“Christine”

Filipinos have always had a love affair with horror movies. For some reason, we seem to enjoy them as well as fear them too deeply and intuitively that days after watching a movie, we would still be imagining things.

I thought of a scary movie that involved cars and there was only one I could recall. It was an 80's movie hit entitled "Christine". This hit was based on the famous novel by Stephen King and directed by legendary horror director, John Carpenter, who is also known for his hit, "Halloween".

The movie, which is a shorter and less detailed adaptation of the book, revolved around a nerdy teenager who becomes obsessed in restoring a dilapidated 1958 Plymouth Fury, a very fitting car for the role. The obsession turned into a twisted love story between him and a vehicle that was somehow obsessed by some inhuman menace.

The movie had outstanding special effects considering the limits of technology in the 80's. One very impressive scene was when "Christine" spontaneously repaired herself to her original flawless condition after damaging herself in a murder sequence. Christine retains a creepy aura throughout the film, developing consistently from a well restored 50's Muscle into a dark, tinted demonic hot rod towards the end. Althougth the movie lacked the "edge of your seat" suspense, it was good enough to glue you to the TV without using too much bloody scenes and gore. Christine is a unique evil car movie and I guess it's the only one that has succeeded in making that kind of a storyline.

There are a whole lot of "Christines" in real life. No, not cars possessed by spirits with murderous intents but dilapidated public utility vehicles. These vehicles either have seen too many days on the road or are just poorly maintained. Rundown and defective, the plight of these metal coffins should be either the museum or of not the junkshop.

Furthermore, the evil in control of the wheel in these PUV's see traffic lights as merely suggestions. They don't just violate the speed limit, they go head-on with incoming traffic without consideration, assuming everyone in their path would just give way. They refuse to use signals and leave the entire directing to the "conductor" who is not behind the steering wheel but dangle behind the bus. They have total disregard to the riding public and pedestrians.

Just recently, a bus rammed a concrete wall in Toledo, killing seven and injuring forty-four. The cause of the accident was "failed brakes." It was further known that the bus was overspeeding.

Last week, LTO 7 caught a considerable number of PUV drivers who were positive for drug use. Does this explain the "kamikaze" attitude of the mini buses in the South?

So you think "Christine" is not real? Wait until you find yourself riding on a rickety bus with a junkie driver.