Better than most horror

Rating: 6/10 (20 September 2011)

Carrie-**1/2- Worthwhile- Directed by: Brian De Palma. Written by: Lawrence D. Cohen, Stephen King (novel). Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Betty Buckley, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, William Katt, John Travolta, P.J Soles, Priscilla Pointer.
Stephen King's creative novel is turned into a high-powered De Palma thriller in this story of a high school outcast (Spacek) who learns she has telekinetic powers and finally snaps after being pushed too far by her cruel classmates and her Christian extremist mother.
Carrie is a horror film by all means and succeeds pretty well as a horror film and even goes a step further by providing social insight into an alienated girl's true feelings toward society under the craziness of her mother (Laurie in a great performance). It even has Hitchcock elements in it that add to the intelligence to the experience. Yet De Palma is not the most fluid storyteller and his dramatic shift between sentimental, anti-bullying tale to bloody horror film does not gel the way it should.
Also, De Palma uses a split-screen during the film's violent sequence. It's as if the carnage on the first screen is not enough for us and he wants to see more blood. He almost insults his filmmaking by saying he is not putting enough on the screen in one image but needs two to give the message of the sequence. His Hitchcock elements do not always work, simply because he does not have the same skill the master of suspense had.
There is no doubt that Spacek's character represents a minority of kids out there and De Palma gives Carrie a voice amongst the growing suspense that makes a few noteworthy social points but this is a horror film that acts as a parody of Hitchcock and a new brand of feminine horror which many films would capitalize on later. King loved the adaptation and I wish I could have liked it as much as him.