Carrie

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Carrie

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Carrie

Amy Irving, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Piper Laurie, Sissy Spacek

A young teenage girl wreaks telekinetic vengeance on her high school tormentors and religious-nut mother.

Id: 10905893

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Carrie Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 25, 2009
    SirPant
    I always jump at the hand coming out of the ground, every bloody time!
  • stopitgoaway
    June 25, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    Perhaps one of the only genuinely good Stephen King adaptations, ?Carrie' follows the tragic tale of Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), a young girl who is continually made to suffer at the hands of her bullying classmates and not helped by her overbearing, religious mother Margaret (P...( read more)iper Laurie). Carrie, however, is not like regular teenagers as she has been blessed(?) with telekinetic powers and as the inner rage grows within Carrie so, it seems, do these potentially lethal abilities.

    Brian De Palma directed this amazingly stylish adaptation of Stephen King's first novel which is arguably the best Stephen King adaptation ever to be made. Sissy Spacek's performance is one of the greatest to ever grace a horror film. Somehow managing to perfectly embody the typical school life of the usual high school outcasts, Spacek was able to bring to everyone the appalling life that so many teenagers are forced to tolerate. From the opening scenes where Carrie is utterly humiliated at the hands of her classmates after Carrie's hysterical reaction to her first menstruation, to the painfully wretched ending it becomes nigh on impossible not to sympathise with Spacek's character. Spacek was quite rightly Oscar-nominated for this performance. Spacek's performance was enhanced by fellow Oscar-nominee Piper Laurie in the role of the religious-nut Margaret White. In some ways the naivety shown towards Carrie and what is happening to her is amusing but at the same time it is terrifying to think that any mother could allow her daughter to go though such a generally horrendous life. Piper Laurie was able to make this all too abhorrent character her own with a thoroughly convincing and unsettling performance.

    De Palma cleverly directs this movie. Instead of immediately introducing us to Carrie's powers he focuses on the torment (and the tormentors) of Carrie first. This allows the viewer to feel for Carrie and will her towards revenge while ensuring that she is not made into a one-dimensional killer. The movie is very well paced and is presented in a brutally clear fashion. De Palma refrains from using any visual effects with the exception of the infamous `Prom Night' scene which was incredibly well crafted and immersed the viewer in this horrifying display of rage. The final twenty minutes of Carrie are some of the most intense and gripping moments to have been portrayed in horror cinema. These scenes without a doubt helped to build one of the most artistic and and incredible climaxes in all of film.

    ?Carrie' is not for those who just want to see people sliced up or prefer fast-paced horror as it is presented as a heart-breaking drama with a horrifying twist. The magnificent cast (which features John Travolta in an early role) was also graced with fantastic performances from Betty Buckley as the kindly gym teacher and Nancy Allen as Chris, the deplorable ring leader of this atrocious bullying. In my opinion ?Carrie' is unquestionably worth a look for horror fans. 'Carrie' is very well directed, with a superb screenplay from Larry Cohen and featuring two of the greatest performances in horror.
  • irisheyes686
    February 28, 2009
    irisheyes686
    This movie just gives me chills thinking about it. I'm glad I wasn't in high school at this time because it might've scared me out of going to any dances!
  • mrpopcorn
    November 27, 2008
    mrpopcorn
    "Take Carrie to the prom. I dare you!"

    This classic horror movie based on Stephen King's first novel stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a shy, diffident teenager who is the butt of practical jokes at her small-town high school. Her blind panic at her first menstruation, ...( read more)a result of ignorance and religious guilt drummed into her by her fanatical mother, Margaret (Piper Laurie), only causes her classmates' vicious cruelty to escalate, despite the attentions of her overly solicitous gym teacher (Betty Buckley). Finally, when the venomous Chris Hargenson (Nancy Allen) engineers a reprehensible prank at the school prom, Carrie lashes out in a horrifying display of her heretofore minor telekinetic powers.

    Review
    "Carrie" is basically a film that shows how destructive human anger can be. A true horror classic, director Brian de Palma made "Carrie" a film that no one else could touch. To some, this film isn't scary at all. I partially agree, the first sixty minutes of this film can almost pass for a drama. On the other hand, "Carrie" exudes a distinctive eeriness and intensity that is more effective than blatant gore and horror. Sissy Spacek's performance as Carrie White is nothing less than brilliant. Piper Laurie is equally good, playing Carrie's religion-frenzied, psychotic mother. High school has always been a hot concept for films, and this film focuses on a real adolescent issue; adolescent cruelty. It can be painful and unpleasant, but for Carrie White, it was pure hell. To top it off, she has to endure her mother's madness and understand her new found psychic powers. De Palma's stylish but gloomy direction makes this film riveting, from beginning to end. "Carrie" also possesses a quality that a lot of horror films do not, poignancy. You can easily sympathize for Carrie and her sad life. Even when she unleashes her powers, destroying everything in her path at the end. The conclusion of "Carrie" is very disturbing and almost upsetting, because the protagonist's battle to win some compassion ends terrifyingly and tragically. Carrie's deadly wrath was unfairly triggered, but she had to pay the ultimate price. Powerful and chilling, "Carrie" is a horror film that should be enjoyed, appreciated and cherished.
  • FangsFirst
    November 6, 2008
    FangsFirst
    I've reviewed a decent pile of Stephen King-based movies over the course of time, occasionally the the surprise of some--be it because it is one of the "lesser" adaptations (e.g., Graveyard Shift) or si...( read more)mply because, well, it's based on the work of Stephen King and I tend to maintain he is one of the most hideously overrated writers known to man (not that he sucks--I like a decent handful of his books, but feel he wanders on subplots sometimes, drags a lot, is iffy on characterization and a bit one note in subject matter).* The first stance has never bothered me in the first place--I tend to care even less about public opinion when it comes to genre films (I find a lot of people don't approach it the way I do, so their judgments are irrelevant to my own) and the second--his flaws are unlikely to show up in films of his work for two reasons: you have the input of an actor who might have a good grasp on a character and be able to portray it and subplots and such are going to be trimmed anyway. To address my other bias--I have never been able to watch Scarface without being bored within an hour. It simply holds no interest to me. That said, I've really liked every other Brian De Palma film I've ever seen.

    Carrie White (Sissy Spacek, in an Oscar-nominated role) is a teenage girl we first clearly see soaping herself in the shower, one nude body amongst many in a very sensual, sexual sort of scene that suddenly takes a drastic turn as blood begins to mix with water on Carrie's thighs and she is disturbed and frightened--screaming in panic at the unexpected blood to the other girls in the locker room who begin to torment her in what we can immediately see is a continuing pattern for her--throwing tampons and pads at her as she screams and crawls into a corner. In response to her treatment by classmates, Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) punishes the other students by assigning them all to detention--threatening the loss of prom attendance if they refuse. The male principal responds to the event uncomfortably, unable to even get Carrie's name right, further proving Collins is the only one on her side. When Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen, in a role pretty antithetical to the role I usually think of with her name in RoboCop) feels that she deserves no such suffering, she and Billy Nolan (a goofy redneck-ed John Travolta) plot revenge on her, as Sue Snell (Amy Irving), the most reluctant tormentor begins to shuffle through the idea of doing something to bring Carrie more into the popular circle. Margaret White (Piper Laurie), mother of Carrie, simply fuels Carrie's fire--using a damaged religious fundamentalism and cultish mentality to attempt to control Carrie in a distorted attempt to save her from the life Margaret remembers. The clash of Chris and her veritable "assistant" Norma Watson (P.J. Soles, in a role to complement her then-unfilmed role in Carpenter's Halloween) and the controlling abuse of her mother has seen rise of the emotionally-forced telekinesis of Carrie, who displays her power in short, seemingly uncontrolled bursts (a shaking ashtray, a crashed bike). When Sue urges her boyfriend Tommy Dolan (William Katt--he of later horror-comedy classic House from 1985, not to be confused with 2008 generic Christian-horror film of the same name) to take Carrie to the prom, an iconic finale is set into inevitable motion.

    De Palma (as is noted in reviews of, I think, any of his films these days) is usually criticized as derivative of Hitchcock (or any number of other directors, like Eisenstein's iconic scene in Battleship Potemkin)--a criticism that is not unfair, but in my mind is not perfectly relevant. We have things like Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake of Psycho to make us question the need of outright copying the master of suspense and works with similar bases to remind us why Hitchcock was a master. The reality is that, even if multiple shots are reminiscent (or even effectively lifted!), De Palma is an artist unto himself, even if his palette is covered in other people's paints. One cannot simply assemble bits and pieces of other people's movies and make a cohesive and entertaining whole. De Palma knows full well what he's doing and is obsessed with the technical aspects of his films, interested intensely in what works on film--thankfully not at the expense (like some) of acting. Clearly he sees this as a relevant element and so his films carry that aspect quite well in most cases. Carrie is definitely one of the best of his films that I've seen, a greater polish than Phantom of the Paradise and a greater vitality than lesser works like Raising Cain. The use of elements like the four note theme of Psycho can be a bit jarring but it's also effective, and, as one commentator noted, we accept these things in De Palma's work readily because of his skill (this was noted with relation to an absurd number of candles in a late scene in the film). Split-screen, often jarring and unpleasant, ridiculous and difficult to watch is brilliantly used here to achieve an effect similar in some ways to the fascinating dual-focus of shots like one on Tommy Dolan in the foreground of a classroom smiling while Carrie is the rear focal point in the back of the class, hidden in her own hair. The extreme close-up on Spacek's unnaturally wide and unblinking eyes met with the telekinetic acts occurring around her is perhaps the most effective and believable filming of telekinesis I've ever seen--clearly tying together both the cause and the effect without goofy exertion shown on the actor or an unclear connection between them to mar it. Even further into Carrie's mind, the response the sees is easily contrasted with the actual one in this entire scene, orchestrated flawlessly from beginning to end in both visuals (primarily in slow motion to start with) and sounds (both spare and full, exaggerated and understated volumes).

    I must also note the rather brilliant score of Pino Donaggio, which makes exceptional use of both calm, relaxing polite themes and strikingly terrifying ones (especially in the aforementioned climactic scene), even when mixed in with the odd song (including a strange one played at their prom which sounded an awful lot like new wave to me, not in the sense of the original use "punk but under a radio safe name" but the "safe punk" that followed --such as the Cars, but before such a thing existed or even "could" exist). And, because I love my peculiar character actors, I've got to mention teacher Mr. Fromm, who was played by Sydney Lassick, who many will know for is constant requests for cigarettes and irritatingly nervy nature in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

    Indeed, though, this is definitely one of the most exceptional Stephen King adaptations around, as both a horror film and a film in general.


    *The Green Mile, The Regulators, some others. It's not a snobbery thing, though, I must say. I'm not Harold Bloom. I'm far more frustrated that someone as swirlingly unfocused and uncontrolled has greater visibility than authors with a greater control over words and more creative imaginations. Too many minds are closed by jumping on his bandwagon--which does not relate to the man so much as his fans. I'm always pleasingly amused to find him in films, both based on his own work and in Romero films.
  • evalovesrandb
    December 23, 2009
    evalovesrandb
    This was a pretty good movie. It scared the crud out of me when I was younger, but now its one of my favorites. I could watch it over & over again. Stephen King makes some really good scary movies.
  • ZakaryasX
    December 20, 2009
    ZakaryasX
    WHEN HORROR MOVIES WERE ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD.
  • eryri
    December 18, 2009
    eryri
    A classic horror film from the 70's. Gets really good near the climax.
  • RadarHead
    December 9, 2009
    RadarHead
    Not a film that struck me as being particularly "deep", but certainly one containing powerful moments. Thanks predominantly to Spacek's brilliant acting, as well as a certain exploratory sass on the filmmaker's part.
  • esquedas2gr
    December 7, 2009
    esquedas2gr
    It's so bad, that is good
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