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7
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5 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
Arnie
Cunningham is your typical all-American high school
dork. Consistently bossed around by his parents
and humiliated by his peers, he undergoes a radical
transformation when he buys a beat-up '58 Plymouth
and starts refurbishing it. He becomes more confident,
loses his geeky appearance and takes on a cocky
attitude —
at the same time, he becomes obsessed with his
car, whom he calls "Christine"...
After the critical and financial
failure of his high-tech version of The
Thing (1982), John Carpenter's career was
in a state of crisis. He was fired from Universal's
adaptation of Stephen King's Firestarter
and became fearful that he would never get another
job offer. Thus, when Columbia Pictures invited
him to helm their adaptation of another King story,
he jumped at the chance. By Carpenter's own admission,
he was very badly wounded by the reception of
The Thing, which
he knew in his heart to be a good film that delivered
what was promised. His mind wracked by the ordeal,
he approached Christine
very much as a gun for hire, effectively distancing
himself from the material, perhaps hoping that
if it failed its reception would roll off his
back. Through the years, the director has referred
to it as a failure born of fear and creative frustration.
Therefore, it may come as a surprise to those
who have long dismissed the film to find out just
how good and accomplished a piece of work it really
is. Granted, the film never reaches the level
of intensity of Carpenter's best work (The
Thing, In
The Mouth of Madness (1995), Prince
of Darkness (1987), etc., etc.) but it works
very well in light of a premise that can charitably
be described as goofy. As a horror film, it is
never entirely successful simply because of its
premise —
it's just too sketchy and out there to take seriously.
Where it does succeed is in its depiction of the
characters and their relationships. A variation
on the theme established in King's Carrie,
it carries on the drama of a loser in high school
who takes revenge through supernatural forces.
Carpenter's evocation of the small town high school
milieu is perfectly rendered and never strikes
a false note. Similarly, Arnie's transition —
like the Nutty Professor into Buddy Cole —
is successful because Carpenter and Keith Gordon
take great pains to establish him as a real human
being, not a stereotype. One actually feels compassion
for him and can't help but derive a certain perverse
satisfaction from seeing him take revenge on the
sleazy bullies who previously tormented him. As
usual, Carpenter employs mobile Panavision camerawork
to tremendous effect —
one senses the presence of a true filmmaker from
the very beginning, a 1950s prologue in which
the camera swoops through a car shop and introduces
us to the vehicle of the title. For what it's
worth, he also handles the various "shock" scenes
with force and authority —
for example, the scene in which one of the punks
is chased down a dark, deserted road and left
as a charred piece of offal in Christine's vengeful
wake. Nevertheless, he never manages to quite
come to grips with the central conceit of a haunted
car, thus making it impossible for the film to
become a complete success, despite its many merits.
Among the pluses is a fine
cast. Keith Gordon (Dressed
To Kill, 1981, Back
To School, 1985) is ideal as Arnie, effectively
progressing from victimized dweeb to arrogant
sociopath. Alexandra Paul (later of TV's Baywatch)
is lovely and persuasive as Arnie's girlfriend,
one of the many strong-willed female characters
to grace Carpenter's work. Harry Dean Stanton
also does a nice job in a small role as a policeman
investigating the various murders, but it's Robert
Prosky and Roberts Blossom who get the best dialogue
in their respective "dirty old men" cameos. ("That's
the best smell in the world," Blossom says
of the scent of a new car, "except maybe for
pussy.") Carpenter also contributes a moody
electronic score that's interspersed with Christine's
signature tune, George Thorogood's "Bad to
the Bone". Decidedly second tier stuff from
a filmmaker capable of extraordinary things, but
it still rises head and shoulders above the many
dire films adapted from King's novel —
and despite Carpenter's claims to the contrary,
I disagree that he "fucked this one up."
|
|
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| Columbia
Tri-Star's DVD of Christine
is very much a bare-bones release, but is worth
purchasing in order to see the film in its proper
2.35:1 aspect ratio. A fullscreen version is also
included, but apart from checking it out to see
how poorly Carpenter's work translates to pan and
scan, it's not likely to get much play. The image
has not been enhanced for widescreen sets, so one
can hope that a special edition release will be
prepared somewhere down the line. Carpenter has
said he'd be willing to contribute a commentary,
so there's still hope. Extras are limited to the
effective theatrical trailer and sketchy talent
bios/filmographies of the principals.
12/24/03 |
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