John Carpenter's 1983 movie adaptation of Maximum Overdrive sees trucks turn on their owners. Christine, the tale of a murderous 1958 Plymouth Fury, is probably the most famous instance.
Directing Christine, an adaptation of King's novel released the same year, served as a nice rebound for the career of Carpenter, who had lost the chance to direct fellow King adaptation remake of The Thing bombed. The Thing has gone on to be widely considered one of the best sci-fi/horror films ever, but thankfully for Carpenter, Christine didn't take years to become liked, earning positive reviews and respectable box office.
As often as King's work has been adapted, there have understandably ended up being quite a few stinkers among the bunch. Christine is often hailed as one of the best, and for the most part, it stick pretty closely to the book. One major change though comes via the backstory of the actual car.
Christine's Origin in Stephen King's Book Was Completely Different
At the beginning of Stephen King's book that's not at all the case.
In the novel, Christine is revealed to be possessed by the car's deceased former owner, a violent man named Roland D. LeBay. Christine's new owner, Arnie Cunningham, begins to take on many of Roland's traits as part of the possession. This could theoretically be argued as true for the film too, if not explicitly mentioned, were it not for Christine claiming victims before she's even been purchased by LeBay. If anything, this suggests that Christine's evil is inherent, and that anyone who owns her will eventually turn to the dark side. In a very bizarre way, the differences in Christine's origin between book and film are almost an example of nature vs. nurture.
