With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless others delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. From grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create.
It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
Salem’s Lot was the first Stephen King adaptation for television, and it birthed a friendship between producer Richard Kobritz and the prolific horror author over the course of production. So much so that King would send Kobritz early manuscripts of novels prior to publication for potential future collaborations. None struck his fancy (he passed on Cujo) until he received Christine. For Kobritz, it was the right blend of fun and rock ‘n roll. Leave it to King to render just about any inanimate object scary, which in this case meant a gorgeous yet evil Plymouth Fury.
Kobritz’s foray to adapting the manuscript was off to a rocky start; his first choice to helm the project was actually already tied up with another King adaptation, Firestarter. That would be horror master John Carpenter. But Firestarter fell through, as well as an additional project he’d been tied to, so his schedule cleared. Carpenter brought on screenwriter Bill Phillips, which in turn kicked off the process of condensing the novel for screen. Whereas King’s novel was more ambiguous on whether Christine itself was evil or merely possessed by the previous owner, Christine takes a firm stand from the get go with an opening scene kill of a factory worker after the car’s inception. This little lady was born bad.
Cut to 21 years later, when awkward teen Arnie (Keith Gordon) purchases Christine from the brother of its previous owner. The Fury is woefully neglected and in need of extensive repairs. The more Arnie spends working on her the more his personality changes, much to the concerns of his only friend Dennis (John Stockwell) and lady love Leigh (Alexandra Paul). It’s not just Arnie that’s changing, but the car as well. She has one hell of a jealousy streak, too. Soon enough, she’s setting off on her own, racking up a body count, and repairing herself of any sustained damage.
Kobritz and team spent months searching for enough 1958 Plymouths (not all were Furies) to use for production. They acquired around 20, some strictly for parts, and many to handle various tasks on screen. Most of the cars were destroyed during production. Bringing Christine to life fell to special effects supervisor Roy Arbogast (Escape from New York, They Live). The biggest challenge, of course, was how to handle the sequence in which Christine resurrected itself from destruction. A visual that wasn’t even in the original script, at least not on screen, until Kobritz and Carpenter felt something was missing. The now memorable sequence was done after production had already wrapped.
Carpenter shot the resurrection sequence by having the camera upside-down with the film run backwards, while the special effects team crumpled and squashed molded car parts. When the film runs forward, with added sound effects, it looks and sounds like a car restoring itself to its former glory. The perfect marriage of special effects and direction, and the result is stunning.
This may not have been the ideal project for Carpenter after The Thing bombed at the box office, but he felt he needed to take it for the sake of his career. Christine didn’t exactly set the box office on fire either, but both films wound up being heralded classics decades later for the great practical effects and Carpenter’s direction (and music, which he co-wrote with Alan Howarth).
It took months to work out the resurrection effects, but the result is timeless.
