Why CHRISTINE Is Secretly The Best Stephen King Movie

Christine Remains One Of John Carpenter's Most Underrated Films

Ultimately, John Carpenter's Christine is a fascinating film. Not just because of its compelling historical subtext, but rather that, even for something that by his own admission wasn't a labour of love, Carpenter still managed to create another genre masterpiece. It's exquisitely shot, with Donald M. Morgan's compositions seamlessly blending fifties iconography with seventies miasma. It's also immaculately performed - Keith Gordon delivers one of the best performances in Carpenter's oeuvre, while the rest of the cast is rounded out by excellent character performers like Bob Prosky and Harry Dean Stanton. This level of technical accomplishment of course extends to the soundtrack, which is another Carpenter-scored banger developed in collaboration with Alan Howarth.

All of this together makes a compelling argument that Christine, while still looked fondly upon, isn't as appreciated as it should be. Releasing just a year after The Thing - which recovered from its contemporary critical drubbing to be looked upon today as Carpenter's magnum opus - and before the Oscar-nominated Starman, probably hasn't helped Christine's reputation.

Carpenter's cult successes from the latter half of the decade, such as Big Trouble in Little China and Prince of Darkness - which rightfully grow in stature year by year - may have also arguably contributed to the relative lack of attention given to the film. Compounding all of this even further is the fact that it's a King adaptation from one of the author's goofier-sounding premises, which means it has to compete with the likes of The Shining, Carrie, Misery, and so on for pop-cultural clout.

But Christine is just as good as those films, and certainly in the upper bracket of Carpenter's directorial efforts. Granted, that is a wide bracket, and some may even argue that there's little point in reappraising a film that already has a solid enough reputation - particularly when there are still other Carpenter movies that deserve loftier praise.

However, each time I watch Christine I find myself more and more impressed with how well it fits within the spirit of Carpenter's works when it so easily could have been an aberrant adaptation where the director lost his voice within King's prose. Its anti-establishment credentials are as fiercely on-point here as they are in something like They Live, and they're matched by a level of technical excellence that ensures Christine is an entertaining and gripping watch.

The premise might all be King, but what we're left with is another Carpenter masterpiece.