How Christine’s Amazing Car Repair Scene Was Made (Before CGI)

John Carpenter’s adaptation of Stephen King Cristina is an 80s horror classic, and although the Cristina the cast is top notch, what many fans of the genre remember most is Christine herself. This includes the scene where the car appears to completely repair itself before the audience’s eyes. Cristina follows an unpopular nerd, Arnie Cunningham, who buys a red Plymouth Fury named Christine and continually develops a strange and unhealthy obsession with the vehicle, much to the shock of his only friend, Dennis.

However, things get even worse when Arnie’s bully Buddy Repperton smashes Christine to piecestotaling the car; this causes her to suddenly pull herself together and go on a murder spree. The infamous scene occurs when Arnie returns to the garage and finds Christine beaten, crushed and generally beyond repair. He passes out, horrified to see all this and unsure how he will be able to repair his car, when suddenly Christine’s breaks and dents slowly begin to fill and repair themselves right in front of him.

Christine’s Car Repair Scene Explained

A plastic replica was constructed and the film of its damage was reversed

Roy Arbogast, a John Carpenter film veteran known for effects in films like The thing and They live, is responsible for this scene. In addition to the 27 real Plymouth Furies Belvederes and Savoys that the filmmakers purchased to produce the final film, Arbogast created a double body with plastic panels from Christine Specifically designed to look like metal when placed on the camera. Once completed, he installed hydraulic pumps inside and connected them to cables, which were then attached to the car’s plastic body panels.

When compressed, these hydraulic pumps suck in the panel, causing it to bend and deform, making it look like a broken or dented car panel. To create the illusion that the car was repairing itself, the filmmakers reversed footage of the dented bodywork, making it appear as if it was regaining its original shape rather than being crumpled and dented.

It’s a simple but incredibly effective on-screen trick. This scene remains to this day as one of the most remembered feats of horror special effects that were still produced in a very cheap and easy way. Additionally, it proves how practical effects can be translated to the screen in place of CGI. Cristina is an incredible example of what a little ingenuity and a good special effects director can contribute to a film.

Other amazing scenes that weren’t CGI

The Thing and Dead Evil

John Carpenter was a director who preferred practical effects and did them well. As mentioned, Roy Arbogast has worked on films such as The thing, they live, and Escape from New York for Carpenter. If there’s one film that has always been praised for its use of practical special effects, it’s The thing. However, it was not Arbogast who created the special effects, but Rob Botton (with assistance from Stan Winston). The entire look of the alien and its transformation was thanks to this special effects maestro.

A contemporary horror set during John Carpenter’s heyday was released two years earlier Cristina. Sam Raimi filmed his entire The Evil Dead film using only practical effects, as it was filmed on a very low budget. The demonic being was tracked through the forest using a camera attached to a 2×4. The scene where Ash stretches through a mirror was filmed using the reflection of a kiddie pool filled with water with bright lights. Many camera tricks were done with Raimi hanging from the rafters. It proved that anything could be done in practice with a little ingenuity.