Carrie [R]

When timid and troubled wallflower Carrie White gets her first period, she’s left to the mercy of her schoolmates who brutally taunt and tease. Unbeknownst by all, this seemingly typical high school scene sets a terrifying chain of events in motion as the girls are punished and a plot for revenge is sparked amongst them. In an attempt to make amends Sue, a schoolmate of Carrie’s, asks her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom, unwittingly luring her into the sadistic revenge plot. Against the over zealous warnings of her religiously fanatic mother, Carrie goes to the prom where life seems to be magical until the hideous revenge prank is sprung. All Carrie’s inner struggles and pent-up rage is brought to a horrifying head and manifest themselves in the form of telekinetic powers, leaving her classmates to her mercy…and she will not be merciful. 

Regarded as “the cinema’s best adaptation of a Stephen King novel” (this was before The Shining and I’m still inclined to agree with the statement), Carrie is a beautifully crafted movie that so perfectly chronicles King’s tragic story of a troubled teenager. Blending a whole heap of genres together as well as some wonderfully effective intertexual cues, Brian De Palma has managed to create a timeless horror tragedy that the remake will have a hard time to beat (I’m keen to see it though). 

When timid and troubled wallflower Carrie White gets her first period, she’s left to the mercy of her schoolmates who brutally taunt and tease. Unbeknownst by all, this seemingly typical high school scene sets a terrifying chain of events in motion as the girls are punished and a plot for revenge is sparked amongst them. In an attempt to make amends Sue, a schoolmate of Carrie’s, asks her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom, unwittingly luring her into the sadistic revenge plot. Against the over zealous warnings of her religiously fanatic mother, Carrie goes to the prom where life seems to be magical until the hideous revenge prank is sprung. All Carrie’s inner struggles and pent-up rage is brought to a horrifying head and manifest themselves in the form of telekinetic powers, leaving her classmates to her mercy…and she will not be merciful. 

This film is a stunning blend of Hitchcock, the family gothic, supernaturalism, and the teen movie. It so beautifully slides from the teen romance fairytale to the operatic and horrific melodrama that brings in the masses. The central transformation that happens to Carrie is really, really beautiful: beginning as this really shy wallflower, picked on at school and abused by her mother, but keeping it to herself and then suddenly turning into an Angel of Death in a very climactic prom scene. The lead-up to the climax is seriously so lovely it made me tear up. 

Sissy Spacek as Carrie was absolutely astounding! She appears so shy and reserved, but then when she’s pushed to the limit she’s really frightening. Her facial and physical performance is something to really marvel at, contorting like a living special effect. 

The haunting and tragically melancholy soundtrack that accompanies the film is absolutely beautiful, I’m seriously surprised that Pino Donaggio wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award. 

Starring Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt, Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, P. J. Soles, and John Travolta, Carrie is a remarkably beautiful film filled with tragedy, teen brutality, drama, violence, romance, betrayal, and horror. I’m still in a dazed state of shock!