Bullying can have unexpected consequences

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2013)

I really liked this movie when it came out, it is a true classic still drawing an audience almost 40 years after it was made as well as being studied in film classes.
This time around I found much of it ugly. I thought it was an ugly movie about ugly people but that's just me. My reaction doesn't detract from the genius of the film.
Could anyone besides Sissy done the character of Carrie justice? Sissy's performance was pitch perfect and Laurie Piper's portrayal as Carrie's insane mother was other-worldly. She and Sissy richly deserved their Oscar nominations.
De Palma used a few innovative camera tricks. For instance the stomach-churning dance scene was done by placing the actors on a spinning platform and then spinning the camera around them in the opposite direction. As he gradually speeds up the spinning we become disoriented and anxious. Something's not right here but we don't quite know what it is.
Sue's eerie walk to visit Sissy's house in the dream sequence at the end of the movie was filmed with her walking backwards then played forward in the movie. Her luminous quality was created by filming at night under artificial light.
The ending, of course, was unexpected, horrifying, and guaranteed to frighten even the most steadfast viewers.
This was Stephen King's first book and he received $2500 for the film rights which would be about $14,000 in today's dollars. That turned out to be a steal but considering this was King's first novel and to have it made into a movie was a break for him. He approved of the movie saying it is "good".