| CHRISTINE definitely deserves a special edition
release. I’ve always felt since seeing it in the theater in 1983 that it has some of
the best acting I’ve seen in a horror film. The two lead actors went on to become
directors; Keith Gordon and John Stockwell. It is one of John Carpenter’s top six
films and even Stephen King has recently admitted that it gets better with time. King
originally hated the film but is now finally seeing the light. I really enjoyed
listening to the Audio Commentary by John Carpenter and Keith Gordon. Like most Carpenter
commentaries the mood is relaxed but for this one he is able to bounce directorial
questions off the star of his film Gordon. It’s cool hearing their directing
approaches, while at the same time commenting on the making of CHRISTINE.
Carpenter admits that he was late for the opening Detroit automobile factory scene
because he was pulled
over and had to take a Breathalyzer test. Keith Gordon says that he never became buddies
with John Stockwell
probably because there was some competition between them. John Carpenter says that his
movies usually work
out better if he does not attend the premiere of his films. Gordon says that Carpenter ran
a fun set; which
is something Gordon tries to do when making his own films. Both Carpenter and Gordon
say that actress
Alexandra Paul is one of the sweetest people they've ever worked with. Carpenter remembers
that John
Stockwell had a difficult time throwing a hard punch when doing the fight scene in the
high school machine
shop. Carpenter also points out that Bill Ostrander (Buddy Repperton) looks a lot like
John Travolta. While listening to this part of the commentary, I realized that the redhead
actor Stuart Charno (Vandenberg) was also in FRIDAY THE 13th - PART 2. Carpenter mentions
that while they were shooting the beginning of Moochie's death scene, Sam Raimi visited
the set after just finishing THE EVIL DEAD. Gordon says it was cool that they blacked out
CHRISTINE's windows because you could never tell if the car was driving without a driver
or Arnie was behind the wheel. I was surprised to hear that Robert Prosky (Will Darnell)
was nothing like the character he was playing. Carpenter states that he used the Panaglide
a bit differently on the film; he used it more like a dolly. Gordon says that he cannot
draw so he doesn't storyboard his films so he just writes out all shooting preparation.
Carpenter tells a funny story about Alexandra Paul's twin sister appearing on the set
unannounced. All in all you should have a great time listening to these two filmmakers
reminiscence.
Arnie Cunningham a high school nerd who has never had a girlfriend falls in love with a
1958 Plymouth Fury named CHRISTINE. To Dennis (John Stockwell) the old car is a piece of
crap but to Arnie he sees her hidden
beauty so he buys her and takes her on as his girl. As Arnie restores the old car, it
transforms him at the
same time making him more confident and even cocky. Arnie becomes so sure of himself he
starts dating the
new girl at school Leigh (Alexandra Paul). But the female competition doesn't sit well
with CHRISTINE as
jealousy burns hot. CHRISTINE carries out violence to all those who do wrong to Arnie and
she even tries to
get rid of Leigh while the two our on a date at the drive-in. Can Dennis & Leigh save
Arnie and get rid of
CHRISTINE at the same time?
It’s interesting to note that after the death in the opening scene, the next death
does not come until 1 hour and 2 minutes into the film, proving that the focus of this
film is the characters, which goes along with my thoughts that this is a horror film all
about the acting. The 1958 Plymouth Fury is certainly one of the main characters in the
film and producer Richard Kobritz amazingly gathered 24 cars that were used in the film.
But the car is not really the engine driving the story. It’s the dynamics of the
characters and the performances by the actors that elevate CHRISTINE.
Deleted Scenes features 26 minutes of scenes not used in the film, which is way
more footage than normal found in these kind of supplements. I did like the scene with
Dennis (John Stockwell) and Leigh (Alexandra Paul) kissing at the hamburger joint just as
Arnie drives up behind them in CHRISTINE. Its classic Carpenter using the anamorphic
Panavision frame and it is pretty intense situation for those characters, setting up the
ending where Dennis and Leigh go to Darnell’s to try and destroy CHRISTINE. I also
laughed at the scene cut where Arnie leaves his parents house, with Dennis following him
in his car and CHRISTINE is barely drivable. The Plymouth Fury has smoke pouring from the
back and a long exhaust pipe sparks along the pavement before falling off. When Dennis
stops his car and picks up the fallen pipe, I couldn’t help but enjoy the scene with
a laugh.
Three featurettes; Ignition, Fast & Furious, Finish Line are
made by Laurent Bouzereau, who continues to make some of the best behind the scenes
documentaries in the business.
Ignition Producer Richard Kobritz talks about how he purchased the rights to
CHRISTINE after making King’s original SALEM’S LOT TV series. Carpenter admits
he took CHRISTINE because he just wanted a job after the critical and box office failure
of THE THING. Keith Gordon, Dennis Stockwell and Alexandra Paul talk about how they were
cast in the film.
Fast & Furious takes you into the production of the movie.
Considering CHRISTINE is over twenty years old,
it's interesting to see John Carpenter, Richard Kobritz, Keith Gordon, Dennis Stockwell,
Alexandra Paul, writer Bill Phillips and stuntman Terry Leonard talk now about making
CHRISTINE. Kobritz has a strong memory recalling exact details, like how production
designer Daniel A. Lomino created the Detroit automobile factory seen in the beginning of
the film. Carpenter says that Director of Photography Donald M. Morgan used Fuji film
instead of Kodak to give the opening scene more of a nostalgic look. Gordon tells when he
was filming the end of the movie; he wanted the blood vessels to be seen on his face, so
he tried pushing them up to the surface and ended up passing out on the third take. Dennis
Stockwell said he really felt cool being able to drive the bulldozer used at the end of
the film. We see a photo of John Carpenter's perplexed look while looking at Alexandra
Paul's sister in the cab of the bulldozer, which is priceless.
Finish Line is wrap up section of how cast and crew feel about the movie now.
It’s interesting to hear that the studio wanted Scott Baio to be in the film, because
he had a hot TV show, but Kobritz and Carpenter didn’t agree. Since the film was a
negative pick-up they had the power to make it the way they wanted and choose Gordon &
Stockwell instead.
CHRISTINE is one of the best films ever made from a Stephen King novel. Carpenter, Bill
Phillips and Richard Kobritz focused on the most important aspects of telling this story
and put together a professional cast and crew to that make it happen.
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