Carrie (1976)

Having just read Stephen King's debut novel for the first time, I revisited the film version of Carrie, which was also the first film (of by now many) adaptations of King works, which was directed by Brian DePalma and released in 1976. Unusual for a horror film, it got above the line Oscar nominations, with Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie both receiving nods.

The story, pretty faithful to the book, has a teenage girl (Spacek) who is frequently picked on in school, discovering menstruation for the first time in the locker room, and a class full of girls torment her by throwing feminine hygiene products at her. She is the daughter of a religious nut (the great Laurie), who never told her about this change of life, telling her that she is a women now and is a sinner. First comes the curse of blood, then of childbirth.

Amy Irving plays a girl who feels bad about what she did so gets her boyfriend (William Katt, with a head of golden curls that just can't be topped) to take Spacek to the prom. At first she is certain it is a joke, but she goes, defying her mother. She is able to do this because Carrie has telekinesis--she can move things with her mind.

A mean girl (Nancy Allen) and her dopey boyfriend (a pre-stardom John Travolta) conspire to play a prank on Carrie that will lead to mayhem and many deaths. I don't think I'm spoiling things (it's even on the poster) by saying that she will be doused with blood, and wreak her revenge. At least in the book she limits it to the school--in the book she destroys the whole town.

The book is fairly straightforward, the film even more so, sticking to the plot (the book has many asides such as portions of books on the incident and testimony, etc.). DePalma doesn't allow a bit of fat, and it moves along briskly. It really only has two acts--before the prank and after--so it does play a bit like an hour-long TV episode, though it is a standard length film. What really stands out of me is Laurie. It's one thing to read about how Carrie's mother is a zealot, with a house full of religious icons, but another to see it in action.

Carrie reeks of the '70s--those hairdos! Those jeans! That washed out cinematography! It also starts off with many nude girls in the locker room, which later led to being referred to as "pre-credit bush" in Knocked Up. This is something that I'm sure would be done differently today, as though there is certainly nudity in a girls' locker room, they are high school girls and we live in an age where casual nudity has all but disappeared from Hollywood films.

Carrie was remade, twice, once in 2002 for TV (Carrie lives in that one--it was going to lead to a TV series but it never happened) and then in 2013 with Chloe Grace Moretz, which seems to have died a quick and I'm sure merciful death. Even with its flaws, I don't think the original can be improved upon.