Our little girl is becoming a woman...and ONE of a kind !

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2003)

Spoilers AHOY !!!
Carrie - the movie - belongs to the finest adaptations of a Stephen King novel. I never read the book ( I don't read at all, actually ) but I can't imagine King would have wanted his story to be shown otherwise. Brian DePalma creates a terrific atmosphere here and the tension is always present. This movie is unique in many points of view. It's a perfect combination of horror and drama elements and that's not an easy thing to do. If you add a very frightening musical score to that and acting performances that are pretty close to perfection, you get the kind of film that we like to call MASTERPIECES !!!
The plot is pretty much the most original thing that ever came out of the pen of Stephen King. The life of a girl in her late teens, Carrie. She doesn't have any friends, she kept very close by her religious mother and most of all, she doesn't know anything about nature and growing up. When she gets her period for the first time, she's being laughed at in a very traumatic way. With the help of an understanding teacher and a few students with a good heart, Carrie is accepted at last and even invited for the senior prom ...But, just when she thinks her luck is turning, she faces the ultimate nighmare...
Carrie is a whole of fascinating, memorable and even touching scenes. The whole opening scene takes your breath away and then I don't even mention the entire prom scene. Horror and suspense cinema as pure as it gets. The movie is totally carried - sorry for the inappropriate use of words - by the acting performances of Sissy Spacek ( Carrie ) and Piper Laurie ( Mrs. White - Carrie's mother ). They both were nominated for an Oscar. I don't know who won that year ( probably someone from the cast of Network ) but they didn't deserve it !! The Academy Award belonged to these ladies here, no doubt about that. Smaller roles by John Travolta and Nance Allen are great as well. Even William Katt did a great job here but his character looks too much like a sheep. Nice haircut dude, keep up the 70's spirit. Brian DePalma did some of his best work in the 70's and Carrie belongs to his highlights. He often gets accused of being a Hitchock imitator, but in this film he certainly proves that he can create a unique atmosphere all by himself.

It has to be said...Carrie has one negative aspect in my opinion. Although this is nobody's fault, I would have wished the movie to be a bit longer ( that's a comment I don't give very often ). Personally I would have loved to see a bit more background on Carrie's family situation and a better explanation of the telekinetic forces she has. Her whole mysterious powers come all of a sudden and maybe that is a bit of a shame. The supernatural elements in Carrie aren't stressed enough but that's just my opinion, of course.