Carrie (1976) Review

Carrie (1976) Review

Carrie is the first movie to be based on a novel by Stephen King, and the novel was also King’s first to be published. This is one of those rare cases where a horror movie actually got awards attention, and rightly so, because this is not just any old Stephen King story: this is one of the best movies to be based on any of his works. 

Sissy Spacek plays Carrie White, an awkward high school girl who everyone hates and picks on, largely because of her religious zealot mother, played by Piper Laurie. Carrie has her period while taking a shower after gym class, and because of her poor upbringing, doesn’t know what’s happening to her, and freaks out, prompting her malicious classmates to pelt her with tampons. Everyone present gets in trouble for doing so, and one girl decides to exact revenge on Carrie in the most diabolic way possible.

Meanwhile, Carrie is discovering she has telekinetic powers, but isn’t sure how to use them yet. Her mother forces religion on her and mistreats her, but she goes against her mother’s wishes when one of the girls in her class makes her boyfriend ask Carrie to the prom (because she feels bad for what she did and wants to make it up to her) and Carrie agrees to go with him, but what happens at the prom is the ultimate embarrassment for her, triggering the ultimate consequence for everyone else. 

Carrie is an incredibly well made film, and not just simply for the horror genre. Director Brian de Palma brought King’s book to the big screen in a way that was faithful to the author’s work, but also made it unique and totally effective. Right from the opening scene, it’s easy to feel sympathy for Carrie. Sissy Spacek does an excellent job and has such a distinct look, with her wide blue eyes and small stature. Interestingly, in the book, Carrie’s described as looking the opposite: she’s fat and has bad acne. 

Piper Laurie also gives a great performance; every scene she’s in she steals, but Spacek still holds her own against her. Both of them have great chemistry, which might sound odd, but when they’re on-screen together, you absolutely believe she’s the daughter of this religious nut, and that’s the keyword here: believe. You believe this could all happen, and that’s a huge part of why it’s so scary. 

The supporting characters are all strong as well—there’s even a young John Travolta, in his first major movie role. But it’s all thanks to Brian de Palma. Not only did he get great performances out of these actors, he created such an unsettling atmosphere, especially in the White’s household, with candles set up everywhere and Jesus hanging from the cross in Carrie’s prayer closet. Once it gets to the prom, the mood starts to lighten, even though there’s the sense that something bad is going to happen. It’s kind of like watching a car crash: you can see tragedy coming, you’re not entirely sure what’s going to happen, but you know it’s not going to be good. It’s almost dream-like as Carrie and her date are crowned prom queen and king and they run up on stage, but then it all comes crashing down in a bucket of blood.  

I can’t talk about this movie without talking about the ending, which was used heavily in the marketing, and is now the most well-known part. It’s one thing to hear that a bucket of pig’s blood gets dumped on her and she retaliates by killing everyone, but it’s another to actually see it on-screen. There’s great use of slow motion and split-screen throughout, and the effects still hold up. 

As much as I think this movie is great, there are some small things about it I don’t like, mostly in the first half. After the incident in the showers, Carrie visits the principal’s office, and after he gets her name wrong, calling her “Cassie”, so the gym teacher corrects him, but what does he do? Calls her Cassie several more times, even after being corrected again. It’s just a bit too exaggerated. Another thing that’s overdone is a shrieking music clip pulled straight from the shower scene in Psycho used every time Carrie unleashes her powers. I get that it was trying to indicate she was causing these incidents, but it just doesn’t work for me. It feels a bit cheesy in an otherwise serious and scary movie. 

Carrie has an undeniable 70’s feel to it, and though it’s dated in a few ways, is so well made/adapted, there was never any need to remake it, yet it’s been remade not just once, in 2013, but twice, before that being a television movie in 2002. As a whole, the original holds up very well today, and this is one of those cases where I think the movie is actually better than the book. 

Carrie ranks among the greatest horror movies of the 1970’s, and that really says something, considering this is the same decade that saw the release of such classics as The Exorcist, Halloween, and Alien. It’s well-acted, well-directed, with a killer premise that will always be relevant, so long as kids keep going to high school proms.