Carrie and the prom.

Rating: 10/10 (31 October 2015)

To me this brilliant classic is one of the very-most defining viewing experiences of the entire horror genre. It's one that grabs you right from the beginning and doesn't let go, and it leaves an effect that is profoundly disturbing. Not due to any grotesque shock value, but by emotion. Maybe even more so than in any other horror movie that I've ever seen, it has such a tremendous depth of emotion. The tone is always dead on and perfect and it can really can make you feel whatever it's setting out to. Watching it recently, it made me think about what actually makes a horror movie just that. Most of it plays out like a tense drama with a strange darkness to it, one that really dives into grim horror as it nears its bitter end. It's a real mixture of tones, and thankfully a very effective one. The score itself works like a character and is a huge part of the film's enduring appeal. I mean what fan ever thinks of this picture and doesn't also automatically think of that iconic music? You don't even have to say to someone "Think of the music of Carrie", you can just say "Think of Carrie" and that achingly poignant theme will pop into someone's head, and that's one of the biggest compliments you could ever give a score. Can't believe they've attempted to remake this twice, give it up fools! Try to think up your own damn ideas, you will never surpass the original, your reboots deserved to flop. In my opinion it's the chemistry and combined performances of Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie that truly drive this film and make it so very exceptional. Carrie is such an innocent pure and fragile waif of a girl who happens to possess a very dangerous special gift, and you really feel that she's been through hell. It may sound cold but all my sympathy lies with her for all that she goes through and how she ends up, becoming a figure of nightmare, a 'devil', it's almost as though her mother has won. And Piper Laurie, wow! She cuts such an imposing and commanding woman. Her face had such a kind, almost saintly glow to it. You'd never know what a monster she was. And I'd say she was, because she kept her own daughter's womanhood completely unknown to her and never told her what to expect, and when she does come home traumatised from the humiliating ordeal she declares it a sin and locks Carrie up in the closet with the terrifying idol of Christ. She uses her own twisted religion as an excuse to treat her daughter so poorly, no wonder that she winds up ironically getting crucified by her. The magnificent prom sequence is dazzlingly shot and choreographed. It plays out like delicate glass that shatters with the fateful splattering of the pig's blood... Absolutely phenomenal and flawless buildup and payoff. After all that it's so heartbreaking to watch, all of her hopes and dreams for a normal life are literally in ashes, and she has nowhere to go and no one to turn to except an insane mother who stabs her in the back. That final scene still gives me a chill to this day. The way the rock tumbles out of the way as the bloody arm lashes out and grabs onto the guilt-ridden Sue. Sheer brilliance, it's one legendary jump-scare of an ending that leaves a haunting memory... So moving, horrific, and tragic, and just plain overall a masterful horror film. I always did love it very much, thank you. "I pray you find Jesus!"