one of the more entertaining, chilling, and tragic stories ever about High school

Rating: 9/10 (30 July 2006)

Carrie is from a novel by Stephen King, and directed by Brian De Palma, and it can more than likely be found in any horror section of the video store. But to me the film may lend itself more to being a kind of weird, darkly satiric take on High school life that only really gets into the outright horror in the last twenty minutes. For the most part Carrie could just as well be a fable about the ugly duckling or some other kind of outcast. Nothing in the film or story is necessarily subtle, but it's hard for me to carp- all of the one to two dimensional characters are brilliantly played, and through such fantastical material there is a truth reached that might not be struck with a different cast or director. It's a unique blend of theatricality, style, and some very realistic, harsh notes about societal repression. That it's fun, and funny, at different times also puts it a notch above other genre material (certainly above other King adaptations about the mawkish loner with special powers).
Sissy Spacek is in a career-making performance as Carrie, the awkward girl that everybody in school (at least all of the juvenile teen girls in gym class) teases to no end, who's own paralyzed way of being among people works against her. The first big chunk of the film is really dramatically satisfying and heart-wrenching with, aside from the obvious 'trait' Carrie possesses, could happen to any loner teen. After an accident in the girl's shower, to which taunting reaches a high peak, all of the girls (including the likes of PJ Soles, Amy Irving, and the very sexy b*tch Chris played by Nancy Allen) get detention under the only one who really cares for Carrie (Betty Buckley), and so the girls plot revenge involving the senior prom and a bucket of pig's blood. Meanwhile, Carrie still gets her ultimate repression by her bible-thumping, very nuts mother (Piper Laurie in the most successfully over-the-top performance of the film). As the prom nears, a near iconic line 'they're all gonna laugh at you' pops up, and becomes the crux of the last grueling act of the film.
De Palma has only a handful of films that come close to this one for his sheer love for over-stylized, prolonged scenes that almost start to comment on themselves. And there's a really wonderful element to some of it, it's almost akin to Sergio Leone's the Good the Bad and the Ugly in just trying to see how far he can take his style before it might implode or get to just the right height of suspense. Obvious enough are the Hitchcock lifts in parts of the style, most notably in the climax with the split-screens and very similar music cues (all he's missing is Bernard Hermann). But his style works to making scenes already with a satirical tinge funnier as opposed for just shocking edginess. My favorite was the scene showing the gym teacher working the girls hard out on the field, this reaching almost a cartoonish side to it. And, of course, what would a 70s horror movie be without an amazingly explicit, slow-motion jump-cuts in the girl's locker room? This style works best with King's material, adding an extra emphasis on the emotional manipulations and cruelty, and rigid, constricting structure, that school imposes.
Sometimes, too, part of the enjoyment in seeing a film like this is not just the take on a telekinetic getting her vengeance on her teasers and pranksters, but how it all fits well into a psychology and general outlook on High school. Certain scenes with the supporting characters are good at this, like with a very amusing John Travolta and Allen in the car. This is the kind of take on high school life that likely inspired other films like Heathers and Donnie Darko, but Carrie has a kind of timeless quality to it too. On the other hand, if you are looking through the store and want Carrie to be a genuine horror film- once it truly transitions into that section, it's (appropriately) gory, lavish, and unexpected; I had already seen this climactic scene somewhere before seeing the whole film, but it still kept me on my toes, particularly the final confrontation between mother and daughter. One of the best King adaptations and a very good turn from director and cast.