Carrie (1976)

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Lawrence D. Cohen (writer)
Stephen King (novel)

Release Date:

3 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

You were warned never to push Carrie to the limits. Now you must face the evil consequences.

Plot:

A mousy and abused girl with telekinetic powers gets pushed too far on one special night.

Plot Keywords:

Prom | Student | Teacher | Pig Blood | Revenge

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Sissy Spacek	...	Carrie White
Piper Laurie	...	Margaret White
Amy Irving	...	Sue Snell
William Katt	...	Tommy Ross
Betty Buckley	...	Miss Collins
Nancy Allen	...	Chris Hargensen
John Travolta	...	Billy Nolan
P.J. Soles	...	Norma Watson
Priscilla Pointer	...	Mrs. Eleanor Snell
Sydney Lassick	...	Mr. Fromm
Stefan Gierasch	...	Mr. Henry Morton
Michael Talbott	...	Freddy DeLois
Doug Cox	...	The Beak
Harry Gold	...	George Dawson
Noelle North	...	Freida Jason

Also Known As:

Carrie (Argentina) (Peru) [es]
Carrie (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Carrie (Denmark) [da]
Carrie (Poland) [pl]
Carrie (Finland) [fi]
Carrie - Des Satans jüngste Tochter (West Germany) [de]
Carrie au bal du diable (France) [fr]
Carrie, a Estranha (Brazil) [pt]
Carrie, lo sguardo di Satana (Italy) [it]
Carrie: Extraño presentimiento (Mexico) [es]
Ekrixis orgis (Greece) [el]
Günah tohumu (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Keri (Serbia) [sr]
Kiusaajat (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | West Germany:16 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:(Banned) (cut) (1978) | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1977) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1993) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1991) | Brazil:16 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 (re-rating) (2000) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) (1983) | Spain:18 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta) (2000) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Chile:18 | France:-16 | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 (2000) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #24688) | Ireland:18 | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Culver City Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Redbank Films

Trivia:

Bernard Herrmann, who had been nominated for an Oscar for the music to De Palma's previous film Obsession (1976), was slated to compose this score but passed away the December before the film was completed.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Carrie returns home from the prom and goes upstairs to take a bath, a well-lit dressmaker's dummy is standing in the hall (positioned to obscure Margaret White, who is hiding behind it). But when Carrie leaves the bathroom, the dummy has disappeared.

Quotes:

Margaret White: [Referring to Carrie's prom gown] Red. I might have known it would be red.
Carrie: It's pink, Mama.
[Presenting corsage]
Carrie: Look what Tommy gave me, Mama. Aren't they beautiful?
Margaret White: I can see your dirty pillows. Everyone will.
Carrie: Breasts, Mama. They're called breasts, and every woman has them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Bill Paxton/Beck (#24.10)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

(Love is Like a) Heatwave

Carrie: 8/10

Carrie boomed Sissy Spacek's and John Travolta's career. I understand why.

Carrie starts off at a gym locker room, where we find out how much the other kids hate Carrie. But, we find out that Carrie has some powers. Like in other Stephen King book-movies, the supernatural aspect is only minor compared to the rest of the story, but it comes into play at the end. Carrie's mom (Piper Laurie) is an over-protective religious zealot who makes The Royal Tenenbaums seem normal. So Carrie tries to cope with her horrible life, but it's getting tougher and tougher.

Spacek is exceptional as Carrie, and I now know why she was nominated for Best Actress. Her emotions are real, not some fake tear drops that make us think she's sad. Either she has great motivation, or she's one of the best actresses of the century (or both!). Laurie was equally good as her mother who locks Carrie up in a closet everytime she thinks that Carrie has sinned. This movie wouldn't be half of what it was if the acting wasn't so great. When Carrie was sad, you were sad. When the other kids ridiculed her, you felt like you wanted to kill the kids. When she smiled, you smiled. Emotions that raw couldn't come from just any movie.

If you know me, I'm a stickler for character developement. Carrie didn't take much time, but from the opening scene you knew about Carrie and her weakness. So are the secondary characters; they're nicely developed even if their role isn't that major. Travolta had a miniscule role, but he was fine in it; it led to Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

The prom scene has got to be one of the most memorable scenes from a horror movie. That red tint is awesome; it's like a premonition. In fact, the movie is full of premonition: the red tint, the freaky looking voodoo doll, "They're all going to laugh at you." I'm assuming that director Brian De Palma meant to put that in, so it just isn't about some supernatural powers, it's also about foreshadowing. Also, I dig that camera movement during the dancing.

The blood and gore wasn't held back, but they just put in what was necessary. De Palma obviously stole from Hitchcock's Psycho, mainly the music cue whenever Carrie is using her telepathy. Also, her school, Bates High, is another Psycho refrence.

Carrie was also very creepy. It wasn't a thrill-a-minute, but at the ending, that was Scary with a capital S. The last ten or twenty minutes were scare-inducing for sure. That last jump scene in the dream...wow! It's still jumping at me. If there was one complaint I had to do about the movie, it's that it took too much time to get to main scene and the prom went on a little too long, but other than that it's a first class horrror/thriller that any horror buff needs to see.

My rating: 8/10

Rated R for nudity, some language, and blood.