Now this is how you adapt a King novel.
For many this would have been their first introduction to King and De Palma. And what an introduction.
Young Carrie is a shy teenage girl with a religious fanatic of a mother. So fanatical is her mother, she didn't even bother to tell Carrie about menstrual cycles. Which is a bit awkward as she has her first period in the shower at school ,causing much scorn and angst. The rest of the movie is a tale of teenage revenge against Carrie, Carrie's blossoming into a young woman and learning that life can be very cruel. So far so Glee. However this is based on a Stephen King novel. Carrie's development into a young woman also seems to start off a awakening of psychic powers. Unfortunately when it comes to prom time this wont work out well for her, or any of her school mates.
Sissy Spacek is magnificent as the titular character and was rightly Oscar nominated for her performance. She starts off the movie as a shy, naïve young woman, but as she makes friends and even gets a date for the prom Spacek really instills some strength and courage into Carrie and you really start to want her to win in life. However one of the girls who was making fun of her during her surprise period is plotting a terrible bloody revenge.
Carrie is all about transformation. The beginning of her menstrual cycle triggers the transformation of Carrie in to young woman. By the time we hit our bloody conclusion, any innocent or naivety has gone. She knows how hard the world is and she's not going to put up with it. Which is bad luck for everyone else.
We really need to talk about the prom sequence. What a magnificent piece of cinema from a young director. Not only is it super scary scene, its a technical marvel and gives us just a taste of what De Palma will bring us later in his career. De Palma may not be the most subtle of directors and his choice of music can be odd in some movies, but Carrie is one of the best movies that he's ever made. Its a real shame we didn't get anything quite up to the fiery standard of this from De Palma in his later years.
Movie Rating 9/10
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