Blyss's Review For:

Cast of Characters:

Sissy Spacek.........Carrie White

John Travolta.......Billy Nolan

Piper Laurie......Margaret White

Amy Irving.........Sue Snell

Betty Buckley....Miss Collins

William Katt.......Tommy Ross

Nancy Allen........Chris Hargensen

P.J. Soles.....Norma

Priscilla Pointer....Mrs. Snell

1976. Rated R, Genre: Horror; 90 minutes

Kids can be so cruel.but some get even!

Carrie White seems like your typically misunderstood student. And I guess she is if you discount the fact that she can move things with her mind, her mother is a religious freak, and she is the biggest social outcast in school. Carrie was the kid that everyone made fun of and no one tried to understand. She starts her period in the first ten minutes of the movie while she is in the shower and she thinks she is dying because her mother never explained to her the facts of life because she perceived them as "sinful". All of the girls start throwing sanitary napkins and tampons at her and she is horrified because no one will explain what is happening to her. The P.E. coach has to explain to Carrie about what is happening to her and then she is excused for the day.

When she gets home, we get a view of the psycho religious freak that is her mother. She is always on "God's work" but it seems she is only into anything for herself. Carrie's mother makes her spend hours in the prayer closet because she must have sinned because "the curse of blood came upon her".

The next day at school, the P.E. teacher announces to her class that they are all going to have after school dentention because of what they did to Carrie and if they don't come to it, their prom tickets will be refused. All of them reluctantly agree, except Chris Hargenson. She is determined that she will not go to the detention but finally relents because she really wants to go to the prom with Billy Nolan. Before the first detention is even over, Chris storms off of the field saying that she will not do the detention and the P.E. teacher says she cannot go to the prom.

The only student that wants to make a difference and make up for what she has done is Sue Snell. She feels bad about what happened to Carrie even though she participated. So she asks a favor of her boyfriend, Tommy Ross: Take Carrie White to the prom. Tommy gets Carrie to finally accept and they are on their way!

One problem though: Chris wants revenge. She feels like it is Carrie's fault that she is missing her prom and she just overall hates her. She recruits her boyfriend, Billy to help her and she will have her revenge on prom night. But little does she know, Carrie will have her revenge against them all on that very night!

I have been watching Carrie over and over for years and it is still one of my favorite Stephen King movies, the other being Christine. I guess I could identify with Carrie a little about being the class misfit because I was in junior high school. But unlike Carrie, I used it to my advantage as a shock factor in high school. I regretted that so many of the people that were trying to help Carrie were killed before the movie ended but there really was no other way for this movie to end. There was no need for outrageous special effects because the effects that were used were sufficient as Carrie learned to use her telekinetic powers. I sometimes wonder why she did not use them in a different way, such as spraying herself off with the hose at prom. And why did she do what she did to her mother at the end? Why didn't she just push her down with her mind and run away? I guess the guilt of what she had done that night had finally got to her and that is why she ended everything the way she did. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who has not seen it and anyone who might have been a social misfit in school. Just act like it had a disclaimer though: Don't try this at home!

I rate this movie: 10

Blyss