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Review by Roger Carpenter

Before Brian De Palma became That De Palma and before Robert De Niro scored big with multiple high-profile roles, they were just two twenty-somethings trying to put together film careers. De Palma was a film school student and De Niro was a no-name actor.

The two first met around 1963 when De Niro was cast in a supporting role in De Palma’s first film, The Wedding Party. The film is a farce about a groom who visits his soon-to-be bride’s family estate for the forthcoming nuptials. His two friends and groomsmen (played by De Niro and William Finley), who are there to support him, initially try to talk the groom out of the marriage. The groom refuses to listen to their arguments and turns them away. Yet as the day looms large, the groom begins having second thoughts even as the groomsmen have changed their...

Brian De Palma celebrates his 78th birthday on September 11, 2018. While his films have ranged from the sublime to the atrocious, there’s no denying the impact he’s had on cinema. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

De Palma began his filmmaking career directing underground features shot on a shoestring, many of which starred a young Robert De Niro. He came into his own with the Hitchcock-inspired thriller “Sisters” (1973), starring Margot Kidder as a pair of killer Siamese twins. The Master of Suspense would serve as a muse to De Palma throughout his career, influencing such films as “Obsession” (1976), “Dressed to Kill” (1980), “Blow Out” (1980) and “Body Double” (1984) both in style and substance.

He enjoyed his first box office success with “Carrie” (1976), an adaptation of Stephen King’s chilling novel about a shy teenager (Sissy Spacek) with telekinesis.