the next several weeks, Arnie begins working on Christine whenever he has a bit of free time after school. He also starts to help Mr. Darnell around his garage. This was the first time when Arnie stood up to his parents. However, it’s not only about being against parental control. Dennis also notices a subtle change in Arnie, as he seems to be more assertive. Weirdly enough, Arnie has stopped using his eye glasses.During a football game, Dennis is shocked to see Arnie arrive in Christine, now fully-restored into a shining beautiful red car, but also along for the ride is the new student, Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul). The sight of the two of them together causes Dennis to make a mistake on the field as he’s tackled hard. This puts an end to Dennis’ football career – and to his ambitions for the future-, so he ends up recuperating in hospital, surrounded by medical paraphernalia.Meanwhile, Arnie continues to date Leigh. One night, he takes her to see a film at the drive-in; and there, Leigh confesses to Arnie that she thinks he’s moving too fast in their relationship. She also claims she feels unsettled when she is around Christine. During the movie, one of Christine’s windshield wipers becomes stuck, and Arnie gets out to fix it. As he does so, Leigh chokes on a hamburger and immediately, the door latches lock themselves! Arnie tries to get back into the car unsuccessfully. Basically, Leigh has to save herself when she manages to unlock the passenger door, and a nearby viewer who saw her struggling performs the Heimlich maneuver on her.Arnie then drives Leigh home. At her doorstep, she tells him that she won’t go anywhere in Christine again. There are weird things about the car, she says, like when only old songs can be reached through the radio aerial, but none of the local radio stations can be heard. Arnie then returns Christine to Darnell’s garage.After Arnie’s departure, Buddy Repperton and his thugs arrive, and they proceed to systematically destroy the car. Arnie sees the wreck done to Christine the following day and is shocked that all the work he had put into restoring the car has evaporated.Arnie suspects that Leigh was somehow responsible for the wreck. He is getting into trouble as home as well, as his temper is radically changed. His parents notice the acute change in him and they comment that they want the old Arnie to come back. The long Scrabble nights are over, and Arnie has one big row with his father. But more and more, Arnie can only think of one matter: he wants to restore Christine to its full beauty again.Next day, first thing he does is going to the salvage garage to re-start work on Christine. Determined, he looks for his tools. Turning his back on Christine, he hears the crinkling of metal behind him. Arnie looks at Christine startled, and he realizes that, part of her engine is now repaired as if by magic. Arnie doesn’t look startled anymore, and he encourages Christine to restore herself in front of him. The car flicks her headlights on, and obediently, there is suddenly mayhem: pieces are moving to their original position, the hood dusts itself off, the aerial strengthens up, buttons and seats start mending themselves and end up being shiny as brand new. The living malevolent car has the power to regenerate.A more-determined Arnie goes back to high school life. Nobody dares to touch him now. At night, Christine comes to life by herself and she seeks out and gruesomely kills each gang member who took part in destroying her. He runs after them. Eventually, Christine arrives at a gas station, spilling gasoline, setting it on fire so that the building becomes debris and ashes. Christine catches fire herself, but that doesn’t stop her