Brian De Palma's commercial breakout, based on a novel by Stephen King, helped launch a whole slew of teen-based horror films, and Carrie the blood-spattered prom queen has taken her throne in the pantheon of modern American myth. High school girls played by Amy Irving (in her film debut), P.J. Soles, and Nancy Allen plot to avenge themselves on ostracized fellow student and budding telekinetic Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) after they get in trouble for pelting her with tampons. When they get popular boy Tommy Ross (William Katz) to be her date for the prom, the stage is set for some heart-rending cruelty and fiery retribution. De Palma expertly uses split screens, slow motion, color filters, and tracking shots to imbue the proceedings with a haunting, allegorical elegance. Piper Laurie plays Carrie's mentally ill, devoutly Christian mom; she's brilliant, as is Spacek. John Travolta has a memorable pre-SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER role as one of the girls' beer-guzzling boyfriends. There was finally a sequel in 1999, as well as a short-lived Broadway musical.
Carrie, a shy teenager with a fiercely religious and oppressive mother, struggles to come to terms with her emerging sexuality and extraordinary telekinetic powers. Just as she's beginning to enjoy a sudden change in her life, a cruel practical joke drives her to a monstrous act of revenge and destruction.
Theatrical Release: November 3, 1976.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Letterboxed - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Surround - French
Additional Release Material:
Original Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Additional Products:
Booklet - 1. Featuring Trivia and Production Notes
Stars
Sissy Spacek: Oscar winning actress, COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER
Amy Irving: American Actress, CARRIE (1976)
John Travolta: American actor, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, GREASE, PHENOMENON
William Katt: American actor, GREATEST AMERICAN HERO
Nancy Allen: American actress, CARRIE, ROBOCOP
Piper Laurie: American actress, CARRIE (1976)
Betty Buckley: American film, stage and television actress
P.J. Soles: American supporting actress, HALLOWEEN (1978)
Sydney Lassick: Actor, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
Stefan Gierasch: Film & televison actor
Director
Brian De Palma: American Director/Screenwriter, SCARFACE (1983)
Producer
Paul Monash:
Screenwriter
Lawrence D. Cohen: Screenwriter, CARRIE (1976), SOUTH PACIFIC (2001)
Composer
Pino Donaggio: Film composer, TEX (1982)
Editor
Paul Hirsch: Editor, RAY (2004)
Director of Photography
Mario Tosi: American Diretor of Photography
Production Designer
William Kenny: Art Director
Source Writer
Stephen King: Best-selling horror novelist, THE STAND miniseries (1994)
Production Designer
Jack Fisk: Director/Art Director
Review 1:
"...[The film] may be Brian De Palma's best....It's a definitive revenge piece..."
Source: USA Today
p.3D 12/02/1991
Review 2:
"...The opening sequence is an uncanny tour de force..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.66 02/01/2001
Review 3:
"Brian De Palma's best movie, his virtuoso technique meeting its match in Sissy Spacek's touching performance."
Source: Total Film
p.134-5 01/01/2004
Review 4:
"[A] masterful mix of horror and adolescent angst..."
Source: Premiere
p.60 04/01/2004