With this significant change, John Carpenter’s “Christine” is an improvement over Stephen King’s book

Few authors have shaped the film industry as much as Stephen King With dozens of novels spanning decades and countless film adaptations of his works, King has become one of the most influential voices in contemporary horror literature both in book form and on screen. Some of his film adaptations have become cinematic masterpieces, such as The glow, The ConvictsAnd The green mile. In 2017 It became the highest-grossing horror film of all time (before inflation). These are impressive feats, but particularly notable is the period in the 1970s and 1980s when King’s works were taken up by experienced genre directors for relatively small, tight and exciting adaptations.

In 1976 Brian DePalma successfully brought Carrie to the screen, the first King film adaptation and still one of the best. 1983 David Cronenberg took over The death zoneand just two months later, the monumental master of genre cinema, John Zimmermannadjusted Christine. Christinebased on King’s novel published in the same year, is about a nerdy high school student named Arnie (Keith Gordon), who owns a mysterious car that has a tendency to injure or kill anyone who gets in its way. The film was well received upon its release and was moderately successful, but has become one of the better King adaptations. While the film mostly stays true to the basic story of King’s novel, one major change streamlined the story and expanded on the cryptic lore surrounding the killer car’s origins.

Christine

Release date

May 11, 1983

Pour

Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton, Christine Belford

Duration

110

slogan

How do you kill something that can’t possibly be alive?

Expand

How did John Carpenter’s “Christine” change the origins of the car?

The main difference between Carpenter’s and King’s versions of Christine depends on the origin of the car. In King’s novel, the car’s backstory is revealed in great detail. Christine is said to be possessed by the vengeful spirit of a previous owner, Roland LeBay. It’s a grandiose decision that leads the novel down some long detours. The book delves into LeBay’s past, how his spirit got into the car, and how it all affects Arnie’s life. Arnie is essentially consumed by LeBay and even begins a transformation into LeBay by the end of the story.

1:33

Related

This cosmic horror film perfectly combines Lovecraft with John Carpenter

Few films capture the atmosphere of Lovecraft’s cosmic horror stories as well as this one.

In the screenplay for Carpenter’s film adaptation, written by Bill PhillipsLeBay is left out of the story. Instead Christine is simply portrayed as a car that was “born bad” the minute she rolled off the assembly line. The film opens with a sequence that makes this clear, as Christine walks through the factory where she was being assembled, injuring two auto workers and killing one of them. The film avoids addressing the question of how or why Christine became the way she is. Carpenter keeps the origins of evil a mystery. The decision to conceal Christine’s origins serves the storyin many ways.

“Christine’s film backstory is even scarier than in the book”

Anyone who reads a lot knows the pain of seeing a film adaptation mutilate a great novel. But it is also about Elements need to be changed when a story is transferred from the page to the screenEvery medium has its advantages and disadvantages and ultimately it is normal to sacrifice some of the breadth of a novel in favor of a filmed story. Christine The film is over 500 pages long and runs under two hours, so Carpenter was faced with the challenge of retaining as much of the plot as possible without making a film that was too pretentious for its own good.

The biggest change Carpenter makes Christine’s cinematic background tightens up the story considerablyBy cutting out LeBay, the film doesn’t have to offer extensive flashbacks explaining how and why Christine became evil. It’s a good choice, both in terms of runtime and in terms of the film’s focus on the main characters, particularly the friendship dynamic that is destroyed by Christine’s influence on Arnie. The film already does some difficult character work, as Gordon has to play Arnie with two different personalities – one is a nerdy, well-behaved kid and the other is a crass, rude, angry human being. Arnie’s transformation is gradual, and his story arc is better when he is not possessed by LeBay. The mysterious nature of the car’s influence on Arnie adds to the horror of the premise.

As with many horror works, Sometimes the best way to really experience a story is to leave things to our imagination.. The cryptic, surreal quality of a car built simply to hurt and kill, with no indication of why, is a terrifying concept. Not explaining it could leave audiences with questions, but because the film rushes by without thinking about the “how,” it allows audiences to accept the premise of an evil car without pause. Christine’s nature is a mystery, but it indicates an otherworldly quality of evil that is entirely immaterial – an idea that actually feels more at home in a Stephen King work than in a ghostly possession. Some of King’s greatest works are about how evil takes on such large, surreal forms that are unfathomable, and Carpenter’s Christine implements this idea brilliantly.

Stephen King was not a fan of John Carpenter’s “Christine”

King has been vocal about his dislike for some of the film adaptations of his works. In the foreword to the book version of Dreamcatcher‘s script, King wrote that he had Christine be a failure and a “boring” film. It should be noted that he said the same about The glow in this very passage. King’s delicate relationship with some of his film adaptations has been known for years, and his own opinions can sometimes clash with the critical consensus. For the fans, Christine is one of the more underrated films. Two of the most famous and beloved characters in the horror genre each bring their own ideas to the table and the result is a lean, nasty thriller that respects the source material while finding the best way to adapt the story into a film. Christine slips through the cracks as it’s not one of King’s or Carpenter’s best films, but that just goes to show the standard by which these two personalities are held, and how grateful we should be that this film brought their visions together.

Christine can be rented or purchased from Amazon in the USA

View on Amazon