*Originally written September 30th, 2018*
Carrie is one of those horror films that grows on me a tiny bit more with every watch. It's easily one of the best of its genre from the '70s and while some of it is a little outdated it still holds up remarkably well and is by far the best adaptation of Carrie to date. Far surpassing the absolutely finely remake from 2013, the atrocious sequel to the original and the piss-poor made for TV remake from the early 2000's.
It's a story that still hits hard. A young girl is relentlessly bullied by her classmates, some of it is really nasty and it opens with one of the most mean-spirited and sickening acts of bullying I can remember from a film and it builds and builds before exploding into a spectacular finale.
Sissy Spacek's performance is absolutely wonderful, perfectly capturing a teenage girl going through changes and trying to live through the bullying in her life and her abusive home life from her utterly psychotic, fanatical Christian mother. It really helps that Spacek is not the most attractive of people, so it's believable she feels like an outcast and tormented by those around her.
When things get nicer towards the end, it's oddly heartbreaking to see her one true moment of happiness when she feels accepted by those who have bullied her come crashing around her in truly horrible fashion. While this is a horror film with supernatural elements, it feels more like a pretty straightforward and real drama, before exploding into horror in its final act.
And when that final act starts, it really is a true horror experience. Arrow's gorgeous 4K restoration of Carrie really lets that prom scene speak. The colour and lighting of that scene absolutely sparkles and feels vibrant and beautiful, while the prom scene itself is still pure spectacle of carnage that still feels brutal and nasty by today's standards. This is a huge marked improvement on the MGM Blu-ray release and I really can't image how this would look any better, outside of a true 4K UHD release.
I always forget this was a Brian DePalma film too and it's easily one of his best. I'm still on the fence about some of the weird music and editing choices, but most of it still works pretty damn well. The striking imagery of Christ is unsettling and sets the tone for what's to come and has made me realise I need to finally read the Carrie book. I've yet to actually read a Stephen King novel (I own a few) as a lot of his films I adore and this being one of my favourite adaptations. I need to sort it out.
As much as Carrie does hold up, there are a few things that don't, which come and go in strange moments. The worst of which is surprisingly Piper Laurie as Carrie's mother Margaret, for a film that feels pretty restrained and real, her over the top performance sticks out. I just refuse to believe a mother like that would have been allowed to keep her child and the school seems to have done nothing about her abusive behaviour.
The minor moments, like I said, are pretty fleeting. Like there's a scene where John Travolta (Yes, he's in this) is receiving a blowjob, but the girl is still talking while she's still clearly going down on him, it's an odd bit of direction that just sticks out. Then there's the scene where everyone is trying on their prom suits and dresses, and it makes use of this weird moment where the sound and image is sped up, giving everyone that weird, high pitched voice. It was so weird and felt so out of place. That aside though, It's all damn good.
Carrie still feels pretty timeless, it's a simple story that flies by like nothing and feels infinitely rewatchable. It's also the best performance of Sissy Spacek's career and by far one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date. The only one I think I like more is The Shining, which is not bad going.
8/10 Dans
Carrie is out now on Blu-ray (Released by Arrow Video) and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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