Carrie (1976) Directed by Brian De Palma

Part of Greatest English Language Horror

Review by Brendan Peterson: Complicated, creepy and magnificently made, “Carrie” is more than just popcorn horror. The testosterone-fueled pairing of author Stephen King and director Brian De Palma somehow produced a meaningful exploration of the tensions that exist between teenage girls and their overbearing mothers. Released in 1976, “Carrie” is a fascinating combination of audacious filmmaking and twisted exploitation. As a small budget film based on King’s first published novel, expectations were initially pretty low. But, of course, "Carrie" would go on to become both a major box office success and one of the most iconic horror films of the seventies, thanks in large part to De Palma’s iconoclastic vision. Opening on a girls PE class, we watch as freaky, freckle-faced Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) costs her team a volleyball game, and her classmates proceed to lambast her. Spacek, whose performance garnered an Academy Award nomination, is hypnotic. Three years after “Badlands,” the young actress cuts loose; like a frightened, feral cat from outer space, she's possessed by the power of awkward adolescence. Hair in her face, eyes down-turned and clothed in frumpy, homemade garments, Carrie is invisible to everyone except those mean girls who see her as a target. And immediately following the volleyball incident we're treated to soft-core opening credits featuring slow-mo shots of naked girls frolicking in the locker room. But this is not a pre-cursor to “Porky’s”; all that titillation goes haywire when Carrie experiences her fist period in the shower, resulting in one of the most disturbing scenes committed to celluloid. To recap: within the first ten minutes of this movie we get full frontal frolicking, a bloody shower, screaming girls hurling tampons, and teachers slapping their students. This is anarchy. This is high school.

Just when we think Carrie’s life couldn't get any worse, we follow her home to Mother. Piper Laurie (also nominated for an Oscar) plays the vicious Margaret White, a certifiably insane religious fanatic whose rundown house is adorned with every Christian effigy known to man. When she’s not wandering the neighborhood “spreading the gospel of Gods salvation through Christ’s blood,” Ms. White is at home sewing and tormenting her only child. I’m not sure a more twisted and disturbing screen villain has ever been conceived. Laurie plays Ms. White with such wild-eyed, crazy haired, full throttle gusto that she makes Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" look like Mr. Rogers. Not surprisingly, Carrie’s life with Mom includes activities like getting screamed at for having her period and, as a result, being locked in the “prayer closet." Carrie’s luck seems to change only when the big stud on campus, Tommy Ross (William Katt), invites her to the prom, but this must be too good to be true, yes? Yes. The prom scene is epic; in a room filled with Napoleon Dynamite lookalikes, Carrie slow dances with Tommy and we see her happier than she’s ever been. It’s an over-the-top-beautiful moment, with De Palma’s camera circling the couple to create a fit of dizzying euphoria. Moments later, it all comes crashing down. Carrie is memorably doused in pig’s blood from a bucket hanging above, and the student body of Bates High School (yes, another blatant Hitchcock homage from De Palma) quickly realize they've messed with the wrong social outcast. The last 20 minutes of "Carrie" shift into overdrive as Spacek's scorned teen aims her supernatural wrath at those who wronged her, and anyone else who crosses her path.

"Carrie" is filled with terrific performances, even outside those we most often hear about. Nancy Allen is memorably cruel in her role as the bitchiest of bullies, as is John Travolta, playing her dopey boyfriend (and despite seeming like he wandered over from the “Welcome Back Kotter” set). Performances and plot lines aside, this is Brian De Palma’s film and he is its biggest star. Fans of the auteur will be in heaven as scene after scene unfolds with inventive split screens, inspired framing and chilling close-ups. Say what you will about De Palma’s divisive style, his movies are never dull. Some flourishes can seem derivative, including the Bernard Hermann-esque string crescendos, but in this case style and content mesh perfectly. It’s exciting to watch De Palma early in his career experimenting with and honing the visual techniques and storytelling devices he would utilize later in “Dressed to Kill,” “Blow Out” and “Scarface.” And it's equally amazing to see how well this movie holds up, 20 years on. Scenes of the PE teacher smoking cigarettes in the principal’s office and any shot of bellbottoms screams “the seventies,” but themes of teenage alienation, mother/daughter relations and the nastiness of unsettled youth resonate with as much relevance today as they did at the time of "Carrie's" initial release. Admittedly, the film isn’t conventionally scary. The uneasy tone and overall tension stems from awkwardness and uncomfortable situations, with a few traditional jumps thrown in for good measure. Like his hero Hitchcock, De Palma values suspense above all else—as evidenced in the brilliantly anxious moments that lead up to the aforementioned pig’s blood set-piece. The auteur's style isn't as abrasive as his in-your-face seventies horror peers Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven, but for anyone who lived through high school, the horror here is as real as it gets.

Last Word: A mesmerizing tour de force, the likes of which only De Palma can deliver, featuring outstanding performances, a tense and unrelenting tone and insight into the tormented mind of a social outcast.