A young high school outcast experiences her first period in the high school shower… and also discovers that she has psychic abilities. With a crazy religious mom and bullies out to get her, will Carrie be able to hold it together? Or will she have a psychic outburst with deadly consequences?
To state the obvious, Sissy Spacek is amazing as Carrie White; I mean, there’s a reason the poster is just her lol. She has such incredible range, being able in some scenes to play it Carrie, in some scenes as very innocent and docile, and then smart and confident, and then being able to flip her performance on a dime and contort her body into some wild alien zombie looks lol. So you really sympathize with the character while also being freaked out by her at times; she’s a very interesting and tragic character.
Another standout is Piper Laurie as Carrie’s mom, Margaret White. Laurie is very intimidating and unhinged as Margaret but is also clearly someone suffering from mental issues who isn’t getting help for it and is using religion as a placebo care. So like Carrie, you feel bad for her, but also I’m freaked out by her, so when the two characters are alone, the tension is very palpable, and some of the movies are the best scenes.
It was cool seeing young John Travolta in this; he doesn’t have a whole lot to do, but he has a lot of charisma and some funny bits, so he was a plus in the film.
Amy Irving and Betty Buckley also give underrated and solid performances, bringing a lot of heart and charisma to their roles.
William Katt is very likable and charming in the role, and Nancy Allen is really good at playing an unlikable brat; like, you could tell she was having a ball with the part.
Strangely enough, there’s a lot of fairy tale influence in the story… Margaret can be seen as a wicked stepmom or evil queen allegory; the prom is like the ball, and the character of Miss Collins is like the fairy godmother. Not to mention these long dreamlikesequences to soft music, which definitely have a fantasy influence, which also adds to the “Disney princess gone wrong” feel the movie has lol. But you can honestly make the parallels between Carrie developing her powers and her becoming a woman; that’s a pretty obvious metaphor. But the added fairytale influences really helped drive the theme home.
The soundtrack was surprisingly memorable and creative, with a lot of haunting and unique themes.
The cinematography was gorgeous; the 70s certainly loved their lens flares, lol.
Brian DePalma’s direction is some of his best in this movie; with camera work influenced by Hitchcock while infusing some of his own creative flairs, DePalma shows how he really is one of the best at building tension.
It’s surprising how I usually remember the attack at the prom being more violent than it actually is; it’s relatively tame by today’s standard, but I guess that goes to show how effective the storytelling is if I remember it creepier than it is.
The pacing and storytelling are super efficient; the movie is only about an hour and a half, and they fit so much into that runtime and do it so seamlessly, it’s wicked impressive.
I’ve actually read the novel, and I can tell you it’s a very faithful adaptation; like, if you’ve seen the movie, you’ve pretty much read the book, so for someone who always appreciates a good adaptation, big points for that.
This may be dark to say, but my favorite part of the movie is always when she’s covered in the pig’s blood and going full “Magneto” on everyone with her powers; it’s always such an effective scene, and Spacek does some career-best acting and is very memorable… quite literally iconic in that scene lol
I think Carrie is best described as a dark horror tragedy. That being said, the film still has plenty of lighthearted gags, compelling characters (not to mention great camera work and visuals), and handsome, genuinely seat-jumping scares. Literally the first time I saw this movie. I jumped out of my seat a little at that ending. I hate it when the sound mixing is really good and it gets me lol.
I give Carrie five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Definitely one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations.
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