One of the worst movies of all time? Really? It's just a typical 80s horror film, I can think of much much worse.

I've seen John Carpenter's work-for-hire Stephen King adaptation, Christine, many times, and that's because it's not so gory or creepy that it couldn't easily be run on television. Coming off The Thing, Carpenter's early fans were probably disappointed at how PG it is (just you wait, 1980s fans, he made the sci-fi romance Starman next). But I wasn't going to get to see The Thing, or Halloween, etc. as a tween, so Christine becomes a fun, and still tense, introductory horror flick (so long as they looped out the word "shitters", a massive undertaking you'll agree). Yes, it's ridiculous that a car would be alive AND evil (where's my Herbie vs. Christine movie?), but I kind of love that there's no explanation given. It just IS. Christine becomes a metaphor not just for American car culture (it makes the nerdy kid a macho bully as he finds his virility in driving what is for him a sex object), but for the distorting power of nostalgia. Not only does Christine only play 50s hits on her radio ("Bad to the Bone" is actually non-diagetic even if I can't hear it without thinking of the terror car), but - and this is more subtle - she progressively turns Arnie into a 50s greaser (the former owner, thus the adoption of the strange insult "shitters", see?). And in addition to all that, the car is well shot, there's a great "deranged driver at night" quality to her kills, and the effects hold up. Yes, she heals through reverse photography, but that doesn't explain everything we see! An under-appreciated Carpenter!

Great movie