Never a huge fan of this film

Rating: 6/10 (22 April 2008)

I have always had a hard time understanding the love that people have for this film. While billed as a horror thriller, even as a kid I never found it especially scary or thrilling. I think part of that comes from making the protagonist so identifiably sympathetic and the targets of her climactic wrath so ridiculously villainous that one can only walk away thinking the majority had it coming. I have never read Stephen King's original novel so I did have a fresh take when watching the film, and I had a hard time with some of it. It would still be a few years before director Brian DePalma hit his stride with Dressed to Kill, Blow Out and The Untouchables (before falling into veritable obscurity), and I find his direction really uneven and awkward here. The film seems to veer in tone from dead serious scenes to comical scenes that seem to come from a teen sex comedy of the era. DePalma is also overly impressed with utilizing cinematic trick shots, like split screens and fast-motion, which are distracting and really add nothing to the mix. The underdog theme really appeals to me, but the details of the story are unconvincing. For instance, I know that there were (and are) mean people in high school, but I don't believe that I have ever seen such en masse nastiness as what is depicted here - it is so over-the-top as to suggest a misogynistic fever dream. Carrie is relentlessly brutalized at school and at home, and only some of the time are the actions of the perpetrators believable. In light of this, Carrie's gift never seems much of a "curse" and one just sits back waiting for her to vent her rage. Some of the issues I have are this:
1. The trick played on Carrie seems to me a bit ridiculous and disgusting. I really envision very few teenagers (OK, truly none) coming up with such an idea, especially involving the murder and mutilation of animals to obtain a copious amount of blood to throw on her, when any easily obtainable liquid substance would do for their purposes. Plus the unreliable positioning of the bucket with a single rope - chances are the blood would have gone everywhere but on the target.
2. Are we really expected to believe that after such a ghastly incident all of the students and teachers would then laugh hysterically over the event without making any move to help her, including the sympathetic gym teacher who has acted like a mentor to her? One poster suggested that the universal laughing was in Carrie's mind, but after several viewings of the film there is nothing to suggest that the laughing is anything but literal as depicted by DePalma. As such, their reactions are completely ridiculous.
3. Finally, are we really expected to believe that Carrie in her rage would ultimately harm or kill the people who have shown her kindness along with everyone else? Not only did her date appear to be falling for her and conducted himself like a true gentleman, but it was obvious even to her that he was shocked by the trick and was almost immediately injured in its aftermath (in a really stupid way!). Are we to believe that with the type of person Carrie was that she would thoughtlessly allow the unconscious guy to burn to death in the flames? Not to mention to cruel way that she dispatches the gym teacher.
The film does have another great thing going for it other than its underdog story, and this helps lift above the mundane and silly. DePalma either had a great eye for casting or a superlative casting agent. Sissy Spacek was fully worth her Oscar nomination and cuts a sympathetic and appealing figure as Carrie. Piper Laurie is a cruel delight as the quintessential religious zealot as depicted back in the days when such people were considered fringe lunatics rather than mainstream Americans (oh, the good old days!). While their characters are unbelievable, both Nancy Allen and John Travolta turn in memorably vicious efforts as the "masterminds" behind the plot. William Katt, Amy Irving and Betty Buckley are all appealing as the various people who take Carrie under their wing and unwittingly set her up for the fall.