My Review of Carrie (1976)

 

Written by Lawrence D. Cohen

Directed by Brian De Palma

Margaret: "Witch. Got Satan's Power."

Carrie: "It has nothing to do with Satan, Mama. It's me. Me. If I concentrate hard enough, I can move things."

Keeping with some horror classics for the month of Halloween, this iconic adaptation of the Stephen King novel was also on my list to watch. It's had it's remakes but this version remains the best one to date.

In a career defining role, Sissy Spacek was perfectly cast as the titular character. A shy girl under the tyrannical rule of her religious mother, Margaret White (Piper Laurie), Carrie's school life wasnt much better to be fair.

In fact because she was something of an odd one, Carrie found herself being bullied by the likes of Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen). Chris seemed to take great pleasure in tormenting Carrie and even when her awful treatment of Carrie incurred the wrath of Miss Collins (Betty Buckley), it wasn't enough to get Chris to back off.

There was some hope for Carrie with the remorseful Sue Snell (Amy Irving) getting her boyfriend, Tommy (William Katt) to take Carrie to the prom. Of course that act of kindness would result in the worst possible outcome as Margaret's fears about Carrie were suddenly very much justified. She might be a religious fanatic but she wasn't wrong about Carrie's ability to cause carnage.

Getting a bucket of pig's blood poured over was more than enough to set Carrie off on a destructive rampage. Carrie really tapped into her dark side and those who had been stupid enough to torment her did suffer the consequences for their misdeeds. However, so did many innocent bystanders.

With Carrie in full villain mode, it's more or less Sue Snell that became a protagonist of sorts. She managed to survive Carrie's bloody rampage but was also severely traumatized by it as well. The end scene certainly didn't help Sue get peace either.

- The remakes came out in 2002 and 2013 respectively while a sequel called The Rage: Carrie 2 was released in 1999.

- The first adaptation of a Stephen King novel and it certainly set the bar for the many we'd get over the next 48 years.

- John Travolta appeared as Chris's boyfriend, Billy. It didn't end well for him. 

- Chronology: Despite the novel bring released in 1974, this movie in 1976, it's actually set in 1979.

Carrie is an absolutely brilliant adaptation of King's novel. Sissy Spacek just gave a sublime performance throughout as Carrie and the final act was the highlight. It really did set up he gold standard for King adaptations.

Rating: 9 out of 10