Christine is a bright red 1958 Plymouth Fury. All the other Furies on the assembly line are white. She kills one guy and maims another before even being finished. Her original owner also died. And in 1978, when Christine is 21 years old, she is bought by Arnie Cunningham, the school nerd, and she begins to transform him. He becomes cool, looks better, and goes out with the school babe Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul). They learn that a previous owner died inside the car from presumably accidental carbon-dioxide poisoning. The car plays only vintage rock-and-roll songs on the radio, locks people inside, and repairs its own damage. Her odometer runs backwards.
A group of bullies vandalize Christine. The car repairs itself and is restored to showroom quality, then drives off to kill the vandals. Moochie Wells (Malcolm Danare) is crushed to death in an alley. Richie Trelawney (Steven Tash) and Don Vanderberg (Stuart Charro) are killed in a gas station explosion. Garage owner Darnell (Robert Prosky) is killed by the seat adjuster.
On New Years Eve, Arnie’s best friend Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell) and Leigh decide to destroy the car. The two of them have been talking about the supernatural powers of the car, which only they know about, and they are worried about Arnie, who is drinking, driving recklessly, and generally behaving dangerously. Dennis and Leigh are beginning to bond, as Arnie has eyes only for Christine. Besides, Christine locked Leigh inside as she was choking on a hamburger in a drive-in, but she managed to escape.
Dennis waits in a bulldozer while Leigh hides in the garage office to shut the door after Christine arrives. The car crashes into the office, trying to kill Leigh. Arnie is actually behind the wheel, and he is thrown through the windshield and killed. But Leigh and Dennis drive the bulldozer over and over on the car until it is crushed. As the movie closes, we see Christine, now compacted into a cube, beginning to unwrap itself.
The film was directed by John Carpenter of Halloween fame, and Christine is the best character in the movie. By the time the movie ends, as Roger Ebert said, we are tempted to take her side against the bulldozer. Fourteen red Plymouth Furies played Christine. John Carpenter composed the score for the film, and the soundtrack is great. The word fuck was added to the dialogue several times to get an adult rating. The license plate number is CQB, which stands for Close Quarters Battle.