Carrie (1976 film)

**Carrie** is a 1976 American supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay written by Lawrence D. Cohen adapted from Stephen King's 1974 epistolary novel of the same name. The film stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie White a shy 15-year-old who is consistently mocked and bullied at school. The film also features Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, William Katt, Betty Buckley and John Travolta in supporting roles.

The film was based on Stephen's first published novel. Brain was intrigued by the story and pushed for the studio to direct it while Sissy was encouraged by her husband to audition. It is the first of more than 100 film and television productions adapted from the published works of Stephen.

Theatrically released on November 3th, 1976 by United Artists Carrie became critically and commercially successful grossing over $33.8 million against its $1.8 million budget. It received 2 nominations at the 49th Academy Awards for best actress and best supporting actress. Critics and audience members alike widely cite it as the best adaptation of the novel amongst the numerous films and television shows based on the character as well as one of the best films based on Stephen's publications.

The film has significantly influenced popular culture with several publications regarding it as one of the greatest horror films ever made. In 2008 Carrie was ranked 86th on Empire's list of The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time. It was ranked 15th on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies and 46th on the American Film Institute list *AFI’s 100 Years 100 Thrills*. The film's prom scene has had a major influence on popular culture and was ranked 8th on Bravo's 2004 program, *The 100 Scariest Movie Moments*.

## Plot

Shy 15-year-old Carrie White who lives with her fanatically religious and unstable mother, Margaret White is unpopular at school and often bullied by her peers. When Carrie experiences her first period in the school’s shower she panics having never been told about this process. Carrie's classmates throw tampons at her while chanting "Plug it up!" until the gym teacher, Miss Collins intervenes. Following conversations with Miss Collins and the principal, Mr. Morton Carrie is dismissed from school for the day. After arriving home Margaret tells Carrie that her menstruation was caused by "sin" and she locks Carrie in an altar-like "prayer" closet to pray for forgiveness. At school Miss Collins reprimands Carrie's tormentors punishing them with a week-long detention during gym class. She threatens that those who skip the punitive measure will be suspended for 3 days and barred from the upcoming prom. However, Carrie's longtime bully the wealthy and popular Chris Hargensen walks out and gets excluded from the prom.

Plotting vengeance against Carrie, Chris and her boyfriend, Billy Nolan break into a farm and kill a pig to drain it’s blood into a bucket which they place above the school's stage in the gymnasium. Norma Watson, Chris' best friend and a prominent figure in the school's student council regime plans to rig the prom king and queen election in Carrie's favor to get her on the stage. Meanwhile, Sue Snell a deeply remorseful classmate asks her handsome and popular boyfriend, Tommy Ross to invite Carrie to the prom. Carrie believes the proposition is a prank but he insists that it is genuine and she reluctantly accepts after Miss Collins consoles her. At home she begins to discover that she has telekinesis as she shakes off her shyness. Despite Margaret's protests Carrie puts on a flattering dress and hairstyle for the prom. Margaret sees Carrie's telekinetic powers and denounces her as a "witch" before Carrie leaves with Tommy.

During the prom Chris and Billy hide under the stage while the other conspirators switch the ballots to ensure that Carrie wins the prom queen title. As Carrie stands onstage with Tommy finally beginning to feel accepted by her peers Sue realizes Chris and Billy's plan and begins to intervene. Miss Collins spots Sue and thinking that she is up to no good throws her out of the prom. Chris and Billy pull the rope attached to the bucket of pig blood dousing Carrie they then sneak out of the school. The empty bucket hits the outraged Tommy in the head and he collapses. The crowd is left shocked and speechless at the prank but Carrie believes that everyone even Miss Collins is mocking her and in a sudden outburst telekinetically seals the exits and controls a fire hose which injures several prom-goers attempting to escape and sprays the overhead lights. Miss Collins is crushed by a falling basketball backboard and Mr. Morton and Mr. Fromm are electrocuted setting the gym on fire. Carrie exits the gym and seals the doors behind her trapping staff and classmates. As Carrie walks home Chris and Billy attempt to run her over with Billy's car but Carrie causes their car to overturn and explode killing them.

After Carrie bathes herself at home Margaret reveals that Carrie was conceived when her husband, Ralph White was drunk an act that Margaret shamefully admits she enjoyed. She comforts Carrie and then stabs her in the back with a kitchen knife and begins chasing her through the house. Carrie levitates several sharp implements and sends them flying toward Margaret crucifying her then she destroys the house and perishes. Some time later Sue the only survivor of the prom has a nightmare in which she goes to lay flowers on the charred remains of Carrie's home upon which stands a cross vandalized in black paint with the words "Carrie White burns in Hell!". Suddenly Carrie's bloody arm reaches from beneath the rubble and grabs Sue's forearm. Sue wakes up screaming and writhing in terror as her mother, Eleanor Snell tries to comfort her.

## Cast

* Sissy Spacek as Carrie White
* Piper Laurie as Margaret White
* Amy Irving as Sue Snell
* William Katt as Tommy Ross
* Nancy Allen as Chris Hargensen
* John Travolta as Billy Nolan
* Betty Buckley as Miss Collins
* P.J. Sole as Norma Watson
* Edie McClurg as Helen Shyres
* Cindy Daly as Cora Wilson
* Deirdre Berthrong as Rhonda Wilson
* Cynthia Schuler Larsen as Alice Litten
* Sydne Jane Michel as Julia McDermitt
* Sharon Benson as Ruth Gogan
* Katie Irving as Katie O’Shea
* Terry Bolo as Trudy Bourne
* Noelle North as Frieda Jason
* Michael Talbott as Freddy DeLois
* Rory Stevens as Kenny Garson
* Doug Cox as The Beak
* Harry Gold as George Dawson
* Anson Downes as Ernest Peterson
* Jean Glaudé as Afro Guy
* Stefan Gierasch as Mr. Morton
* Sydney Lassick as Mr. Fromm
* Priscilla Pointer as Eleanor Snell
* Cameron De Palma as Bobby Erbeter

## Production

### Development

Carrie was the first Stephen King novel to be published and the first to be adapted into a feature film. During an interview in 2010 Stephen said he was 26-years-old at the time and was paid just $2,500 for the film rights but added "I was fortunate to have that happen to my first book". Brain De Palma told Cinefantastique magazine in an interview in 1977.

"I read the book. It was suggested to me by a writer friend of mine. A writer friend of his Stephen King had written it. I guess this was almost 2 years ago. I liked it a lot and proceeded to call my agent to find out who owned it. I found out that nobody had bought it yet. A lot of studios were considering it so I called around to some of the people I knew and said it was a terrific book and I'm very interested in doing it. Then nothing happened for I guess 6 months".

Lawrence D. Cohen was hired as the screenwriter and produced the first draft which had closely followed the novel's intentions. United Artists accepted the second draft but only allocated Brain a budget of $1.6 million a small amount considering the popularity of horror films at the time. The budget eventually rose to $1.8 million. Certain scripted scenes were omitted from the final version mainly due to financial limitations.

### Casting

Many young actresses auditioned for the lead role including Melanie Griffith. Sissy Spacek was persuaded by husband, Jack Fisk to audition for the title role. Jack then convinced Brian to let her audition and she read for all of the parts. Brian's first choice for the role of Carrie was Betsy Slade who received good notices for her role in the film, *Our Time*. Determined to land the leading role, Sissy backed out of a television commercial she was scheduled to film, rubbed vaseline into her hair, left her face unwashed and arrived for her screen test clad in a sailor dress which her mother had made her in the 7th grade with the hem cut off and was given the part.

Nancy Allen was the last to audition and her audition came just as she was on the verge of leaving Hollywood. She and Brian later married in 1979 but they divorced in 1984.

### Filming

Brian began with director of photography, Isidore Mankofsky who was eventually replaced by Mario Tosi after conflict between Isidore and Brian ensued. Gregory M. Auer assisted by Ken Pepiot served as the special effectssupervisor for Carrie with Jack, Sissy's husband as art director.

The Whites' house was filmed in Santa Paula, California. To give the house a Gothic theme the director and producers visited religious souvenir shops to find artifacts to decorate the set location.

A wraparound segment at the beginning and end of the film was scripted and filmed which featured the Whites' home being pummeled by stones that hailed from the sky. The opening scene was filmed as planned, though on celluloid the tiny pebbles looked like rain water. A mechanical malfunction botched filming the night when the model of the Whites' home was set to be destroyed by stones so the filmmakers burned it down instead and deleted the scenes with the stones altogether. The original opening scene is presumed lost.

The final scene in which Sue Snell reaches toward Carrie White's grave was shot backwards to give it a dream-like quality. This scene was inspired by the final scene in *Deliverance*. Rather than let a stunt double perform the scene underground Sissy insisted on using her own hand in the scene so she was positioned under the rocks and gravel. Brian explains that crew members

"Had to bury her. Bury her! We had to put her in a box and stick her underneath the ground. Well, I had her husband bury her because I certainly didn't want to bury her".

### Music

The score for Carrie was composed by Pino Donaggio. In addition Pino scored 2 pop songs, "Born To Have It All" and "I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me" with lyrics by Merrit Malloy for the early portion of the prom sequence. These songs were performed by Katie Irving. Pino would work again with Brian on *Home Movies*, *Dressed To Kill*, *Blow Out*, *Body Double*, *Raising Cain*, *Passion* and *Domino*.

The soundtrack album was originally released on vinyl in 1976 from United Artists Records. A deluxe CD edition containing a few tracks of dialogue from the film was released by Rykodisc in 1997 and a 2005 CD re-release of the original soundtrack was available from Varèse Sarabande. In 2010 Kritzerland Records released all 35 cues of Pino's score for the film on a 2-disc CD set which was presented as the complete score. Also included in this edition were the versions of "Born To Have It All" and "I Never Dreamed" which were heard in the film as well as instrumentals of both songs and hidden at the end of the final track a version of the "Calisthenics" cue with Betty Buckley's studio-recorded voice-over from the detention scene. The 2nd disc was a remastered copy of the original 13-track album. The Kritzerland release was a limited edition of 1,200 copies. Kritzerland re-released the first disc as "The Encore Edition" in February 2013 this release was limited to 1,000 copies.

## Release

The film opened November 3th, 1976 in 17 theaters in the Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. area. 2 days later it opened in 9 theaters in Chicago, Illinois before opening in 53 theaters in New York City, New York on November 16th and in Los Angeles, California on November 17th.

## Reception And Legacy

Carrie received widespread critical acclaim and was cited as one of the best films of the year. The review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 93% based on 67 reviews with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads "Carrie is a horrifying look at supernatural powers, high school cruelty, teen angst and it brings us one of the most memorable and disturbing prom scenes in history". On Metacritic which assigns a normalized rating based on reviews the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 14 critic reviews indicating "universal acclaim".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times stated the film was an "absolutely spellbinding horror movie" as well as an "observant human portrait" giving 3 and a half stars out of 4. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker stated that Carrie was "the best scary funny movie since *Jaws* a teasing, terrifying and lyrical shocker". Take One Magazine critic Susan Schenker said she was "angry at the way Carrie manipulated me to the point where my heart was thudding and embarrassed because the film really works". A 1998 edition of The Movie Guide stated Carrie was a "landmark horror film" while Stephen Farber prophetically stated in a 1978 issue of New West Magazine "it's a horror classic and years from now it will still be written and argued about and it will still be scaring the daylights out of new generations of movie goers". Quentin Tarantino placed Carrie at #8 in a list of his favorite films ever.

In a 2010 interview Stephen King replied that he thought although dated now Carrie was a "good movie". Nevertheless the film was not without its detractors. Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice commented "There are so few incidents that 2 extended sequences are rendered in slow-motion as if to pad out the running time…" Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2 and a half stars out of 4 and called it "a crude shocker with a little style" praising the "strong performances" but opining that the movie "falls apart" during the climax which he described as "crude and sloppy".

### Box Office

Carrie was a box office success earning $14.5 million in theatrical rentals in the United States and Canada by January 1978 from a gross of $33.8 million. In its first 19 days from 60 markets the film had grossed $3,882,827. Overseas the film earned rentals of $7 million for a worldwide total of $22 million.

### Accolades

Carrie is one of the few horror films to be nominated for multiple Academy Awards. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie received nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards respectively. The film also won the grand prize at The Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival while Sissy was given The Best Actress Award by The National Society Of Film Critics. In 2008 Carrie was ranked #86 on Empire Magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time. The movie also ranked #15 on the Entertainment Weekly list of the 50 Best High School Movies and #46 on the American Film Institute's list of *100 Years 100 Thrills* and was also ranked 8th for its ending sequence on Bravo's *The 100 Scariest Movie Moments*.

## Related Productions

Carrie along with the novel has been reproduced and adapted several times.

### Sequel

The Rage: Carrie 2 was released in 1999. It featured another teenager with telekinetic powers who is revealed to have shared the father with Carrie White. The film received universally negative reviews and was a box office failure. Amy Irving reprises her role of Sue Snell from the previous film.

### 2002 Remake

In 2002 a television remake based on Stephen King's novel and starring Angela Bettis in the titular role was released. The film updated the events of the story to modern-day settings and technology while simultaneously attempting to be more faithful to the novel's original structure, storyline and specific events. However, the ending was drastically changed instead of killing her mother and then herself the film has Carrie killing her mother being revived through CPR by Sue Snell and being driven to Florida to hide. This new ending marked a complete divergence from the novel and was a signal that the film served as a pilot for a Carrie television series which never materialized. In the new ending the rescued Carrie vows to help others with similar gifts to her own. Although Angela's portrayal of Carrie was highly praised the film was cited by most critics as inferior to the original.

### 2013 Remake

In May 2011 MGM and Screen Gems announced that Carrie would be adapted to a film once more. Playwright, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa wrote the script as "a more faithful adaptation" of Stephen's novel but shared a screenplay credit with the 1976 film's writer, Lawrence D. Cohen. Roberto had previously adapted Stephen's epic novel, The Stand into a comic-book form in 2008. The role of Carrie was played by 16-year-old actress, Chloë Grace Moretz. Julianne Moore starred as Carrie's mother, Margaret White and Gabriella Wilde as Sue Snell. Alex Russell and Broadway actor, Ansel Elgort played Billy Nolan and Tommy Ross respectively. Portia Doubleday was given the role of Chris Hargensen and Judy Greer was cast as Miss Desjardin. Kimberly Peirce known for her work on *Boys Don't Cry* directed the new adaptation. It was released on October 18th, 2013 and received mixed reviews.

### Stage Productions

A 1988 Broadway musical of the same name based on Stephen's novel and starring Betty Buckley, Linzi Hateley and Darlene Love closed after only 16 previews and 5 performances. An English pop opera filtered through Greek tragedy the show was so notorious that it provided the title to Ken Mandelbaum's survey of theatrical disasters, Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops.

Early in the 21st century playwright, Erik Jackson attempted to secure the rights to stage another production of Carrie: The Musical but his request was rejected. Erik eventually earned the consent of Stephen to mount a new officially sanctioned non-musical production of Carrie which debuted Off-Broadway in 2006 with drag queen, Sherry Vine in the lead role. Similarly many other unofficial spoofs have been staged over the years usually with a gym teacher named "Miss Collins" most notably the "parodage" Scarrie! The Musical which hit the Illinois stage in 1998 and was revived in 2005. Dad's Garage Theatre's 2002 production of Carrie White: The Musical and the 2007 New Orleans production of Carrie's Facts Of Life which was a hybrid of Carrie and the classic American sitcom, *The Facts Of Life*. A high school production of the musical is the focus of "Chapter 31: A Night To Remember" episode of *Riverdale*.

## Home Media

Carrie was originally released on VHS and LaserDisc formats for which it received numerous editions throughout the world.

In the United States and Canada, Carrie has been made available several times on DVD format from MGM Home Entertainment debuting on September 29th, 1998 while a "Special Edition" set was released on August 28th, 2001. On December 4th, 2007 the film was released a part of MGM's "Decades Collection" which included a soundtrack CD. The film was additionally released within multiple sets through MGM first as part of the "United Artists 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection" on December 11th, 2007. A set featuring Carrie, The Rage: Carrie 2 and Carrie was released on September 14th, 2010 and as part of MGM's 90th anniversary the film was included with *Misery* and *The Silence Of The Lambs* on June 3th, 2014.

The film was released for the first time on Blu-ray in the U.S. and Canada from MGM on October 7th, 2008 which contained an MPEG-2 codec with new DTS-HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio while retaining the original English Mono and included Spanish Audio and French 5.1 Dolby Surround. The only special feature on the set is a theatrical trailer. The film was again released on Blu-ray on July 18th, 2013 when it was available exclusively through Comic-Con in San Diego from MGM and FoxConnect containing a slipcover with exclusive artwork. 2 further editions were made available from MGM in 2014 a "Carrie 2-Pack" set containing the original film and the 2013 remake released September 9th, 2014 and finally a re-issue Blu-ray with a collectible Halloween faceplate on October 21st, 2014. Home distribution rights are currently held by Shout Factory and the film was released through their subsidiary label Scream Factory on October 11th, 2016 in a 2-disc "Collector's Edition" now available with MPEG-4 coding and a new 4K scan. Special features on the set include the theatrical trailer, Carrie franchise trailer gallery, new interviews with Lawrence D. Cohen, Paul Hirsch, Piper Laurie, P.J. Soles, Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, William Katt Edie McClurg, Harriet B. Helberg Mario Tosi and Pino Donaggio, Horror's Hallowed Grounds: Revisiting The Film's Original Locations, Acting Carrie, Visualizing Carrie, a look at Carrie: The Musical, TV spots, radio spots, still gallery and Stephen King And The Evolution Of Carrie text gallery. The set also includes reversible sleeve containing original artwork and newly commissioned artwork from Shout Factory and a slipcover containing the new artwork. On October 11th, 2016 Shout Factory additionally released a "Deluxe Limited Edition" of 2000 copies which includes the slipcover contained in the "Collector's Edition" with an additional poster matching the slipcover and an alternative slipcover and poster consisting of different artwork.

In the United Kingdom, the film received its initial DVD release on February 1st, 2000 through MGM. A reissue "Special Edition" DVD was made available from MGM on October 22nd, 2001 while a 2-disc standard set was released on September 7th, 2006. A DVD set "The Carrie Collection" consisting of both the original film and The Rage: Carrie 2 was released from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on October 7th, 2013 while on the same day a reissue DVD containing newly commissioned artwork as well as the first-ever Blu-ray release in the UK was made available from 20th Century Fox. A 2nd Blu-ray edition became available in the form of a steelbook released on September 29th, 2014 a set which reverted to the previous-style artwork.

On September 22nd, 2017 it was announced that Carrie would receive a "Limited Collector's Edition" Blu-ray of 5,000 copies from Arrow Films providing the definitive release of the film. The set contained a new 4K restoration with special features including commentary by Lee Gambin and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas recorded exclusively for the release, brand-new visual essay comparing the various versions and adaptations of Carrie, Acting Carrie, More Acting Carrie, Writing Carrie, Shooting Carrie, Cutting Carrie, Casting Carrie, Bucket Of Blood, Horror's Hallowed Grounds, gallery, trailer, TV spots, radio spots, Carrie trailer reel and 60-page limited-edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by Neil Mitchell alongside reversible artwork, poster and art cards. The set was released on December 11th, 2017.