Carrie (1976)

"Carrie" (1976, Brian De Palma, United Artists) is the movie adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name.

The story, in case you've been living under a rock, is about Carrie White (Sissy Spacek); a strange and put-upon misfit teen with no friends or social skills who's mother is an abusive and unsupportive religious nut.

Carrie's mother (Piper Laurie) tells her nothing of puberty and thinks of everything to do with anything to be unclean and sinful. And so, when Carrie finds herself bleeding from an intimate place in the girls' shower room at school she panics and is resultantly ridiculed by all of her peers until a well-meaning teacher, Miss Collins (Betty Buckley), intervenes.

Throughout the film timid young Carrie becomes stronger and begins to exhibit telekintetic powers which finally manifest with tragic consequences after the bullies (including John Travolta) get the better of her in the infamous Prom scene.

A great book and an equally great adaptation, I really like this version. Spacek's performance as Carrie is really excellent, especially in that tear-filled slow motion prom scene. Typical of King stories, however, I would say it is not scary in a conventional sense... well, except for that key iconic end scene. That hand coming from the grave always gave me the chills as a kid!

Looking forward to the remake to compare.

[Image: United Artists]

Hani