Scarestack's Spring of King - Carrie (1976)

They're all gonna laugh at you!

Total Score: 17/23.

---

Oh, Carrie. There is no doubt in my mind that her story is one of the most significant I shall ever consume. This blood-caked heart-wrencher of a tale is one of the most powerful tragedies in the horror genre and beyond. It is, of course, a horror staple, being Stephen King’s first published novel, and now having been adapted into films, a musical, and, soon, a television show. Today I will be covering Brian De Palma’s 1976 film, Carrietta’s first aching steps onto the screen. I had seen it before rewatching to make notes, but never enjoyed it as much as I did this time around.

Before I begin, thanks awfully to Kyle Ryan for organising the Spring of King (don’t miss his article on Cujo - it is pure excellence), and to H. H. Duke for the super-cool graphic.

I also want to say that I am among the novel’s biggest fans (read, I think about it all the time), and will be referring to it throughout this review - though not as much as I did in my coverage of Christine (1983).

As a final point - just one more - please read this remarkable piece by Ghost Horses Writing Page. It discusses this story impressively and thoroughly.

And now, at last, onto the film.

Straight away we get the De Palma addition of Carrie being slated by her peers in gym class. “You eat shit” indeed. Harsh words for a volleyball game, and it gets the essential across - as King puts it, Carrie is “the sacrificial goat, the constant butt, believer in left-handed monkey wrenches…” - no one likes Carrie White.

Like the source material the opening is thick with unneeded gratuity. It is borderline pornographic at times, and I have always wondered why. Perhaps to highlight the hormonal dial hovering just above Carrie’s head, which is about to go haywire. Even so, it’s nobody’s favourite bit of this film. However, the tonal switch from the peaceful, airy instrumental to bloody thighs and bloody fingers is great. Just a drop into silence, with nothing but shower-water raining down, quiet laughs and conversation echoing from the other girls.

Spacek’s pleas for help are uncomfortable and the scene is EXACTLY what it needs to be - from the sanitary pads raining down like missiles to the painfully slow intervention of Miss Collins. It is interesting how the girls continue to gawp and grin at the suffering even after Collins arrives. You get a real sense of mob mentality, of animality. Then the light smashes.

Note - Spacek is Carrie. Different from her novel counterpart, sure, but perfect casting for what she is in this film.

Anyway, this scene is masterfully done, and almost makes up for all the leering we’ve sat through. It really captures the chilling strangeness of the whole affair.

That haunting music returns once more as Carrie sits outside the principal’s office. The atmosphere is strangely comforting. The exposition is tight and quick. Internal dialogue from the novel is made external in a subtle and unnoticeable fashion.

Then we meet Piper Laurie as Margaret White. Her visit to Mrs Snell is an excellent addition, perfect for some bonus characterisation. She is unsettling before she is lunatic.

At the White House, things are wonderfully dingy. The dreaded cupboard is black and ominous, with black and ominous strings blaring as Carrie is dragged inside. The hellish model of Christ within is a certified nightmare.

Now on to some further character introductions. Tommy Ross is great, with an easy face, long blonde curls and quick smile. Susan Snell is similarly likeable almost off the bat. She is a favourite literary character of mine, so it is hard not to be biased. Then there’s Chris Hargensen. Like Sissie Spacek, Nancy Allen is another perfect casting. The way she holds herself, her facial expressions - absolutely ideal as a foil to Carrie.

NOTE: I’d have liked to see a nineties remake with someone like Cheryl Lee in this role. Thoughts?

John Travolta is a bizarre casting choice. Even in that essential pig-slaughter scene it is Chris Hargensen who takes the focus. He is background from end to end - though, I did appreciate his performance.

The sequence of Carrie researching telekinesis is a little rough as exposition goes. That said, adapting an epistolary text into a cohesive narrative sounds quite tricky, so fair enough.

Another interesting element is Collins and Carrie talking about Tommy’s prom invite. Carrie’s hesitation is a change of pace to the novel, but it is believable and immerses you completely in her feelings. Spacek’s nervousness and withdrawn stance is perfect. Collins is very active in this film and it provides some solid opportunities for built-out characterisation. It also gives us a second sequence of Tommy trying to persuade Carrie, which pads out the screentime. This feels important as Tommy has such a significant role in the tragedy to come.

Note - Piper Laurie nails every fucking scene, oh my god.

It is interesting watching Spacek take on Carrie. Before the Snap she is quite passive - reasonable and calm in the face of her mother’s abuses. It is interesting too that her father is confirmed alive in this adaptation - we are never explicitly told in the novel, rather being led to believe he is dead, rather than an adulterer. This certainly adds a layer to things.

Also, Carrie trying on lipsticks is a lovely scene. Short and light and lovely.

Also also, how on earth did I forget her Paul Atreides moment just before she goes to prom, where she uses The Voice. Absolutely killer scene.

Carrie is the Muad’Dib I guess

Now we’re really in it. Sissie Spacek is super cute at the prom, and my heart is sick with dread. The dance with Tommy is strangely lovely. It seems he’s pretty sweet on our girl Carrie. Unfortunately the lighting is red and red and red and I am beginning to panic.

Sue’s inclusion during the prom scene is a change I feel unsure about. I love her sudden shock from afar. However, the film makes her more involved in it all which, in many ways, is far more horrible.

When Carrie finally walks up to the stage to be crowned prom queen and that instrumental plays once more it is enough to make you cry.

Sue spotting what is coming is a solid moment of horror. The bucket is so slow to tip. Perhaps too slow, as the tension dissolves slightly for a moment.

The blood coats her face thickly. Silence falls and though we see laughter that is silent too. Then the bucket slams into Tommy. Only one girl is actually laughing from what we can see. Then Carrie’s view takes over. All laughter - in every face. The audio distorts. The screen splits. The doors slam shut and the lights go devil red. The eyes of the Prom Queen are wide and heavy with fury. The hoses begin to spray wildly and panic reigns. Sparks spit and fly and Carrie is responsible. Chris watches on in what, shock? Glee? Horror? Even Collins is a victim to the violence that has overtaken Carrie - a change from the novel. As Carrie treads carefully through the mess of broken furniture fire streams behind her, and she exits the building alone, screams mingling with the crackling of the flames.

This is the moment that the film has been building up to, and it is incredibly effective. I bet, to those unaware of it, it was a shock - though for me personally it feels up there with I See Dead People as culturally familiar twists.

The walk home is less dramatic than it might be. Chris does gun to kill Carrie, but is completely obliterated in the car explosion. It is strange to have this happen before the arrival at the White house, and it is over very fast. But hey, it works for the vision of the film.

I respect the choice to have the final impactful location be her home. The organ music and hundreds of candles laid out make for a dramatic reveal. The slow walk upstairs heightens the tension. We linger for some time on Margaret hiding in the dark like a terrible wraith.

Doesn’t it just make you want to cry and cry?

I feel that the bath scene is a very strong decision. It is blessedly less leering than the opening scene. Our focus is on Carrie’s suffering, her quiet crying and washing of her hair. She redresses in clean and familiar clothes. Calls out for her mother, goes to her for comfort. It is a different Carrie to the novel, in some ways, who by comparison is struggling with a kind of bloodlust that she wishes she could rid herself off. The scene here is excellent as Margaret makes things beyond uncomfortable. Her advance on her daughter, grinning and waltzing forward, is nightmarish. When she is crucified it feels inspired. It is iconic, and I really mean that. There is an almost sexual feeling to her dying gasps, which is especially horrid. Her corpse evokes that nasty Jesus statue we saw in the film’s earlier moments.

The collapse of the house is a strange ending. Still, Carrie struggling to carry her mother’s corpse into that closet is moving, in the most unpleasant way. The shaking and sinking reminds me of the falling stones from the text, and from, of course, The Haunting of Hill House (1959). We get another shot of that evil statue, and then there is only fire and smoke engulfing the house.

I hate to say it, but the final scene is lost on me a little. Sue’s dream is undeniably memorable, her looking down on Carrie White Burns in Hell on a plain white cross. She even cries a silent tear, flowers in hand. When that bloody hand grips her arm (in what we in the business think of as a Friday the 13th moment) you wonder if Sue can ever recover from what she has seen.

Can we?

Clearly Google Images agrees with me. See that bottom-left image?

Brian De Palma’s Carrie is a seriously good film. It helps that the novel is a literary classic, of course, but the creative decisions, from casting to lighting, are largely brilliant. It cements itself as a staple of the horror genre, and sets off the chain of films that brings us to this moment now - in which we have come together to write The Spring of King. I’ve had a fucking blast reading all the reviews so far, and cannot wait to see those that follow my own. It is genuinely a pleasure to write among people such as yourselves.

With all that said, I’m off to have spend a good few hours internally weeping about Carrie.

:(

As ever, thanks for reading,

Until next time,

H.E.

---

Scarestack’s Spring of King Post Schedule.

5/1 It miniseries- Sahar Khan

5/2 Pet Semetary- JHong

5/3 Pet Semetary 2- Horror Hangouts

5/4 Cujo- Kyle Ryan

5/5 Creepshow- B-Movie Tea

5/6 The Outsider- Sean Mo

5/7 Gerald’s Game- H. H. Duke

5/8 The Mangler- Timothy Atkinson

5/9 Maximum Overdrive- Yanni Hamburger

5/10 Salem’s Lot 2024- Meat Head Media

5/11 Silver Bullet- George R. Galuschak

5/12 Creepshow 2- Thehumangaze

5/13 Carrie- Hellish Views - Harry Evans

5/14 Christine- Emma

5/15 Big Driver- Molly O’Blivion &

Stand By Me- Matt Cyr

5/16 The Shining- Jamie B.

5/17 The Long Walk- Decarceration

5/18 King Of Home Video- Jean-Pierre Diez

5/19 The Langoliers- Beverley’s Horror Corner

5/20 Sleepwalkers- Brandon Rae

5/21 The Running Man- Stephen Duffy

5/22 Misery- Skyla

5/23 The Night Flier- Bryan Wolford

5/24 The Shawshank Redemption- Genevieve Brock

5/25 Dreamcatcher- Kimberly B

5/26 The Mist- Cedric

5/27 The Dead Zone- Offscreenshaman

5/28 Cat’s Eye- Backyard Movie Critic & Graveyard Shift- Liam Palmer

5/29 Rose Red- Kristen (Blood,Blush ,& Guts) & Storm Of The Century- Adam Hunter

5/30 It Chapter 1- That Horror Lesbian

5/31 Dolores Claiborne- Kimberly Ramsawak & The Lawnmower Man- Mike smith