‘Red. I might have known it would be red...’
It’s an odd thing that some films from your formative years stay with you forever and some drift away. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors was my first experience with a horror film and it has remained a huge part of my life ever since. Other early favourites such as The Shining, Halloween and The Evil Dead also receive an annual viewing, and I love them like I always have. At one time in my life, Carrie was part of that hallowed list also. For some reason, however, in adulthood, I have left Carrie behind, despite it being one of my favourite Stephen King adaptations. Revisiting it now with a more secure knowledge of cinema and an appreciation for director Brian De Palma and his idiosyncratic style ensured that this time I could appreciate it for what it is – a true classic of the genre…
Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a troubled teenage girl. Bullied at school, victimised by her religiously deranged mother (Piper Laurie) and ignored by everyone else, Carrie lives out a miserable teenage existence in a humdrum town. As all of these elements begin to combine, Carrie’s dark secret becomes more and more prevalent, resulting in one of the most memorable third acts in horror history, and also one of the most infamous final scenes.
From it’s unforgettable opening scene (surely the most famous shower scene since Psycho), to the horrifying fever dream that makes up the conclusion, Carrie is a non-stop thrill ride. De Palma curbs his more esoteric excesses, instead focusing on cinematic foibles that actually bring something to the table. The final split scene sequence is dizzying and exhilarating, the use of light and shadow is wonderful, as is the religious iconography. In short, this is the film, perhaps more than any other, in which De Palma got absolutely everything right.
This is not simply the madcap vision of an auteur, however, rather it is the cast that elevates Carrie from a good horror film to a great one. Piper Laurie delivers one of the all-time great horror movie villain performances despite being certain that she was acting in a comedy rather than a horror film, but Spacek, herself playing both victim and monster, is a revelation. The rest of the cast do a great job also, with Nancy Allen and Amy Irving both excelling as a high school bully and supposed nice girl respectively, but really, it is Spacek and Laurie and their own twisted mother-daughter relationship that carries Carrie through its more fantastical moments. Shout out also to horror icon P.J. Soles sporting the same baseball cap as she does in Halloween.
There can be no doubting that Carrie is quite simply one of the greatest horror films ever made. A genuine masterpiece.