The Movie Diorama If you haven't seen it, then you've atleast heard of it. The moment a timid innocent girl is titled prom queen before she causes catastrophic chaos nearly wiping out her entire year group. Best. Prom. Ever. Glitzy sequin dresses aside, there are subtle subtextual layers that really elevates this supernatural horror into classic status. A shy bullied girl named Carrie White is invited to prom, however she soon discovers that she has the power of telekinesis. The coming-of-age tropes outweigh the horror elements, granted there are scenes of gore and supernatural violence but these are incredibly dated now. It's how Carrie evolves as a young girl that truly captivates. Her first period, dealing with her fanatical religious mother and overcoming bullying, for its 98 minute runtime you see Carrie rapidly evolve as a character. The religious allegories that are presented, Carrie and her mother depicting Satan and Jesus respectively, works well the themes of maturity and motherhood. It's a spellbinding human portrait, expertly directed by De Palma. That prom scene was nothing short of genius. The five minute rotational dance sequence, the over excessive slow motion, cross cuts and excellent use of props. The whole narrative built up to that final act, and it did so with bravura. Spacek gave an expressive performance, intelligently using her eyes to capture the fury and anger within Carrie. But it's Laurie who steals the show, professing her adoration for God and repenting her sins by abusing Carrie. Their final scene together was poetic. Cohen's screenplay surprisingly embeds tongue-in-cheek humour, particularly with the character of Miss Collins, making the first act feel more like a teen high school film. The sudden shift in tone later on felt seamless. De Palma did use some detractors, his utilisation of slow motion stretched out the prom scene substantially yet adding nothing. Also further exploration into the motherly bond with Carrie would've made for a more sinister turn at the end. However this still remains a supernatural classic.

sock-10875 Classic, but not enough socks. I want to see my brethren. It was also pretty slow at times, but then again it was the 70s.

EBJ 'CARRIE' - 1976Directed by Brian De Palma{The Wedding Party; Singers}Starring Sissy Spacek{Prime Cut; Badlands}, Piper Laurie{The Hustler; Son of Ali Baba} and Nancy Allen{The Last Detail; Forced Entry}Plot Overview: Carrie(Sissy Spacek{ is a young girl, in highschool, who is bullied for being different and every night must go home to her abusive, religious mother. After Carrie receives her first period, in the middle of school, her bullying becomes more frequent, all the way until she is about to burst.Before I watched this movie, I made sure to read King's novel. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. So I went into this movie rather excited about the possibilities. And after watching it; it was fine. Yeah. It was alright. I liked some changes, disliked others. I wouldn't gloat about it being a masterpiece but I certainly wouldn't dismiss it as awful. It's a fine movie. That's the best way I can sum it up.What are the movie's main positives? Sissy Spacek as Carrie was a phenomenal performance. In a disturbing way, I bought into her being a depressed, troubled, poor, tortured soul, and constantly felt sorry for her in all the barbaric abuse she had to put up with. It was a performance that could have certainly won an Oscar; it was that good.Another excellent performance would be Piper Laurie as Carrie's mum. THIS was a genuinely terrifying performance. I don't like religious nut jobs at the best of times so one of them having complete power and control and dominion over me is scary enough. Add Laurie's twisted and demonic performance as the literal embodiment of Satan, and you've got a fantastic, chilling and memorable performance that could also have EASILY won the Oscar.Most of the remainder of the acting(except one person) was pretty good. Nancy Allen was great as the sadistic and cruel Chris. Amy Irving succeeded in her limited screen time at portraying the remorseful and sorrowful Sue. William Katt was also good as the cheerful and helpful Tommy Ross. With the exception of one person, no one did a genuinely poor performance in this movie, for me at least.Another massive praise I can give the movie is the remarkably unsettling way it is shot and edited together. De Palma's remarkable skills made moments in this movie chill me to the bone. I was constantly uneasy and on the edge of my seat, and De Palma masterfully drums up atmosphere and suspense until we reach the climax. Pino Donaggio's excellent score also helps in this brilliant creation of suspense and makes the movie constantly put me on edge.I love the original Stephen King story and therefore the aspects that do carry over are excellent and horrifying to behold. They do, however, make quite a number of changes. One of these changes, I absolutely loved. I won't spoil it but it was a genuinely creepy and horrifying moment of the film. It legitimately sent goosebumps and shivers down my spine. That is the only change I liked however, which I will now elaborate on.Obviously books cannot be translated to film word for word, and things either need to be altered, removed or condensed to make it a pleasant viewing experience. But the sheer amount of the third act that they condensed down made it annoying to watch. I was looking forward to seeing certain scenes and moments but they either cut it out COMPLETELY or edited it drastically. One of them was a specific way in which something happens to a major character. They COMPLETELY change how this happens to them and I really, really disliked that. The movie would have been fine at 2 hours, if they let the third act flourish like it was supposed to.And now for that actor who I mentioned before. John 'The Madman' Travolta. I have no issues with this man. Is he mentally unstable? Yes! Does this benefit his roles? Of course! Is he at least a fun actor? Definitely! I don't have issues with the man as an actor but there was something about him in this movie that I just REALLY did not like. He just wasn't that good in the movie. The character he plays was a very interesting one in the novel. I was pleased with how much of the character remained but not with how they portrayed him. I just think that Travolta was the wrong guy to cast in this role. He doesn't fit the role, in my honest opinion. Overall, I do like this movie. It maintains chunks of the original story, each of which is a delight to see on screen. It contains a steady series of excellent performances, and it features a very uneasy atmosphere. But I detest how much they altered the third act. I feel a little bad for marking it down so much but I really think it shouldn't have been changed. The climax of King's novel was fantastic, this is just lazy and uninteresting. But as a whole I do recommend this movie. I'll rate this movie 6 'Disturbing Shower Scenes' out of 10!

chimera3 I will never forget how old I was when I first read this book and saw the movie: I was eight. Granted it was rated R, my mother did not care. Then I got her and my middle brother to watch it with me. They loved it. In every high school (or grade school, for that matter), there is always that person who is bullied by everyone else and that person who tries to step in and stop it. What's sad in this day and age is that bullying has become such commonplace that nobody can stop it in time and the person who is the victim, nine times out of ten, will take their life. The gist of this is to, as the title states, watch out for the quiet ones. If you bully them long enough, they will do something to get even with you. You don't even need a timeless classic like "Carrie" to tell you that. In my opinion, this is definitely one movie that all school bullies should sit down and watch until they get the picture. When they're done watching it, they may actually break down and apologize to that person (or maybe they don't) for all that they've done to them.This is scary with a capital S. Ignore the two CGI-filled remakes that came after this. They can't even measure up to the shocks and scares that are developed with this one. A word to the wise: I try not to watch this in the dark. Keep a few lights on with this one. Enjoy.