Poor Carrie White (Sissy Spacek). Bullied at school, abused by her crazy religious nut mom (Piper Laurie) at home, just when things finally look like they are going to change for the better for her, a nasty prank at the prom turns tragic as Carrie finally decides to push back with deadly telekinetic force.
I don't have any interest in either of the remakes. Carrie (1976) based on the novel by Stephen King remains a really strong movie and one of the few King adaptations that really succeeds. The strength of the movie lies in its cast Spacek and Piper are fantastic and deserve all of the praise they are given for this film, but William Katt as the high school boy who takes her to the prom, and Betty Buckley as the supportive gym teacher deserve equal accolades. Without their genuine performances here to offset the more villainous characters this movie would not have been nearly as successful, and the tragedy that unfolds would have felt empty. The prom, where Carrie's life seems like it's really going to change, is the heart of this movie, and you really want things to get better for her, and you suspect they probably would have, had not the mean kids intervened with their bucket of blood.
There are a couple of scenes here that feel a bit dated, and there are particular music cues that are almost painful to listen to, but overall Carrie really holds up well. Split screen, which pretty much went out of fashion around the time this movie came out, is used really effectively during the film's climax by Brian DePalma.
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