Monsters

Rating: 8/10 (14 April 2011)

Stephen King is noted as an author of horror stories - stories involving monsters, if you will. Carrie tells the story of a teenage girl with telekinetic powers which kick in with the onset of puberty, who kills her entire high school year at the Prom - at first glance, an obvious monster. Yet the beauty of this story (and it is an ugly beauty, if such a thing is possible) is that Carrie is not the monster -she is a victim. The monsters are her mother and a large part of her class at high school.
The only major discrepancy between King's novel and DePalma's adaptation is that Sissy Spacek is a good deal cuter than King's Carrie White. But she is just as vulnerable, damaged, frightened and victimised and, ultimately, the difference in appearance does not matter in the slightest for dramatic purposes.
This film is excellent all round. The performances are all very good, and the direction is stunningly effective - it suits the material perfectly.
And the movie is also notable for the names it put on the map - DePalma, King, Spacek, Allen, Travolta. King hasn't always been fortunate with film adaptations, but he had nothing to complain about here.