A method for forming a superhard amorphous carbon coating in vacuum, comprising the steps of: placing an article in a vacuum chamber, evacuating the chamber, treating a surface for the article with accelerated ions; applying, on the treated surface, a layer of a material that provides adhesion for subsequent layers, initiating pulsed electric-arc discharge on a graphite cathode, and obtaining a pulsed carbon plasma stream from a plurality of cathode spots that move along the cathode surface. After that, the carbon plasma is condensed in a predetermined area on the article surface to produce a superhard amorphous carbon coating, the article temperature being maintained within the range of 200 to 450 K through controlling a repetition frequency of the electric-arc discharge pulses. According to the invention, the carbon plasma pulsed stream has average ion energy of 25-35 eV and ion concentration of 1012, 1013 cm-3; axis of the carbon plasma stream being set at angle of 15-45° to a predetermined surface of an article. During application of the coating, the article temperature change Deltat is maintained within the range of 50-100 K.