Carrie au bal du diable

It is a classic offbeat horror-melodrama merging harmoniously the family Gothic extravaganza, supernatural power, and a woman's movie of a peculiar kind… It remains the cinema's best adaptation of a Stephen King novel…

The film initiated De Palma's inclination for surprise diverts between playful imagination and reality, as in the opening, which swifts from a soft-core porn fantasia of girls taking a shower in the locker room to the fact of Carrie's menstruation for the first time—the first sign of "otherness" that will reserve her as an horrifying monster from her small-minded colleagues…

All the oppression that Carrie undergoes both at home (with a bible beating maniacal mother played by scary Piper Laurie who develops twisted bizarre ideas) and at school to suppress tension which takes the shape of super telekinetic power, the ability to move objects with the strength of her mind… We observe with ambivalence as Carrie's insatiable revenge jumps the line into uncontrolled mass murders ever filmed…

Sissy Spacek is amazing as the mocked, helpless girl pushed over the edge… Her face and body twist like a living special effect to unleash her pent up rage, as well as her character's alarming progress from painfully shy high-school teenager to Angel of Vengeance

Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is an introverted isolated girl. She gets picked on by all the other girls. Her mother (Piper Laurie) is a crazy religious type who locks Carrie in the closet. Lead girl Sue Snell (Amy Irving) tries to make amends by getting her hunky boyfriend Tommy Ross (William Katt) to take Carrie to the senior prom. Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen) refuses to take the punishment and is banned from the prom. Chris plans revenge on Carrie with the help of her boyfriend Billy Nolan (John Travolta). The plan triggers Carrie's supernatural powers.

Director Brian De Palma makes this Stephen King story into a prom epic. The scene is iconic. However this movie is more than just one scene. This is about the great Sissy Spacek. She is absolutely perfect as the shy insecure Carrie. This is about her character. This is about the awkward years. This is a horror, a thriller and so much more.

At its heart, Carrie is not a 'horror film', but a film about horror.

The subject matter is physical and emotional abuse; time and time again DePalma returns to the theme of abuse to create a sense of anxiety and dread. And although our hapless heroine is the primary target of abuse (from her mother, her peers, and 'authority') abuse is also meted out liberally to others---violence against women (Travolta/Allen), and public humiliation by authority figures (Buckley/her gym class) also add to the discomfort level (the John Travolta-Nancy Allen relationship is defined solely by abuse---and they in turn are the initiators of Carrie's humiliation).

Except for Betty Buckley's gym teacher, all the characters are cartoonish archetypes---and almost all of these achetypes are brilliantly drawn. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie deservedly have been singled out for praise, but DePalma even managed to get the right performance out of decidedly untalented performers like Nancy Allen, William Katt (who is immeasurably aided by the kind of meticulous lighting that would have made Joan Crawford envious), and P.J. Soles.

Buckley deserves special mention, because she does amazing things with a completely underwritten role. By humanizing what could have been just one more cartoon (the lesbian gym teacher---lesbianism is never mentioned, but Buckley's subtle performance affirms what she has acknowledged in interviews--that she played her character as a lesbian) she provides a central point of reality that keeps the film from spinning completely out of control.

DePalma's intent was clearly not to scare the audience, but to make the audience watch the film from a distance, deliberately plagarizing two of the most notable sequences in film history---Hitchcock's shower sequence and Eisenstein's use of the three-perspective split screen. The shower scene takes place early in the film, cuing the audience into the fact that this is a film ABOUT film. And in the climactic prom sequence, DePalma distances himself, and the audience, from the bloodbath on the screen by reminding us through the 'theft' from Eisenstein that its just a movie at the most critical moment.

There are two significant flaws in the film. For some reason, DePalma interjected a 'fast forward' comedy sequence involving the purchase of tuxedos--the sequence serves no purpose in the film, other than to restate the obvious fact that this is 'just a movie'.

The second flaw is Amy Irving's performance. Its not horrible by any means, but it just doesn't work. Irving has grown as an actress since then (she was the only decent thing about the execrable sequel to Carrie) but the demands made of her in Carrie were beyond her skills at the time it was made. 'Chris' was supposed to be the conscience of the film, but winds up as wishy-washy.

Oh, and DON'T watch this film on commercial television--rent the video. DePalma engages in some sacriligeous imagery that is ALWAYS cut from the film when it is shown on television---imagery that justifies the penultimate sequence of the film itself, and brings closure to it.

I just came back from a special showing of Carrie in the student's cinema of my university and I must say one thing: THANK YOU to the director, for this is one of the best, most moving films I've ever seen. I honestly don't understand the "it's not scary" mentality!

Now, whether you want to call this horror film or thriller or whatever else is up to you, but I think Carrie's scope cannot reaches beyond just one genre! It is a thriller, but at the same time a very humane movie. You can feel the girl hurting, you hate her mother, you dislike her friends! This movie wasn't made for cheap scares: every scene is brilliantly captured. The scary parts may be rare but when they are there you just can't move from your seat!

The acting is also excellent, Sissy Spacek of course deserving most of the credit, but that is not to say that the other actors aren't great too.

Concerning the script, all the credit goes of course to Stephen King. When you see this movie you can really tell the difference between an artist like him an some cheap Hollywood writer (Scream?). There is so much more to the story than: -Booooo! -Aaaaaa!

So, if you want to see a "scary movie", go see Scream or some other shallow horror film. However if you are looking for a terrifying but also moving film, Carrie is just right for you. And please, if you must put this work of art into one genre, its better if you put it in social drama rather than horror film. Of course it's not scary! It's MUCH more than just that.

Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a misunderstood young high schooler with a freakishly obsessive Catholic mother (an amazing performance by Piper Laurie) who borders on Neo-Nazi. She is horribly bullied at her high school, especially by the sadistic Chris Hargenson (Nancy Allen), and basically ignored by every person who isn't putting her down. So when token nice girl Sue Snell (Amy Irving) decides she wants to build Carrie's confidence by giving up her place at the prom and telling her kind hearted jock boyfriend Tommy Ross (William Katt) to invite Carrie, Carrie's mentor Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) smells trouble. Sue promises all is well and Tommy ad Carrie run along to the prom. But when Chris and her dimwitted boyfriend Billy (John Travolta's second role) devise a horrible and humiliating prank, they don't take into account what has manifested inside of Carrie after all those years of torment, and how it will effect them in the films horrifying and very memorable climax.

Brian De Palma's famous horror film, adapted from Stephen King's chilling novel, is often noted as the ultimate in teenage revenge films. De Palma used his distinctive style to make a chilling and original horror film that really is the best example of 1970's horror, the style, music, clothes, acting, dialogue and pretty much everything in the film is like a time-warp. The editing very original and you can tell the makers of the film enjoyed creating it.

The acting is very fine, some of the best in any horror film out there. Sissy Spacek is great as the sympathetic freak, but at times you wanna slap her, she's so incredibly pathetic. Like when she's screaming about her period, running around nude. I can understand that she didn't realise what was happening, but running around like a lunatic, and bleeding on people through your vagina isn't gonna inspire sympathy from them. But since I read the book, I understand that was the intention. Piper Lurie was absolutely fantastic as the looney mother, and all the other performances were pretty passable. I have to mention PJ Soles. Her character was so awesome, I'd even go as far a to say that she was one of the (many) highlights of the film. Her character added a quirky charm the film that couldn't be matched by anybody else.

Some of the themes explored was Carrie's journey into adulthood, shown through the way she learnt to control her powers and discovering different parts of her body and different things she can do, most obviously her first period and her telekinesis.

Overall, CARRIE is an outstanding horror/drama. Any horror fan, or general film fan should check it out. 9/10