Carrie (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Carrie (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Carrie
Summary: 5 Stars
Stephen King's classic tale of teenage revenge is brilliantly brought to life in Brian De Palma's CARRIE! The poorly misunderstood Carrie White is tormented by her fellow classmates and scorned by an abusive mother, but her years of ridicule are now manifesting themselves into a powerful psychic force that she will use to avenge herself.
De Palma opens with a soft, sensual shower scene that is highlighted by Pino Donaggio's magnificent score. The mood immediately shifts to pure psychological horror as Carrie is assaulted by the other girls after her first period causes her to panic in the locker room. These feelings of repressed anger and sadness will continue to build throughout the picture. Sissy Spacek's Oscar-nominated performance as Carrie is crucial to the film's success. Her shy and apprehensive take on the character is played to a flawless perfection, while her fiery inner anguish is unleashed like a phoenix in the climactic ending.
CARRIE is lined by more fantastic performances from each of its supporting cast members, with Nancy Allen, P.J. Soles, and John Travolta delivering menacing roles as the high school bullies. It is Amy Irving and William Katt that become the most interesting of the teens as Sue and Tommy thanks to the growing ambiguity that is written into their characters. Tommy's charming smile can be read any number of ways, but always seems to allude to a vicious deception that never surfaces. It isn't until Sue's ironic ejection from the prom by Miss Collins that their true intentions are finally revealed.
Piper Laurie's exaggerated portrayal of the crazed Mrs. White is taken to a state of super-villainy, with her religious zeal serving as a constant source of satire. De Palma uses countless visual clues to accentuate Mrs. White's domineering persona. She is typically shot from low angles in full-frame, giving her an imposing presence on-screen. This is opposed to the high angles that Carrie is filmed from, which depict her as a cowering child that is forced into the corner of the screen. Little notes, like the weathered "For Sale" sign next door or Mrs. Snell's general unease, also work against Laurie's character.
De Palma uses many of his favorite techniques to create CARRIE's unique look, most notably in his use of split-screen and dual lenses to bring the foreground and background into focus simultaneously. In what may be De Palma's defining cinematic moment, the camera follows as the prom ballots are collected and swapped, tracing each of the co-conspirators before it ends up overlooking the prom from atop the fateful bucket of blood.
CARRIE is Brian De Palma's greatest achievement within the genre, and one of Horror's finest films. It epitomizes the teen revenge thriller, both with its incredible cast and superb direction.
-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies
Movie Review: ***One of the BEST***HORROR***Films of ALL TIME!
Summary: 5 Stars
The CARRIE (SPECIAL EDITION) DVD is fantastic. Not only do you get a remastered version of Brian De Palma's masterpiece of horror, "Carrie," but you get some good extras!
The 1976 film was De Palma's adaptation of Stephen King's first novel, Carrie. And was executed perfectly! From casting to the sublime use of split screen to the use of sound to the soundtrack itself, CARRIE is a horror tour de force that keeps audiences in the grip of fear.
If you haven't seen the movie or read the book it's about a shy and timid high school girl who has the power to move objects with her mind. She's picked on by the other girls, and her mother is a religious fanatic who beats her and makes her pray in a closet. Anyway, Carrie is the butt of jokes and one student feels sorry for her and gets Carrie a date to the prom. But a couple of students want to play a nasty trick on her and Carrie unleashes her rage on the entire student body!
I remember seeing the movie poster everywhere during the 70s, when I was a kid, and being absolutely horrified at the image of actress Sissy Spacek covered in blood. The stark whiteness of her skin and the red blood made a contrast that spooked the hell out of me. And she's the perfect actress to play the role. If ever there was perfect casting this was it. And so was Nancy Allen, as the popular mean girl in school; Amy Irving, as the sympathetic student; William Katt, as Irving's boyfriend and Carrie's date. Piper Laurie was brilliant as Carrie's demented mother and John Travolta was cute as Allen's bad-boy boyfriend.
Anyway, the DVD comes with an insert booklet that provides trivia info on the filming, casting and behind-the-scenes of "Carrie." Also, the DVD has:
***ACTING CARRIE--Documentary with Spacek, Irving, Allen, Katt and Buckley among others (43-minutes)
***VISUALIZING CARRIE--Documentary with Brian De Palma explaining the film and special effects of "Carrie" with footage and still from the filming (40-minutes)
***CARRIE THE MUSICAL--Featurette about the musical (yes a musical!) based on the movie with Betty Buckley (6-minutes)
***PHOTO GALLERY--Pics from the film (6-minutes)
***STEPHEN KING & THE EVOLUTION OF CARRIE--Text that you can read on the screen about the creation of "Carrie" from idea to book to movie
***ORIGINAL TRAILER
And the DVD menu design is great too! I LOVE this movie. Not only does it work as a scary film, but it's like an onion that has many layers to it. The more you watch it the more you start uncovering things that you missed the first time around. BRILLIANT! I would love to see this on the BIG screen!
Movie Review: Pig's Blood for a Pig----DePalma stuck GOLD
Summary: 5 Stars
DePalma's greatest psychological shocker (and my personal favorite film of all time) is now on Special Release, which includes:
* Two documentaries (Acting Carrie: The Performance Aspects, and Visualizing Carrie: The nitty-gritty technical side of the Film)
* interviews with actors and producers of the musical (Broadway's greatest stage failure, by the way)
* an animated photo-gallery with an accompaniment of Donnagio's breathtaking score
* and even the original trailer.
Sadly though, a commentary by either Cohen or Depalma, is not offered. But one hardly notices that flaw, amongst all the other long-awaited special items.
The widescreen anamorphic film transfer is a nice touch, and the DVD even includes a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track to maximize the experience.
For newcomers to the plot (and by now, there shouldn't be many), "Carrie" follows suprisingly close to the plot of Stephen King's bestseller--and first novel published--about the torture of introvered high school senior and outcast Carrie White. Aside from her troubled school-life, her religious zealot mother at home doesn't help things, either.
To top it off, Carrie has been invited to the Spring Prom by the hottest guy in school, and a plot to humliate this ugly duckling is soon underway, which proves fatal--very fatal. Turns out the jokes on them; Carrie hides a special gift--she's telekinetic.
The music, scored by Pino Donnagio, suits and brings atmosphere to this classic high school horror film beautifully, DePalma's casting selection was a Godsend, and even after over 27 years, "Carrie's" bloody hand never gripped us so hard (not to mention Amy Irving's).
I guarantee to any viewer, "Carrie" is more than just a blockbuster, it's a piece of art--from the curious eye of the camera, to the gut-wrenching special effects--it's everything a thrill-seeker is looking for.
Laurie and Spacek were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, and why not? Afrter seeing the finale, you'll think twice before ever laying flowers before a tombstone again!
Last but not least, this movie has been rumored, along with numerous other Depalma classics--to be a tribute to none other than Sir Alfred Hitchcock. With all the unique camera angles, Hermann-ish music, and extremist characters, one wonders if ole' Hitch really did see "Carrie." This is, to note, possible since A.H. died in '80, just four years after the release of "Family Plot," his last film (Ironically also released in '76).
So, if you're not busy on a Friday night, and want to come flying out of your seat--invite a few friends, turn out the lights, and plug up--I mean stick in--CARRIE.
--GIGI, a Devoted DePalma follower
Movie Review: A Reassessment of "Carrie" and an Apology
Summary: 5 Stars
Greetings. A year ago I wrote a review about this film in which I condemned it. I was wrong. The fact of the matter is that this film is a masterpiece. This film draws you in and makes you sympathize with Carrie. She is treated as an outcast and subjected to unspeakable acts of hatred by her peers. When I watched the film, I lost all sense of objectivity so much so that when she was humiliated at the prom I became angry with the movie itself. I forgot that the ability of a movie to draw the audience in, to make it sympathize with the characters, is the mark of a great horror movie. That is why some of the Universal monsters from the 30's and 40's, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man, are considered classics. You feel remorse for these characters because they are outcasts, forever cursed, and unable to controll their violent natures. And so it is with Carrie White: a shy, angry victim of horrible abuse who eventually gets pushed too far. I apologize to the filmmakers for my earlier ignorance.
Moreover, this film is more important now than ever before. We all remember those terrible killings at Columbine High School. To anyone who wonders why such a thing could happen, I suggest you watch this movie. We'll never know for certain what prompted those kids to storm into that school with guns and kill with no remorse and no mercy. But "Carrie" presents us with some possible answers. I think that underneath all of the horror in this film there is a positive message: we need to treat one another with love and dignity. I am an avid "Star Trek" fan. I believe that we can bring about that kind of productive, positive future--if we learn the lessons from "Carrie".
P.S.
Dear Ms. Spacek,
I once read somewhere that you were not very proud of your role in this film. You should feel very proud!! It took a great deal of courage for you to accept this role, in my opinion. Violence in our schools is a horrible problem. Your film brings that problem out into the limelight. That is the first critical step in solving a problem: exposing it. I think that it should be required viewing for all high school students. By talking about it with their teachers and parents, maybe we wouldn't have anymore Columbines. You're a terrific actress as are all of the other actors and actresses in the film.
Sincerely,
Steven M. Cohen
Movie Review: A Great Stephen King Movie As Always
Summary: 5 Stars
"Carrie" is a monumental film released in 1976 that was so fresh for its time that many rushed to the theater to see it. This is based on the first novel published by Stephen King in 1974. When it was released, no other author had touched such territories in a such unique style. The unusual theme kept people curious to what he would write next. He immediately became a celebrity. Such uniqueness remains fresh today. "Carrie" is also the first film adaptation of one of his novels. It earned two Oscar nominations: Best Actress (Sissy Spacek) and Best Supporting Actress (Piper Laurie).This brilliant plot of a high school student, Carrie White, continues growing more interesting moment after moment. The mystery and the suspense builds as Carrie slowly discovers and understands her supernatural powers. Once she learns that it has a name, telekenesis, they begin growning more destructively. However, the emotional aspect remains present, namely through the bullying and being emotionally tortured by her abusive religious mother. The chain of events keep audiences watching closely up to the chilling conclusion. The haunting conclusion has since become famous like the shower scene in "Psycho" (1960). Her rampage has since been imitated by several films, but none have matched the intensity of "Carrie". Such tremendous film quality goes beyond Carrie's humilating moment of having pig's blood dumped on her by some bully pranksters during her senior prom.
The physical surroundings and the performance enhance the eerie theme. The house decorations enhance the good vs. evil aspect, going beyond the multiple crosses. They give the supernatural plot portions a deeper horror feel. Though all the actors performed their roles well, Spacek and Laurie stand out. Spacek expresses her tortures splendidly, giving audiences the powerful aspect. This is the film that placed her in much higher acting territory. Laurie's performance alone made the telekenesis theme more scary.
"Carrie" is a great film for those looking for a great horror classic. It's sure to please audiences for many more years. However, it's sequel "The Rage: Carrie 2", not based on a Stephen King novel, is not as great as the original though worth watching once.