13 Facts Your PROBABLY Didn't Know About John Carpenter's CHRISTINE (1983)
Once she lures you behind her wheel...You're all hers.
Today marks the 38th anniversary for John Carpenter’s adaptation of Stephen King novel, Christine. If you’re not too familiar with the film, here’s a brief plot summary for ya.
Plot Summary…
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. - Via IMDB.
The original trailer for the flick had a pretty cool twist to it and you can check that out below.
On to the list!
The Film Didn’t Deserve An ‘R’ Rating…But They Made Sure IT Got It!
According to Bill Phillips on the DVD documentary, the movie technically didn't have enough violence to justify an "R" rating. But they were afraid that if the movie went out with a PG rating (PG-13 didn't exist yet) nobody would go to see it. So he purposely inserted the word "fuck" and its derivatives in order to get the "R" rating. He then recalls that they were criticized at the time for their use of the word.
John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN Shares The Same Neighborhood.
Portions of the film, particularly Arnie's neighborhood, were shot in the same South Pasadena neighborhood that John Carpenter used in Halloween (1978).
A Big Chunk Of The Budget Went Into The Cars.
15% of the budget was just on the cars. By the end of filming, all but 2 were destroyed.
According to the filmmakers in the DVD documentary, 28 Plymouth "Furys" (which in reality were Belvederes or Savoys) were purchased and restored for the film. A few were "showcase" cars that were used whenever Christine is just sitting there "looking pretty" or whenever Arnie is driving her. There were "hot rod" versions with souped up engines and airplane landing lights for the headlights for Christine's rampages. And there were "junked" and "shell" cars for the versions of Christine in disrepair or for her "death" scene. There is one way to tell which cars are the showcase hot rod cars and the stunt cars: if you look at the under grill beneath Christine's front bumper, the showcase cars have a chrome under grill while the stunt cars have a red painted under grill.
John Carpenter Doesn’t Do Premiers.
John Carpenter refused to go to the premiere because of a superstition. "When I go to premieres, something bad always happens."
The Screenwriter Thought The Idea Was A Joke.
Screenwriter Bill Phillips thought it was a joke when he was asked to adapt a book about a killer car. Halfway through reading Stephen King's novel, Phillips realized it was really good and signed on.
The Female Lead Had A Twin That Gets Featured In The Film.
Alexandra Paul pranked John Carpenter by having her twin sister dress as Leigh and report to the set. Carpenter recalled, "It was like ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ and Alexandra was a pod person." Ironically, they accidentally filmed part of one scene with the twin and kept it in the movie.
Fans Of The Film Who Own A Replica Of The Car Get Together Every Year.
Christine lives on with fans of the movie: there are 2 clubs for fans who own Christine clones and the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals give an award every year to the best Christine look-alike.
MAIMUM OVERDRIVE and CHRISTINE Share A Cosmetic Feature To Their Vehicles.
In the scenes where Christine is autonomous a green hue is visible to indicate her sentience. This is also visible in Maximum Overdrive (1986) in the scene where a green hue is seen in the night sky. Both are works of Stephen King.
John Carpenter Was Working On Another Stephen King Adaptation Before Christine.
Before being offered the film, John Carpenter was working on adapting another Stephen King novel, "Firestarter". It was eventually made as Firestarter (1984)
Christine Had Some Suped Up Headlights.
To achieve Christine's very bright headlights, two 12 volt batteries were used. Unfortunately, this caused the headlights to burn out frequently.
CARRIE And CHRISTINE Share Some Similarities.
There are many similarities to the film Carrie, released 7 years earlier. In both movies the main character is a high school outcast who is a target of bullies, the main character becomes possessed by a supernatural force, and finally the main character uses the supernatural force to kill off their enemies.
The Car’s Were Modified With Blacked Out Windows, These Caused More Problems.
When Christine hunts down the members of Buddy Repperton's gang, her windows are blacked out. This is presumably to give Christine a "sinister" appearance, but also, more practically, to conceal the stunt driver. However, this reportedly made it difficult for the driver to see, since these scenes were all filmed at night.
The Book Origin For CHRISTINE Is Very Different From The Film.
According to the movie, Christine was evil from the day she rolled off the assembly line, injuring an inspector and killing another worker who dropped cigar ashes on her seat. In the book, Christine was just a normal '58 Plymouth Fury that was purchased by Roland LeBay, brother of George LeBay (Roberts Blossom), the man who sold Christine to Arnie in the movie. It's Roland LeBay who made Christine evil, his love for Christine overriding even his love for his wife and daughter, both of whom died in the car. Thus, Roland's evil spirit became one with Christine. In both the movie and the book, Christine could drive herself and repair any damage so long as she was kept moving. When Roland died and with no one to love her and drive her around, Christine ceased "living" and began to show her age, until Arnie came along. Roland's evil spirit and love for Christine was then transferred to Arnie.
There ya have it, an evil car with a jealousy issue kills teens. Ya gotta love the simplicity of the plot and the sheer silliness of the idea. A staple for any 80s horror fan for sure.
