Carrie (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Carrie (Special Edition)
Movie Review: The most heartbreaking of horror films
Summary: 5 Stars
I was like her once.... Maybe that's why this movie is so heartbreaking for me to watch. Its whole buildup to the inevitable climax at the Bates High School prom is so expertly constructed out of plot devices, stellar character development, and amazing visual style that we are helplessly swept out to sea by the undertow of our love for the title character. Carrie White (flawless Sissy Spacek) is so wonderfully innocent and remarkably performed that we have no choice in the matter. We are like her prom date at first: Sort of iffy, but then we can't help but adore her. And we can't help but empathize with her because of this grotesque life that she is forced to lead by her pamphlet-pushing religious radical of a mother (the outstanding Piper Laurie). The scenes between the mother and daughter in this film are the key to its satirical elements, as well as giving us a crucial understanding of Carrie's mind. We know why she's so shy, so emotionally distraught, because we would be too in her situation. The very first scene between Spacek and Laurie is a virtuoso, not so much of acting as being the characters, embodying them so fully that all traces of the actresses disappear. They are the key to the entire film; that and Brian Depalma's incredible visuals, which inject every last bit of fear into our veins. Depalma comments on one of the DVD documentaries that he had more time to toy with the visuals in "Carrie" than in any other movie he made. It shows. His POV and incredibly detailed crane shots are why certain scenes work at all. By seeing what these characters see, it becomes easier to understand why they act the way they do. Some people might criticize for the excessive use of slow motion, calling it overkill, but it does volumes for the buildup to the climax, which is so powerful with its harsh, constant musical undertone that I dare call it one of the best, most disquieting scenes ever filmed. As Carrie's dark and ruthless use of her telekinetic powers practically rules her body as she wreaks havoc, if not for the sounds of the film itself, you could hear a pindrop every time I've watched the film with company.The film begins with Carrie in the far corner of the screen, awaiting a volleyball toss that she will miss, provoking insults from the girls in her gym class. Then we are shown the locker room in what would have been an exploitation shot if not for the fact that the music and slow motion camerawork make it seem so beautiful. But we are also put on our guard because of this shot, which shows full frontal nudity; frowned upon in most corners of cinema. However it makes one thing clear: This is a director who will do anything. All the "Halloween" cliches are not to be found here. There are no cheap shocks. Everything is crafted with only the purpose of building tension, from the blood cascading down Carrie's leg in the shower to one of the single best crane shots I've ever seen, where our fears are allowed to build and build to the breaking point, only to have them build some more before the final purge. The parallel stories of a revenge plot and Carrie's being asked to the prom by the most popular guy in school take the film along at the exact pace it needs, and the intercut scenes with Carrie and her mother supply the emotional center for the film, which rests with our love for Carrie: A character so sweet and unassuming that the slow motion approach to the stage brings a smile to our faces too, even though we are terrified of what awaits her. Therein lies the power of the film. The more we love Carrie, the more we hate her antagonists and feel hurt that they would be so cruel.
"Carrie" is quite possibly the single most dramatically sound horror film ever made. It maps out its characters so vividly and realistically that we never question anyone's actions. There's none of those traditional "She's so stupid!" remarks you hear in so many a horror film audience. "Carrie" is the real deal. A film that builds an entire house made out of brittle cards of terror, stacking it up until it falls and our fears are realized. There are no scenes of ridiculous scares or people jumping out of the closets to scare their buddies. Depalma recognizes these kind of devices for what they are: Useless. His film is a superb example of how many ways a story can go right, and it is a masterpiece that I am proud to place very high on my list of favorite films.
Movie Review: Don't let the rating fool you.
Summary: 5 Stars
The acting was flawless in Carrie but I have many critcisms and complaints about a movie like this. It's very hard to enjoy Carrie. How anyone can I do not know. I've seen it years ago, but it was on tv last month and I couldn't stop crying. It is sooo depressing and not a laughing matter at all. This is a very serious issue. Kids coming to school with guns and killing their peers who teased and verbally abused them on a daily basis for years all throughout high school, is no joke. In Carrie, that sick and demented Kris girl, and the classmates who terrorized Carrie, and the whole time she just wanted to be accepted and to fit in with her peers. She finally gets a chance to go to prom with a nice genuine guy, and when she gets the nerve to go, she is laughed at, and lets not forget the pigs blood scene which is anything but funny. The movie is depressing and sad and gets worse and worse for carrie, who is a sweet, shy, and beautiful girl and the only reason she is different is because of the way she was raised by her psychopathic, religious fanatic, demented, and abusive mother, who by the way tries to kill her own daughter at the end. No happy ending. Carrie dies when her emotions get out of control, and her teleniketic powers cause the house to crumble causing her to die, after having to kill her mother in her own defense. Tommy Ross died, and he was the only good guy in the school it seemed. Schools have done hardly anything to stop the abuse of other classmates in real life. I was often teased and believe me it's no laughing matter. I did ageree with what the p.e. teacher did by punishing the snotty girls in the locker room who threw tampons at carrie telling her to plug it up, when she thought she was dying and did not know what a period was because of her deranged mother. It's just not a happy movie. You almost can't feel sympathy at the end for the kids who are killed by Carrie, the ones that tortured carrie and laughed at her, and even tried to kill her by running her over with the car (Kris and Travolta). A person can only take so much. (I'm not condoning turning to homicidal revenge. Just saying that in the movie you constantly despise the other kids, and feel sympathetic for Carrie)And that awful music that plays throughout the film is so sad, and makes you want to just shut it off. No wonder my mom, who was a teenager in the 70's, hated this sad and demented movie.
One last thing I am sure is often over-looked. When the blood is poured on carrie, she begins to hallucinate. It was so tramatic and humuliating that she began to see and hear things that were not there. It first showed most of the kids laughing, but not the p.e. teacher, or the girl that was friends with Tommy Ross or her boyfriend. See what happened was, it showed US (the viewers) the people who DID laugh, and then showed Carrie hearing "plug it up plug it up, we're so sorry cassie, they are all gonna laugh at you, ..over and over again, and she thought that everyone was turning on her, even the p.e. teacher, who was really looking horrified once the blood bucket dropped. So all the abuse and teasing, finally had come to a breaking point, which pychiatrists call, a mental breakdown, or post-dramatic stress disorder, or temporarily insane, which are not made up disorders, they really do happen. So when that was going on, that's when her emotions came to a boiling point, and she killed everyone in the room uncontrollably, and the guilt even led to her own death. So to say Carrie is the evil one in the movie is not logical. It can happen to the best of us.
TO THE PEOPLE WHO ENJOYED THE PIG BLOOD SCENE OR WHO ENJOYED WATCHING CARRIE GET BRUTALLY TEASED: You are sadistic and immature and don't know anything about pain and suffering, or compassion. How can anyone enjoy it. There is something sickly wrong with all of you. I know it's only a movie, but what does that say about you?? The idea makes you sick to your stomach, that people enjoy the suffering of others. Get a life. This happens everyday in schools, and when kids turn to violence and rage, it's nothing to be proud of as a teaser/tormentor, because it will come right around back to you.
Movie Review: The most heartbreaking of horror films
Summary: 5 Stars
I was like her once.... Maybe that's why this movie is so heartbreaking for me to watch. Its whole buildup to the inevitable climax at the Bates High School prom is so expertly constructed out of plot devices, stellar character development, and amazing visual style that we are helplessly swept out to sea by the undertow of our love for the title character. Carrie White (flawless Sissy Spacek) is so wonderfully innocent and remarkably performed that we have no choice in the matter. We are like her prom date at first: Sort of iffy, but then we can't help but adore her. And we can't help but empathize with her because of this grotesque life that she is forced to lead by her pamphlet-pushing religious radical of a mother (the outstanding Piper Laurie). The scenes between the mother and daughter in this film are the key to its satirical elements, as well as giving us a crucial understanding of Carrie's mind. We know why she's so shy, so emotionally distraught, because we would be too in her situation. The very first scene between Spacek and Laurie is a virtuoso, not so much of acting as being the characters, embodying them so fully that all traces of the actresses disappear. They are the key to the entire film; that and Brian Depalma's incredible visuals, which inject every last bit of fear into our veins. Depalma comments on one of the DVD documentaries that he had more time to toy with the visuals in "Carrie" than in any other movie he made. It shows. His POV and incredibly detailed crane shots are why certain scenes work at all. By seeing what these characters see, it becomes easier to understand why they act the way they do. Some people might criticize for the excessive use of slow motion, calling it overkill, but it does volumes for the buildup to the climax, which is so powerful with its harsh, constant musical undertone that I dare call it one of the best, most disquieting scenes ever filmed.The film begins with Carrie in the far corner of the screen, awaiting a volleyball toss that she will miss, provoking insults from the girls in her gym class. Then we are shown the locker room in what would have been an exploitation shot if not for the fact that the music and slow motion camerawork make it seem so beautiful. But we are also put on our guard because of this shot, which shows full frontal nudity; frowned upon in most corners of cinema. However it makes one thing clear: This is a director who will do anything. All the "Halloween" cliches are not to be found here. There are no cheap shocks. Everything is crafted with only the purpose of building tension, from the blood cascading down Carrie's leg in the shower to one of the single best crane shots I've ever seen, where our fears are allowed to build and build to the breaking point, only to have them build some more before the final purge. The parallel stories of a revenge plot and Carrie's being asked to the prom by the most popular guy in school take the film along at the exact pace it needs, and the intercut scenes with Carrie and her mother supply the emotional center for the film, which rests with our love for Carrie: A character so sweet and unassuming that the slow motion approach to the stage brings a smile to our faces too, even though we are terrified of what awaits her. Therein lies the power of the film. The more we love Carrie, the more we hate her antagonists and feel hurt that they would be so cruel.
"Carrie" is quite possibly the single most dramatically sound horror film ever made. It maps out its characters so vividly and realistically that we never question anyone's actions. There's none of those traditional "She's so stupid!" remarks you hear in so many a horror film audience. "Carrie" is the real deal. A film that builds an entire house made out of brittle cards of terror, stacking it up until it falls and our fears are realized. There are no scenes of ridiculous scares or people jumping out of the closets to scare their buddies. Depalma recognizes these kind of devices for what they are: Useless. His film is a superb example of how many ways a story can go right, and it is a masterpiece that I am proud to place very high on my list of favorite films.
Movie Review: Love It!
Summary: 5 Stars
Just so everyone understands how I rated this movie, here is the break down:
1 star - hated it
2 stars - disliked it
3 stars - average
4 stars - liked it
5 stars - loved it!
So before everyone starts sending me hate mail about how the movie isn't perfect, understand that I am not saying that it is. I will admit that a lot of people don't seem to like this movie as much as I do though. However, I think that some of the most fantastic scenes ever caught on film exist in this movie.
I really LOVE Piper Laurie and Sissey Spacek. They were amazing! They are the first thing that I will ever mention about this movie because I continue to go back and re-watch this film because of them.
I loved all the details that Sissey Spacek put into Carrie's character. She would stretch her sleeves to show her nervousness. Her face would almost seem to genuinely swell up when she was dealing with pressure. I was quite frankly flabbergasted. I don't know how she did it. Of all the actors/actresses in this movie, Sissey Spacek just really stood out. She did not look like she was acting. I kept wondering to myself the entire time, where did they get this girl from?
Piper Laurie I could tell was taking a comedic approach to her script and I loved it! She did a bang up job in her performance. I loved her interpretation of the pain that she was experiencing as pleasurable. I could sense her strange sense of humor as she did it and it definitely added a creepy touch to her performance. Plus, I just loved watching her as she confided to Carrie her deepest darkest secrets from her past and as she bombarded Carrie with her warped perspective on her religious beliefs.
Heck, I loved the casting in general and I feel bad picking out favorites. For instance, I think that Nancy Allen (Robocop!), Amy Irving, Priscilla Pointer, and Betty Buckley were also in some of the best scenes ever caught on film in this movie. Priscilla Pointer and Amy Irving were undoubtedly in the scariest scene in the entire movie. I completely loved Nancy Allen's performance where she was in a car with John Travolta's character, Billy Nolan. Lastly, Betty Buckley was perfectly chosen for her role as a gym instructor and I loved watching her whipping everyone in her class into shape for the terrible things that they had done to Carry.
I loved the use of nudity in order to expose the characters' frailnesses and fragilities. It really created a sense of pure evil in the scenes that had nudity and it made me think about the kind of evil that people were capable of (even though this is all fiction). I would certainly hope that something like what is depicted in this movie would never happen in real life.
I loved the use of cameras and editing in the film. I don't think many people pay attention to just how cool this was. There is a scene where the film was sped up during a moment of comedic relief. I thought it was very appropriate and made the scene very funny. There is also a scene where the camera travels along a contraption that will ultimately be used towards Carrie's humiliation and then it completes its shot by focusing on the contraption's targets, Carrie and Tommy Ross.
Lastly, I'll complete this by quoting the lines from the three scenes that constantly go through my head whenever I think about this movie:
1) Carrie: I mean, all the kids think I'm funny, and I don't wanna be. I wanna be normal, I wanna start to try me, a whole person, before it's too late for me to -
[Margaret throws tea on her face, Carrie wipes it off]
2) Margaret White: Witch. Got Satan's Power.
Carrie White: It has nothing to do with Satan, Mama. It's me. Me. If I concentrate hard enough, I can move things.
3) Margaret White: And Eve was weak, say it!
Carrie: No!
Margaret White: Eve was weak!
Carrie: No!
Margaret White: Eve was weak, say it woman!
Carrie: No!
Margaret White: Say it!
Carrie: Eve was weak, Eve was weak.
Movie Review: Eve Was Weak!
Summary: 5 Stars
Stephen King's first big hit comes to the big screen, and thirty years later it has morphed into something else. Stephen King created Carrie thanks to a few happenstances. He was working for a laundry service when one day they were in a women's locker room, and he saw the dispense of feminine hygiene products. He asked someone what it was, a coworker told him. He had just read an article about telekinisis, and that night he went home and wrote the first scene of Carrie, when she gets her period in the shower and it awakens the power within her. He threw it away, but a few days later he came home to find his wife, Tabitha, had dug it out of the trash. When she asked if he had writen this, he said it was just an idea he'd had but didn't like it. Per her insistance, he went on to write more. Tabitha told him "No this is good, you've got something here." Tabitha helped him, as it was a story about girl stuff. He based Carrie on the two ugliest girls he knew growing up, and her mother around a devoutly religious woman he worked with who he always wondered what her home life was like. It was submitted and published, and Stephen King had his first big hit. And, the rest is history.
Carrie is the story of a squelched, nervous outcast. It takes place in the most horrifying of places, high school. Pushed around, teased relentlessly, and made to feel the butt of every joke, Carrie is trapped between the laughter of her peers and the heavy handed world of her mother's religious beliefs. She's odd, afraid, nervous. Then, one day, when the late bloomer reaches maturity right in the middle of the gym locker room shower and made a fool of by the other girls, the power is awakened within her. Suddenly she has the power to think and effect people. When that mean boy down the street harasses her on his bike, she throws him an angry glare and he falls off his bike. When in the second half, one of the girls from the locker room, Sue Snell, feels guilty about her behavior, she does something completely out of character for a "popular girl". SHe not only feels guilty, but asks her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom to make up for it. Her boyfriend Tommy, the handsome, equally popular all American nice guy agrees, and they go to the prom. Carrie, in the one and only time she ever had a real date, looked pretty as a picture, and is even voted queen, is subjected to the ultimate humiliation when the queen bee and her legion of thugs dump pig blood on her. Carrie uses her telekinetic powers to take out her revenge, and burns down the town, killing hundreds in her path.
Why is this such a great story? Because it speaks to each and every one of us on some level. Rebelling against the old world parent, lashing out at teachers who were too meddlesome or ignorant. Transforming from an ugly ducking into a swan, and the handsome prince comes riding in a white horse to take us to his enchanted kingdom (in this case, the prom). Having hope that you can break out of your social mold, that you too can be everything you secretly wanted to be. And when the final insult comes, the one that breaks you, the one that you can't just turn the other cheek this time, you can kill them all with your secret power that you always wished you had.
This was a long time ago, and it shows. Political correctness has overtaken us (the bullying aspect that might have lead Carrie to mow everyone down with an assult riffle if she didn't have the power), fashion has changed, etc. And the shrillness of the acting, corny, antiquated special effects make it just as campy rather than a serious drama / horror now (thanks mostly to Mrs. White played hilariously by Piper Laurie). And yet, add the element of the fanatic mother who is really REALLY crazy (and happened to put all her crazy energies into Christianity rather than the bottle, self mutilation, or promiscuity) yet somehow right all along about people really gives us something to think about in the end. A timeless classic.