.gif)
Carrie (film)
Encyclopedia
Carrie is a 1976 American supernatural horror film
directed by Brian De Palma
and written by Lawrence D. Cohen
, based on the novel
Carrie
by Stephen King
. The film and the novel tell the story of a socially outcast teenage girl, Carrie White
, who discovers she possesses latent psionic power which seems to flare up when she becomes angry or otherwise distressed. Carrie's powers become apparent after her humiliation by her peers, teachers, and abusive mother, eventually resulting in tragedy. The film stars Sissy Spacek
, Piper Laurie
, Betty Buckley
, Amy Irving
, Nancy Allen
, William Katt
, John Travolta
, P.J. Soles and Priscilla Pointer
.
The film was a major success for United Artists
, grossing $33.8 million at the U.S. box office, on a budget of $1.8 million. It received a mostly positive response from critics. The film spawned a failed sequel The Rage: Carrie 2
and a fairly well-received made for television film
, released in 2002, neither of which involved De Palma. During a survey taken in October 2008, it was revealed that Carrie was considered one of the most popular movies teens watched on Halloween
.
Spacek and Laurie were nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress
and Best Supporting Actress
respectively.
(Sissy Spacek
) is a shy, friendless teenage girl abused by her mentally unstable Christian fundamentalist mother, Margaret
(Piper Laurie
). The girls at Bates High School also harass Carrie, with Chris Hargensen
(Nancy Allen
) being especially cruel.
Carrie experiences her first period
while showering after gym class, and, because of her sheltered life, becomes hysterical, thinking she is dying. Popular girl Sue Snell
(Amy Irving
) notices Carrie's horror, leading to the other girls throwing tampon
s and sanitary pads at her before Miss Collins
(Betty Buckley
) intervenes. As Carrie becomes more frantic, a light bulb bursts just before Miss Collins tells the other girls to leave. Miss Collins brings Carrie to Principal Morton's office, and while consoling her, the principal repeatedly calls Carrie "Cassie" -- the wrong name, unintentionally emphasizing how overlooked she is. When Carrie corrects the principal and exclaims "it's Carrie!", an ashtray from the principal's desk flips onto the floor. Later, while Carrie is walking home, a neighborhood boy crashes his bicycle immediately after taunting her.
Margaret, who walks from door to door "spreading the gospel of salvation through Christ's blood", receives a call from Miss Collins about the locker room incident and tells Carrie that the "curse of blood" is punishment for sin, not puberty. She locks Carrie in a closet and forces her to pray. In her bedroom that night, a miserable Carrie stares at her mirror until it shatters.
The next day, English teacher Mr. Fromm reads a poem to the class, written by Tommy Ross
(William Katt
), Sue's athletic boyfriend. Fromm invites the class to critique Tommy's work, but mocks Carrie when she meekly and simplistically calls it "beautiful," which irks Tommy, who defends Carrie. Sue, feeling guilty for teasing Carrie, convinces Tommy to take Carrie to the prom and show her a good time.
Carrie suspects she may have a telekinetic gift, and researches it in the library. While there, Tommy asks Carrie to prom but she flees, fearing another trick. After a pep talk from Miss Collins, Carrie reluctantly accepts Tommy's invitation when he later approaches her at her home. Carrie tells her mother that she is going to the prom, and Margaret insists the prom is an occasion of sin, refusing to let her attend. However, Carrie causes the windows of the house to slam shut, revealing her telekinesis. Margaret believes this is Satan's power, but Carrie again insists she will go to the prom, and Margaret reluctantly lets her.
Meanwhile, Miss Collins berates the girls who tormented Carrie in the locker room, subjecting them to a week-long boot-camp-style detention, threatening them with suspension from school and the prom if they do not attend. All the girls show remorse except for Chris, who holds a deep hatred for Carrie, Miss Collins, and the rest of her school. After Chris throws a fit, Miss Collins smacks her in the face and bans her from the prom. Chris tells her delinquent boyfriend, Billy Nolan (John Travolta
), that she wants revenge on Carrie and Miss Collins and goes with Billy and other kids to a farm where Billy kills a pig. After draining the pig's blood into a bucket, Chris has Billy place the bucket above the school's stage.
Chris makes a deal with her friend Norma Watson (P.J. Soles) and Billy's friend Freddy to rig the election of prom king and queen so Tommy and Carrie win. As Carrie gets ready for the evening, her mother tells her that everyone will laugh at her. Carrie defies her mother, leaving with Tommy. Though her classmates are surprised to see Carrie at prom, they begin treating her as an equal. Sue, who was unable to attend due to lack of a date, hers being Tommy, sneaks into the prom to ensure everything is going well for Carrie.
To Carrie's surprise, she and Tommy are named prom king and queen. As the couple approaches the stage to be crowned, Sue discovers Chris hiding behind the stage holding a rope attached to the bucket of pig's blood resting on the rafters. However, Miss Collins forces Sue out, believing she is there for mischief. As the crown is placed on Carrie's head, Chris pulls the rope and Carrie is drenched in pig's blood. As the crowd looks on in silence, Tommy is knocked unconscious by the bucket and Carrie sees the whole room laughing and jeering at her, when it is implied that only a few of Chris's friends were in reality, while everyone else was just horrified. Carrie's telekinesis takes over, closing the doors to the gym and turning on a fire hose. Norma is knocked out by the fire hose along with many other people, and Carrie kills Miss Collins with a falling rafter. Principal Morton and Mr. Fromm are electrocuted, which then causes a fire in the gym. Leaving her classmates inside the school as it burns, Carrie walks home, covered in blood. Chris and Billy, who got out of the gym but witnessed what happened through a window in horror, catch up with her, intending to run her over with Billy's car, but Carrie uses her powers to flip the car over, killing Billy and Chris.
At home, Carrie breaks down in her mother's arms after taking a bath. Believing the devil has taken over Carrie, Margaret brings the girl to her knees and stabs Carrie in the back. Carrie falls down the stairs and is cornered in the kitchen by her mother, but sends kitchen knives flying at her mother, pinning her to the wall and killing her. Overcome with guilt and grief, Carrie uses her telekinesis to collapse the house where both she and her mother are crushed by falling debris.
Some time later, Sue, the only survivor of the prom, dreams of visiting the plot where Carrie's house stood. As she places flowers on the ground, a bloody hand reaches out, grabbing Sue's wrist, who then wakes up, screaming in her mother's arms.
novel to be published and the first to be adapted into a feature film. In an interview in Port Charlotte, Florida
at a public appearance near his home on the Gulf coast on March 20, 2010, King said he was 26 years old at the time and was paid just $2,500 for the film rights, but adding "I was fortunate to have that happen to my first book." De Palma told Cinefantastique
magazine in an interview in 1977:
Lawrence D. Cohen
was hired as the writer, and produced the first draft, which had closely followed the novel's intentions. However, later versions departed from King's vision rapidly, and certain scripted scenes were omitted from the final version, mainly due to financial limitations.
The final scene, in which Sue reaches toward Carrie's grave
, was shot backwards to give it a dreamlike quality. It was also filmed at night, using artificial lighting to create the desired effect. This scene was inspired by the final scene in Deliverance
(1972). Spacek had insisted on using her own hand in the given scene, so she was positioned under the rocks and gravel. DePalma stated 'Sissy, come on, I'll get a stunt person. What do you want? To be buried in the ground?!' However Spacek declared 'Brian, I have to do this.' DePalma explains that they "had to bury her. Bury her! We had to put her in a box and stick her underneath the ground. Well, I had her husband bury her because I certainly didn't want to bury her. I used to walk around and set up the shot and every once in a while we'd hear Sissy: 'Are we ready yet?' 'Yeah, Sissy, we're going to be ready real soon." The White house was filmed in Santa Paula, California and to give the home a Gothic
theme, director and producers went to religious shops looking for artifacts to place in the home.
The site of one of the locations where Carrie was filmed, Palisades Charter High School
("Pali High"), was owned by Debbie Reynolds
and Eddie Fisher
- parents of Carrie Fisher
- years before the school was built. Some years after the couple had purchased the lot, the State acquired the land by eminent domain
(compulsory purchase) to build the school.
Initially, Melanie Griffith
had auditioned for the role, taking it as an opportunity to begin a career as a mature, adult actress. After Griffith dropped out from the project, Sissy Spacek
was persuaded by husband Jack Fisk
to audition for the title role. Fisk then convinced De Palma to let her audition. After several auditions, DePalma concluded that Spacek would be playing Christine Hargenson. Determined to land the leading role, Spacek backed out of a television commercial she was scheduled to film, rubbed Vaseline
into her hair, didn't bother to wash her face, and arrived at the final audition clad in a sailor dress which her mother had made her in the seventh grade, with the hem cut off, and was given the part.
Amy Irving
was cast alongside her mother, Priscilla Pointer
, who would play the mother of Irving's character.
Nancy Allen
was the last to audition, and her audition came just as she was on the verge of leaving Hollywood. She and De Palma later married.
: in Culver City Studios, and in Los Angeles
, the Bates High School scenes were filmed at Pier Avenue Junior High in Hermosa Beach, with the exception of the shots of the Bates High School athletic field, which were filmed at Palisades Charter High School
in Pacific Palisades. The shots of the school in flames, and the gym scenes, were both filmed inside Culver City Studios.
De Palma began with one director of photography, and cameraman Isidore Mankofsky, who was eventually replaced by Mario Tosi
after conflict between Mankofsky and De Palma ensued. Gregory M. Auer
served as the special effects supervisor for Carrie, with Jack Fisk
, Spacek's husband, as art director. De Palma borrowed heavily from the films of Alfred Hitchcock
, which as a result, gave Carrie a Hitchcockian
tone. The most obvious example is the name of the high school, which is Bates High, a reference to Norman Bates
from Psycho
(1960). In addition, the four note violin
theme from Psycho is used throughout the film whenever Carrie uses her telekinetic powers.
Much of the filming and production became problematic, most notably the prom scene, perhaps the most chaotic to film, and took over two weeks to shoot, with 35 takes. Auer added red, green and yellow food colouring to a bulk-sold concoction known in the cosmetics
industry as 7-11 Blood. However, when it was put to use, the concoction kept drying and adhering to Spacek's skin because of the hot lights. The only solution was to hose Spacek down when the substance got gluey.
A wraparound segment at beginning and end of the film was scripted and filmed which featured the Whites' home being pummeled by stones that hailed from the sky. The opening scene was filmed as planned, though on celluloid, the tiny pebbles looked like rain water. A mechanical malfunction botched production the night when the model of the Whites' home was set to be destroyed, so they burned it down instead and dropped the scenes with the stones altogether. However, some interior scenes had already been filmed which were left in the movie where one can clearly see boulders crashing through the Whites' ceiling.
on November 3, 1976, opening in 409 theaters. After receiving a broader theatrical release, it grossed $5 million, and was one of the five top grossing films for the following two weeks. Its domestic gross was $33,800,000, more than 18 times its budget, which in today's money, is equivalent to $135 million.
. Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
stated the film was an "absolutely spellbinding horror movie", as well as an "observant human portrait". Pauline Kael
of The New Yorker
stated that Carrie was "the best scary-funny movie since Jaws
— a teasing, terrifying, lyrical shocker". Take One Magazine critic Susan Schenker said she was "angry at the way Carrie manipulated me to the point where my heart was thudding, and embarrassed because the film really works." A 1998 edition of The Movie Guide stated Carrie was a "landmark horror film", while Stephen Farber prophetically stated in a 1978 issue of New West Magazine, "it's a horror classic, and years from now it will still be written and argued about, and it will still be scaring the daylights out of new generations of moviegoers." Quentin Tarantino
placed Carrie at number 8 in a list of his favorite films ever.
Nevertheless, the film was not without its detractors. Andrew Sarris
of The Village Voice
commented, "There are so few incidents that two extended sequences are rendered in slow-motion as if to pad out the running time..."
In addition to being a box office success, Carrie is notable for being one of the few horror film
s to be nominated for multiple Academy Awards. Sissy Spacek
and Piper Laurie
received nominations for Best Actress
and Best Supporting Actress
awards, respectively. The film also won the grand prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, while Sissy Spacek was given the Best Actress award by the National Society of Film Critics
. In 2008, Carrie was ranked number 86 on Empire Magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. This movie also ranked number 15 on Entertainment Weekly's
list of the 50 Best High School Movies, and #46 on the American Film Institute
's list of 100 Greatest Cinema Thrills
, and was also ranked eighth for its famous ending sequence on Bravo's five-hour miniseries The 100 Scariest Movie Moments (2004).
In a March 20, 2010 interview, King replied that he thought, although dated now, Carrie was a "good movie."
. In addition, Donaggio scored two pop songs ("Born to Have It All" and "I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me") with lyrics by Merritt Malloy for the early portion of the prom sequence. These songs were performed by Katie Irving, sister of star Amy Irving
and daughter of star Priscilla Pointer
. Donaggio would work again with De Palma on Dressed to Kill, Home Movies
, Blow Out
, Body Double
, and Raising Cain
.
The other songs were uncredited in the film and omitted from all album releases due to different ownership. These songs are "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave
" by Martha and the Vandellas
, "Education Blues" by Vance or Towers, and a third song called "Lady Lay", which is also presumed to be by Vance or Towers (it was cowritten by that band's Michael Towers). Additionally, two brief musical interludes during the prom ("Pre-Prom Disco" and "Ernest's Announcement") were also written by the same songwriting team who wrote "Lady Lay" and have never been issued.
The soundtrack album was originally released on vinyl in 1976 under the United Artists label. It was also released on cassette tape at some time during the 70s or 80s. A deluxe CD edition containing a few tracks of dialogue from the film was released by MGM/Rykodisc in 1997, and a 2005 CD re-release of the original soundtrack (minus dialogue) was available from Varèse Sarabande
. Huge portions of the film's score were omitted from all of these releases. A bootleg
version of the isolated score ripped from the Criterion
laserdisc
has also been in circulation on the internet.
In 2010, Kritzerland Records released all 35 cues of Donaggio's score for the film on a 2-disc CD set which was boasted as the complete score. Also included in this edition were bonus instrumental versions of "Born to Have It All" and "I Never Dreamed...", and, hidden at the end of the final track, a version of the "Calisthenics" cue with Betty Buckley's studio-recorded voiceover from the detention scene. The second disc was a remastered copy of the original 13-track album. The Kritzerland release was a limited edition of 1200 copies.
was released in 1999. It featured another teenager with telekinetic powers who is revealed to have shared a father with Carrie White. The film received universally negative reviews and was a box office failure.
based on King's novel and starring Angela Bettis
in the titular role was released. The film updated the events of the story to modern-day settings and technology while simultaneously attempting to be more faithful to the book's original structure, storyline, and specific events. However, the ending was drastically changed: instead of killing her mother and then herself, the film has Carrie killing her mother, being revived via CPR by Sue Snell and being driven to Florida to hide. This new ending marked a complete divergence from the novel and was a signal that the movie served as a pilot for a Carrie television series, which never materialized. In the new ending, the rescued Carrie vows to help others with similar gifts to her own. Although Angela Bettis
' portrayal of Carrie was highly praised, the film was cited by most critics as inferior to the original.
, based on King's novel and starring Betty Buckley
, Linzi Hateley
and Darlene Love
, closed after only 16 previews and five performances. An English pop opera filtered through Greek tragedy, the show was so notorious that it provided the title to Ken Mandelbaum
's survey of theatrical disasters, Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops.
Early in the 21st century, playwright Erik Jackson attempted to secure the rights to stage another production of Carrie
the musical, but his request was rejected. Jackson eventually earned the consent of Stephen King
to mount a new, officially-sanctioned, non-musical production of Carrie, which debuted Off-Broadway
in 2006 with female impersonator Sherry Vine
in the lead role. Similarly, many other unofficial spoofs have been staged over the years, usually with a gym teacher named "Miss Collins" (as opposed to the novel's "Miss Desjardin" and the musical's "Miss Gardner"), most notably the "parodage" Scarrie the Musical, which hit the Illinois
stage in 1998 and was revived in 2005; Dad's Garage Theatre's 2002 production of Carrie White the Musical; and the 2007 New Orleans production of Carrie's Facts of Life, which was a hybrid of Carrie and the classic American
sitcom The Facts of Life
.
to write the script for the new movie, according to Deadline site http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/broadway-spider-man-re-writer-tackles-glee-and-carrie-remake/, a more faithful adaptation of King's novel. Aguirre-Sacasa, is an accomplished comic-book author familiar with the King oeuvre. He adapted King’s epic The Stand into comic-book form in 2008.
Stephen King suggested Lindsay Lohan
for the main role, saying that "it would certainly be fun to cast". http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/05/20/stephen-king-carrie-remake/ Actress Sissy Spacek
also expressed her opinion about Lohan as Carrie
White, stating that she "was like, 'Oh my God, she's really a beautiful girl' and so I was very flattered that they were casting someone to look like me instead of the real Carrie described in the book. It's gonna be real interesting." http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/12/lilo-in-carrie-remake-sissy-spacek-can-see-it/
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
and written by Lawrence D. Cohen
Lawrence D. Cohen
Lawrence D. Cohen is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on Brian De Palma's Carrie , an adaptation of Stephen King's novel. Following this he scripted a simplified film adaptation of Peter Straub's novel Ghost Story in 1981...
, based on the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Carrie
Carrie (novel)
Carrie is American author Stephen King's first published novel, released in 1974. It revolves around the eponymous Carrie, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her...
by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
. The film and the novel tell the story of a socially outcast teenage girl, Carrie White
Carrie White
Carietta "Carrie" N. White is a fictional character created by Stephen King who has the power of telekinesis.In every adaptation and portrayal of Carrie, she is shown as an outcast, loathed and taunted by her fellow students and constantly scolded by her mother, Margaret White, an abusive, mentally...
, who discovers she possesses latent psionic power which seems to flare up when she becomes angry or otherwise distressed. Carrie's powers become apparent after her humiliation by her peers, teachers, and abusive mother, eventually resulting in tragedy. The film stars Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
, Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
, Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
, Amy Irving
Amy Irving
Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
, Nancy Allen
Nancy Allen (actress)
Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...
, William Katt
William Katt
William Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
, John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
, P.J. Soles and Priscilla Pointer
Priscilla Pointer
Priscilla Pointer is an American stage, film and television character actress. She began her career in the theater, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood to act in films and on television...
.
The film was a major success for United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, grossing $33.8 million at the U.S. box office, on a budget of $1.8 million. It received a mostly positive response from critics. The film spawned a failed sequel The Rage: Carrie 2
The Rage: Carrie 2
The Rage: Carrie 2 is the 1999 sequel to the 1976 horror film classic Carrie. Directed by Katt Shea, the film starred Emily Bergl, Mena Suvari, Jason London and Amy Irving.-Plot:...
and a fairly well-received made for television film
Carrie (2002 film)
Carrie is a 2002 horror television film based on the novel Carrie by Stephen King, originally intended as a pilot for a TV series in which Carrie moves to Florida to help others with telekinetic problems, which never materialized...
, released in 2002, neither of which involved De Palma. During a survey taken in October 2008, it was revealed that Carrie was considered one of the most popular movies teens watched on Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
.
Spacek and Laurie were nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
respectively.
Plot
Carrie WhiteCarrie White
Carietta "Carrie" N. White is a fictional character created by Stephen King who has the power of telekinesis.In every adaptation and portrayal of Carrie, she is shown as an outcast, loathed and taunted by her fellow students and constantly scolded by her mother, Margaret White, an abusive, mentally...
(Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
) is a shy, friendless teenage girl abused by her mentally unstable Christian fundamentalist mother, Margaret
Margaret White
Margaret White is a fictional character created by Stephen King in his first published novel, Carrie. She was the abusive, mentally ill, fanatically religious mother of Carrie White, who has the power of telekinesis...
(Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
). The girls at Bates High School also harass Carrie, with Chris Hargensen
Chris Hargensen
Christine "Chris" Hargensen is a fictional character created by Stephen King. She is the main antagonist in his first published novel, Carrie....
(Nancy Allen
Nancy Allen (actress)
Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...
) being especially cruel.
Carrie experiences her first period
Menarche
Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual bleeding, in female human beings. From both social and medical perspectives it is often considered the central event of female puberty, as it signals the possibility of fertility....
while showering after gym class, and, because of her sheltered life, becomes hysterical, thinking she is dying. Popular girl Sue Snell
Sue Snell
Susan "Sue" D. Snell is a fictional character created by Stephen King. She was one of the main characters in his first published novel entitled Carrie....
(Amy Irving
Amy Irving
Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
) notices Carrie's horror, leading to the other girls throwing tampon
Tampon
A tampon is a mass of cotton or rayon or a mixture of the two inserted into a body cavity or wound to absorb bodilyfluid. The most common type in daily use is designed to be inserted into the vagina during menstruation to absorb the flow of menstrual fluid...
s and sanitary pads at her before Miss Collins
Rita Desjardin
Miss Rita L. Desjardin is a fictional character created by Stephen King for his horror novel Carrie. In the film versions, she was portrayed by Betty Buckley and Rena Sofer. She was portrayed in the musical by Darlene Love .-Novel:In the book, she at first feels the same disgust everyone feels...
(Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
) intervenes. As Carrie becomes more frantic, a light bulb bursts just before Miss Collins tells the other girls to leave. Miss Collins brings Carrie to Principal Morton's office, and while consoling her, the principal repeatedly calls Carrie "Cassie" -- the wrong name, unintentionally emphasizing how overlooked she is. When Carrie corrects the principal and exclaims "it's Carrie!", an ashtray from the principal's desk flips onto the floor. Later, while Carrie is walking home, a neighborhood boy crashes his bicycle immediately after taunting her.
Margaret, who walks from door to door "spreading the gospel of salvation through Christ's blood", receives a call from Miss Collins about the locker room incident and tells Carrie that the "curse of blood" is punishment for sin, not puberty. She locks Carrie in a closet and forces her to pray. In her bedroom that night, a miserable Carrie stares at her mirror until it shatters.
The next day, English teacher Mr. Fromm reads a poem to the class, written by Tommy Ross
Tommy Ross
Thomas "Tommy" Everett Ross is one of the main characters in the horror novel Carrie by Stephen King.In both of the two film adaptations, as in the book, Tommy is asked by his girlfriend Sue Snell to take Carrie White to the prom instead of her. Susan feels guilty for taunting Carrie in the showers...
(William Katt
William Katt
William Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
), Sue's athletic boyfriend. Fromm invites the class to critique Tommy's work, but mocks Carrie when she meekly and simplistically calls it "beautiful," which irks Tommy, who defends Carrie. Sue, feeling guilty for teasing Carrie, convinces Tommy to take Carrie to the prom and show her a good time.
Carrie suspects she may have a telekinetic gift, and researches it in the library. While there, Tommy asks Carrie to prom but she flees, fearing another trick. After a pep talk from Miss Collins, Carrie reluctantly accepts Tommy's invitation when he later approaches her at her home. Carrie tells her mother that she is going to the prom, and Margaret insists the prom is an occasion of sin, refusing to let her attend. However, Carrie causes the windows of the house to slam shut, revealing her telekinesis. Margaret believes this is Satan's power, but Carrie again insists she will go to the prom, and Margaret reluctantly lets her.
Meanwhile, Miss Collins berates the girls who tormented Carrie in the locker room, subjecting them to a week-long boot-camp-style detention, threatening them with suspension from school and the prom if they do not attend. All the girls show remorse except for Chris, who holds a deep hatred for Carrie, Miss Collins, and the rest of her school. After Chris throws a fit, Miss Collins smacks her in the face and bans her from the prom. Chris tells her delinquent boyfriend, Billy Nolan (John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
), that she wants revenge on Carrie and Miss Collins and goes with Billy and other kids to a farm where Billy kills a pig. After draining the pig's blood into a bucket, Chris has Billy place the bucket above the school's stage.
Chris makes a deal with her friend Norma Watson (P.J. Soles) and Billy's friend Freddy to rig the election of prom king and queen so Tommy and Carrie win. As Carrie gets ready for the evening, her mother tells her that everyone will laugh at her. Carrie defies her mother, leaving with Tommy. Though her classmates are surprised to see Carrie at prom, they begin treating her as an equal. Sue, who was unable to attend due to lack of a date, hers being Tommy, sneaks into the prom to ensure everything is going well for Carrie.
To Carrie's surprise, she and Tommy are named prom king and queen. As the couple approaches the stage to be crowned, Sue discovers Chris hiding behind the stage holding a rope attached to the bucket of pig's blood resting on the rafters. However, Miss Collins forces Sue out, believing she is there for mischief. As the crown is placed on Carrie's head, Chris pulls the rope and Carrie is drenched in pig's blood. As the crowd looks on in silence, Tommy is knocked unconscious by the bucket and Carrie sees the whole room laughing and jeering at her, when it is implied that only a few of Chris's friends were in reality, while everyone else was just horrified. Carrie's telekinesis takes over, closing the doors to the gym and turning on a fire hose. Norma is knocked out by the fire hose along with many other people, and Carrie kills Miss Collins with a falling rafter. Principal Morton and Mr. Fromm are electrocuted, which then causes a fire in the gym. Leaving her classmates inside the school as it burns, Carrie walks home, covered in blood. Chris and Billy, who got out of the gym but witnessed what happened through a window in horror, catch up with her, intending to run her over with Billy's car, but Carrie uses her powers to flip the car over, killing Billy and Chris.
At home, Carrie breaks down in her mother's arms after taking a bath. Believing the devil has taken over Carrie, Margaret brings the girl to her knees and stabs Carrie in the back. Carrie falls down the stairs and is cornered in the kitchen by her mother, but sends kitchen knives flying at her mother, pinning her to the wall and killing her. Overcome with guilt and grief, Carrie uses her telekinesis to collapse the house where both she and her mother are crushed by falling debris.
Some time later, Sue, the only survivor of the prom, dreams of visiting the plot where Carrie's house stood. As she places flowers on the ground, a bloody hand reaches out, grabbing Sue's wrist, who then wakes up, screaming in her mother's arms.
Cast
- Sissy SpacekSissy SpacekSissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
as Carrie WhiteCarrie WhiteCarietta "Carrie" N. White is a fictional character created by Stephen King who has the power of telekinesis.In every adaptation and portrayal of Carrie, she is shown as an outcast, loathed and taunted by her fellow students and constantly scolded by her mother, Margaret White, an abusive, mentally... - Amy IrvingAmy IrvingAmy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
as Sue SnellSue SnellSusan "Sue" D. Snell is a fictional character created by Stephen King. She was one of the main characters in his first published novel entitled Carrie.... - Piper LauriePiper LauriePiper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
as Margaret WhiteMargaret WhiteMargaret White is a fictional character created by Stephen King in his first published novel, Carrie. She was the abusive, mentally ill, fanatically religious mother of Carrie White, who has the power of telekinesis... - Betty BuckleyBetty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
as Miss CollinsRita DesjardinMiss Rita L. Desjardin is a fictional character created by Stephen King for his horror novel Carrie. In the film versions, she was portrayed by Betty Buckley and Rena Sofer. She was portrayed in the musical by Darlene Love .-Novel:In the book, she at first feels the same disgust everyone feels... - William KattWilliam KattWilliam Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
as Tommy RossTommy RossThomas "Tommy" Everett Ross is one of the main characters in the horror novel Carrie by Stephen King.In both of the two film adaptations, as in the book, Tommy is asked by his girlfriend Sue Snell to take Carrie White to the prom instead of her. Susan feels guilty for taunting Carrie in the showers... - Nancy AllenNancy Allen (actress)Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...
as Chris HargensenChris HargensenChristine "Chris" Hargensen is a fictional character created by Stephen King. She is the main antagonist in his first published novel, Carrie.... - John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as Billy Nolan - P. J. SolesP. J. SolesP. J. Soles is an American film and television actress, known for her roles as Lynda van der Klok in Halloween, Norma Watson in Carrie and Bill Murray's military girlfriend Stella in Stripes....
as Norma Watson - Priscilla PointerPriscilla PointerPriscilla Pointer is an American stage, film and television character actress. She began her career in the theater, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood to act in films and on television...
as Mrs. Snell - Sydney Lassick as Mr. Fromm
- Stefan GieraschStefan GieraschStefan Gierasch is an American television and film actor.Stefan Gierasch has made over 100 screen appearances, mostly in American television, beginning in 1951. In the mid-60s, he performed with the Trinity Square Players in Providence, Rhode Island...
as Mr. Morton - Michael TalbottMichael TalbottMichael Talbott is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his co-starring role as Det. Stanley Switek in the 1980s series Miami Vice....
as Freddy - Doug CoxDoug CoxDoug Cox is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and music programmer, and is currently signed to Toronto's NorthernBlues Music.He is well known for his skills on the dobro and slide guitar...
as The Beak - Harry GoldHarry GoldHarry Gold was a laboratory chemist who was convicted of being the “courier” for a number of Soviet spy rings during the Manhattan Project.-Early life:Gold was born in Switzerland to poor Russian Jewish immigrants...
as George Dawson - Edie McClurgEdie McClurgEdie McClurg is an American character actress. She is known for her perky North Central dialect , common to persons from Middle America.-Career:...
as Helen Shyres
Pre-production
Carrie was the first Stephen KingStephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
novel to be published and the first to be adapted into a feature film. In an interview in Port Charlotte, Florida
Port Charlotte, Florida
Port Charlotte is a census-designated place in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population was 46,451 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
at a public appearance near his home on the Gulf coast on March 20, 2010, King said he was 26 years old at the time and was paid just $2,500 for the film rights, but adding "I was fortunate to have that happen to my first book." De Palma told Cinefantastique
Cinefantastique
Cinefantastique was a horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor Frederick S. Clarke...
magazine in an interview in 1977:
Lawrence D. Cohen
Lawrence D. Cohen
Lawrence D. Cohen is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on Brian De Palma's Carrie , an adaptation of Stephen King's novel. Following this he scripted a simplified film adaptation of Peter Straub's novel Ghost Story in 1981...
was hired as the writer, and produced the first draft, which had closely followed the novel's intentions. However, later versions departed from King's vision rapidly, and certain scripted scenes were omitted from the final version, mainly due to financial limitations.
The final scene, in which Sue reaches toward Carrie's grave
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
, was shot backwards to give it a dreamlike quality. It was also filmed at night, using artificial lighting to create the desired effect. This scene was inspired by the final scene in Deliverance
Deliverance
Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in his film debut. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the...
(1972). Spacek had insisted on using her own hand in the given scene, so she was positioned under the rocks and gravel. DePalma stated 'Sissy, come on, I'll get a stunt person. What do you want? To be buried in the ground?!' However Spacek declared 'Brian, I have to do this.' DePalma explains that they "had to bury her. Bury her! We had to put her in a box and stick her underneath the ground. Well, I had her husband bury her because I certainly didn't want to bury her. I used to walk around and set up the shot and every once in a while we'd hear Sissy: 'Are we ready yet?' 'Yeah, Sissy, we're going to be ready real soon." The White house was filmed in Santa Paula, California and to give the home a Gothic
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
theme, director and producers went to religious shops looking for artifacts to place in the home.
The site of one of the locations where Carrie was filmed, Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California, United States. The public high school serves the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, Palisades Highlands, Kenter Canyon and portions of Brentwood...
("Pali High"), was owned by Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
and Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
- parents of Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
- years before the school was built. Some years after the couple had purchased the lot, the State acquired the land by eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
(compulsory purchase) to build the school.
Initially, Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
had auditioned for the role, taking it as an opportunity to begin a career as a mature, adult actress. After Griffith dropped out from the project, Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
was persuaded by husband Jack Fisk
Jack Fisk
Jack Fisk is an American movie industry professional, frequently working as either a production designer or art director on Hollywood movies.Fisk met Sissy Spacek when working on Terrence Malick's 1973 movie Badlands...
to audition for the title role. Fisk then convinced De Palma to let her audition. After several auditions, DePalma concluded that Spacek would be playing Christine Hargenson. Determined to land the leading role, Spacek backed out of a television commercial she was scheduled to film, rubbed Vaseline
Vaseline
Vaseline is a brand of petroleum jelly based products owned by Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soaps, lotions, cleansers, deodorants and personal lubricants....
into her hair, didn't bother to wash her face, and arrived at the final audition clad in a sailor dress which her mother had made her in the seventh grade, with the hem cut off, and was given the part.
Amy Irving
Amy Irving
Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
was cast alongside her mother, Priscilla Pointer
Priscilla Pointer
Priscilla Pointer is an American stage, film and television character actress. She began her career in the theater, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood to act in films and on television...
, who would play the mother of Irving's character.
Nancy Allen
Nancy Allen (actress)
Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...
was the last to audition, and her audition came just as she was on the verge of leaving Hollywood. She and De Palma later married.
Filming
Principal photography and filming began on May 17, 1976 and ended in July, with a 50-day shooting schedule. Principal location shooting occurred in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
: in Culver City Studios, and in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, the Bates High School scenes were filmed at Pier Avenue Junior High in Hermosa Beach, with the exception of the shots of the Bates High School athletic field, which were filmed at Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California, United States. The public high school serves the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, Palisades Highlands, Kenter Canyon and portions of Brentwood...
in Pacific Palisades. The shots of the school in flames, and the gym scenes, were both filmed inside Culver City Studios.
De Palma began with one director of photography, and cameraman Isidore Mankofsky, who was eventually replaced by Mario Tosi
Mario Tosi
Mario Tosi is an Italian-American cinematographer and cameraman. Tosi's works include Report to the Commissioner, Carrie, and Sybil, for which he was nominated for an Emmy. Tosi was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.-External...
after conflict between Mankofsky and De Palma ensued. Gregory M. Auer
Gregory M. Auer
Gregory M. Auer was an American art director, screenwriter and cameraman. Manager of Special Effects for Warner Brothers Studio, he was best known for his work on Carrie and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope .-References:...
served as the special effects supervisor for Carrie, with Jack Fisk
Jack Fisk
Jack Fisk is an American movie industry professional, frequently working as either a production designer or art director on Hollywood movies.Fisk met Sissy Spacek when working on Terrence Malick's 1973 movie Badlands...
, Spacek's husband, as art director. De Palma borrowed heavily from the films of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, which as a result, gave Carrie a Hitchcockian
Hitchcockian
Hitchcockian is a general term used to describe film styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock's films.-Characteristics:Elements considered Hitchcockian include:*The cool platinum blonde....
tone. The most obvious example is the name of the high school, which is Bates High, a reference to Norman Bates
Norman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...
from Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
(1960). In addition, the four note violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
theme from Psycho is used throughout the film whenever Carrie uses her telekinetic powers.
Much of the filming and production became problematic, most notably the prom scene, perhaps the most chaotic to film, and took over two weeks to shoot, with 35 takes. Auer added red, green and yellow food colouring to a bulk-sold concoction known in the cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
industry as 7-11 Blood. However, when it was put to use, the concoction kept drying and adhering to Spacek's skin because of the hot lights. The only solution was to hose Spacek down when the substance got gluey.
A wraparound segment at beginning and end of the film was scripted and filmed which featured the Whites' home being pummeled by stones that hailed from the sky. The opening scene was filmed as planned, though on celluloid, the tiny pebbles looked like rain water. A mechanical malfunction botched production the night when the model of the Whites' home was set to be destroyed, so they burned it down instead and dropped the scenes with the stones altogether. However, some interior scenes had already been filmed which were left in the movie where one can clearly see boulders crashing through the Whites' ceiling.
Box office performance
Carrie initially had a limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
on November 3, 1976, opening in 409 theaters. After receiving a broader theatrical release, it grossed $5 million, and was one of the five top grossing films for the following two weeks. Its domestic gross was $33,800,000, more than 18 times its budget, which in today's money, is equivalent to $135 million.
Awards and critical reception
Carrie received immensely positive reviews and is widely regarded as one of the best films of 1976. The film currently holds a 90% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregation website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
stated the film was an "absolutely spellbinding horror movie", as well as an "observant human portrait". Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
stated that Carrie was "the best scary-funny movie since Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
— a teasing, terrifying, lyrical shocker". Take One Magazine critic Susan Schenker said she was "angry at the way Carrie manipulated me to the point where my heart was thudding, and embarrassed because the film really works." A 1998 edition of The Movie Guide stated Carrie was a "landmark horror film", while Stephen Farber prophetically stated in a 1978 issue of New West Magazine, "it's a horror classic, and years from now it will still be written and argued about, and it will still be scaring the daylights out of new generations of moviegoers." Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
placed Carrie at number 8 in a list of his favorite films ever.
Nevertheless, the film was not without its detractors. Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris is an American film critic and a leading proponent of the auteur theory of criticism.-Career:Sarris is generally credited with popularizing the auteur theory in the U.S...
of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
commented, "There are so few incidents that two extended sequences are rendered in slow-motion as if to pad out the running time..."
In addition to being a box office success, Carrie is notable for being one of the few horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s to be nominated for multiple Academy Awards. Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
and Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
received nominations for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
awards, respectively. The film also won the grand prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, while Sissy Spacek was given the Best Actress award by the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
. In 2008, Carrie was ranked number 86 on Empire Magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. This movie also ranked number 15 on Entertainment Weekly's
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
list of the 50 Best High School Movies, and #46 on the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's list of 100 Greatest Cinema Thrills
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Thrills is a list of the top 100 heart-pounding movies in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 12, 2001, during a CBS special hosted by Harrison Ford....
, and was also ranked eighth for its famous ending sequence on Bravo's five-hour miniseries The 100 Scariest Movie Moments (2004).
In a March 20, 2010 interview, King replied that he thought, although dated now, Carrie was a "good movie."
Music
The score for Carrie was composed by Pino DonaggioPino Donaggio
Giuseppe "Pino" Donaggio is an Italian composer.Born in Burano , into a family of musicians, Donaggio began studying violin at the age of ten, first at the Benedetto Marcello conservatory in Venice, followed by the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan...
. In addition, Donaggio scored two pop songs ("Born to Have It All" and "I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me") with lyrics by Merritt Malloy for the early portion of the prom sequence. These songs were performed by Katie Irving, sister of star Amy Irving
Amy Irving
Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
and daughter of star Priscilla Pointer
Priscilla Pointer
Priscilla Pointer is an American stage, film and television character actress. She began her career in the theater, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood to act in films and on television...
. Donaggio would work again with De Palma on Dressed to Kill, Home Movies
Home Movies (film)
Home Movies is a 1980 independent film directed by Brian De Palma and starring Kirk Douglas, Nancy Allen, Vincent Gardenia, Keith Gordon, Theresa Saldana, and Gerrit Graham.-Plot:...
, Blow Out
Blow Out
Blow Out is a 1981 thriller film, written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget slasher film, serendipitously captures audio evidence of an assassination involving a...
, Body Double
Body Double
Body Double is a 1984 American thriller film directed by Brian De Palma starring Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, and Gregg Henry. The film is an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Rear Window, and Dial M for Murder. The original musical score was composed by Pino Donaggio...
, and Raising Cain
Raising Cain
Raising Cain is a 1992 psychological thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma, and starring John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich and Steven Bauer.-Plot:Dr. Carter Nix is a respected child psychologist, the son of a giant in the field...
.
The other songs were uncredited in the film and omitted from all album releases due to different ownership. These songs are "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave
(Love is Like a) Heat Wave
" Heat Wave" is a 1963 hit single penned by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team and made popular by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. It was originally released in July 1963, on the Motown subsidiary label Gordy, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Hot...
" by Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
, "Education Blues" by Vance or Towers, and a third song called "Lady Lay", which is also presumed to be by Vance or Towers (it was cowritten by that band's Michael Towers). Additionally, two brief musical interludes during the prom ("Pre-Prom Disco" and "Ernest's Announcement") were also written by the same songwriting team who wrote "Lady Lay" and have never been issued.
The soundtrack album was originally released on vinyl in 1976 under the United Artists label. It was also released on cassette tape at some time during the 70s or 80s. A deluxe CD edition containing a few tracks of dialogue from the film was released by MGM/Rykodisc in 1997, and a 2005 CD re-release of the original soundtrack (minus dialogue) was available from Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
. Huge portions of the film's score were omitted from all of these releases. A bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
version of the isolated score ripped from the Criterion
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
has also been in circulation on the internet.
In 2010, Kritzerland Records released all 35 cues of Donaggio's score for the film on a 2-disc CD set which was boasted as the complete score. Also included in this edition were bonus instrumental versions of "Born to Have It All" and "I Never Dreamed...", and, hidden at the end of the final track, a version of the "Calisthenics" cue with Betty Buckley's studio-recorded voiceover from the detention scene. The second disc was a remastered copy of the original 13-track album. The Kritzerland release was a limited edition of 1200 copies.
Sequels, remakes and related works
Carrie, along with the novel, have been reproduced and adapted several times.Sequel
The Rage: Carrie 2The Rage: Carrie 2
The Rage: Carrie 2 is the 1999 sequel to the 1976 horror film classic Carrie. Directed by Katt Shea, the film starred Emily Bergl, Mena Suvari, Jason London and Amy Irving.-Plot:...
was released in 1999. It featured another teenager with telekinetic powers who is revealed to have shared a father with Carrie White. The film received universally negative reviews and was a box office failure.
Remake
In 2002, a television filmCarrie (2002 film)
Carrie is a 2002 horror television film based on the novel Carrie by Stephen King, originally intended as a pilot for a TV series in which Carrie moves to Florida to help others with telekinetic problems, which never materialized...
based on King's novel and starring Angela Bettis
Angela Bettis
Angela Marie Bettis is an American actress, film producer and director best known for her lead roles in the 2002 TV remake of the Stephen King film Carrie, the title character in May , and in Girl, Interrupted as the anorexic girl Janet Webber.-Early life:Bettis was born in Austin, Texas to Mary...
in the titular role was released. The film updated the events of the story to modern-day settings and technology while simultaneously attempting to be more faithful to the book's original structure, storyline, and specific events. However, the ending was drastically changed: instead of killing her mother and then herself, the film has Carrie killing her mother, being revived via CPR by Sue Snell and being driven to Florida to hide. This new ending marked a complete divergence from the novel and was a signal that the movie served as a pilot for a Carrie television series, which never materialized. In the new ending, the rescued Carrie vows to help others with similar gifts to her own. Although Angela Bettis
Angela Bettis
Angela Marie Bettis is an American actress, film producer and director best known for her lead roles in the 2002 TV remake of the Stephen King film Carrie, the title character in May , and in Girl, Interrupted as the anorexic girl Janet Webber.-Early life:Bettis was born in Austin, Texas to Mary...
' portrayal of Carrie was highly praised, the film was cited by most critics as inferior to the original.
Stage productions
A 1988 Broadway musical of the same nameCarrie (musical)
Carrie: The Musical is a musical with a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore. Adapted from Stephen King's novel Carrie, it focuses on an awkward teenage girl with telekinetic powers whose lonely life is dominated by an oppressive religious fanatic mother...
, based on King's novel and starring Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
, Linzi Hateley
Linzi Hateley
Linzi Hateley is an English stage actress who is currently starring as one of the leads in the West End production of the musical Mamma Mia!. Her performance as Donna started on 5 March 2007....
and Darlene Love
Darlene Love
Darlene Love is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a #1 American single in 1962, and was part of the Phil Spector stable that produced a celebrated Christmas album in 1963....
, closed after only 16 previews and five performances. An English pop opera filtered through Greek tragedy, the show was so notorious that it provided the title to Ken Mandelbaum
Ken Mandelbaum
Ken Mandelbaum is an American columnist, critic, and author whose primary field of expertise is musical theatre.Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Mandelbaum was introduced to Broadway musical theatre by his parents and grandparents at an early age...
's survey of theatrical disasters, Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops.
Early in the 21st century, playwright Erik Jackson attempted to secure the rights to stage another production of Carrie
Carrie (musical)
Carrie: The Musical is a musical with a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore. Adapted from Stephen King's novel Carrie, it focuses on an awkward teenage girl with telekinetic powers whose lonely life is dominated by an oppressive religious fanatic mother...
the musical, but his request was rejected. Jackson eventually earned the consent of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
to mount a new, officially-sanctioned, non-musical production of Carrie, which debuted Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in 2006 with female impersonator Sherry Vine
Sherry Vine
Sherry Vine, a drag performer who works primarily in New York City and Fire Island, but also around the US and in Europe, is known for her parodies of popular songs. Sherry Vine will also be featured on an upcoming web series entitled "Queens of Drag, NYC."-Songs:Vine performs a wide variety of...
in the lead role. Similarly, many other unofficial spoofs have been staged over the years, usually with a gym teacher named "Miss Collins" (as opposed to the novel's "Miss Desjardin" and the musical's "Miss Gardner"), most notably the "parodage" Scarrie the Musical, which hit the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
stage in 1998 and was revived in 2005; Dad's Garage Theatre's 2002 production of Carrie White the Musical; and the 2007 New Orleans production of Carrie's Facts of Life, which was a hybrid of Carrie and the classic American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (TV series)
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...
.
New Remake
In May 2011, was officialy anounced that Stephen King's novel Carrie will have a new adaptation to cinema.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/mgm-screen-gems-team-carrie-190369 MGM and Screem Gems hired Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark playwright Roberto Aguirre-SacasaRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter and comic-book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the HBO drama series Big Love.-Biography:...
to write the script for the new movie, according to Deadline site http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/broadway-spider-man-re-writer-tackles-glee-and-carrie-remake/, a more faithful adaptation of King's novel. Aguirre-Sacasa, is an accomplished comic-book author familiar with the King oeuvre. He adapted King’s epic The Stand into comic-book form in 2008.
Stephen King suggested Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
for the main role, saying that "it would certainly be fun to cast". http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/05/20/stephen-king-carrie-remake/ Actress Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
also expressed her opinion about Lohan as Carrie
White, stating that she "was like, 'Oh my God, she's really a beautiful girl' and so I was very flattered that they were casting someone to look like me instead of the real Carrie described in the book. It's gonna be real interesting." http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/12/lilo-in-carrie-remake-sissy-spacek-can-see-it/