Carrie
Brian De Palma
(1976)
Withdrawn and sensitive teenager Carrie White faces bullying from classmates and abuse from her fanatically pious mother. When she begins to suspect that she has supernatural powers, things take a dark and violent turn.
Carrie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Cast
Crew
Hook
Something is hunting. The isolated location should be safe — it never is. Carrie builds its horror through stillness and shadows before the violence finally, inevitably, arrives.
Identity
Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie, who plays Carrie's mother Margaret, both received Academy Award nominations for their performances, marking the first time a Stephen King adaptation had received acting nominations of that kind. The Academy Award nominations for Spacek and Laurie represented a landmark moment for horror cinema's recognition by mainstream awards bodies.
Collector Focus
The prom scene's blood-soaked climax is one of cinema's great images — Spacek's telekinetic fury given full De Palma operatic treatment. The film's position as the first major Stephen King adaptation and the split-screen finale make original theatrical materials important documents in both horror and literary history.
Context
Directed by Brian De Palma and adapted from King's novel by Lawrence D. The film more than proved its commercial viability at the box office, grossing over $33 million. The Academy Award nominations for Spacek and Laurie represented a landmark moment for horror cinema's recognition by mainstream awards bodies.
