Carrie (1976)

A young, abused and timid 17-year-old girl discovers she has telekinesis, and gets pushed to the limit on the night of her school's prom by a humiliating prank.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), Lawrence D. Cohen (screenplay)

Stars:

Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sissy Spacek	...	Carrie
Piper Laurie	...	Margaret White
Amy Irving	...	Sue Snell
William Katt	...	Tommy Ross
John Travolta	...	Billy Nolan
Nancy Allen	...	Chris Hargensen
Betty Buckley	...	Miss Collins
P.J. Soles	...	Norma
Priscilla Pointer	...	Mrs. Snell
Sydney Lassick	...	Mr. Fromm
Stefan Gierasch	...	Mr. Morton
Michael Talbott	...	Freddy
Doug Cox	...	The Beak
Harry Gold	...	George
Noelle North	...	Frieda

Storyline

Carrie White is a shy young girl who doesn't make friends easily. After her class mates taunt her about her horrified reaction to her totally unexpected first period one of them takes pity on her and gets Tommy Ross, her boyfriend and class hunk to invite Carrie to the senior prom. Meanwhile another girl who has been banned from the prom for her continued aggressive behaviour is not as forgiving and plans a trick to embarrass Carrie in front of the whole school. What she doesn't realise is that Carrie is ... gifted, and you really don't want to get her angry.

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Plot Keywords:

Prom | School | Teacher | Student | Telekinesis | 

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Taglines:

If you've got a taste for terror you have a date with.... (Australia)

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 November 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Carrie: Extraño presentimiento

Filming Locations:

124 N 7th St, Santa Paula, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The boy on the bike was played by Brian De Palma's nephew Cameron.

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Goofs

When Miss Collins begins calling the roll, Helen doesn't appear in the first shot of the girls. In the next shot, Helen is sitting next to Sue.

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Quotes

Tommy Ross: What is the big deal?
Miss Collins: Because it is a very big deal for Carrie White, and you know it!
Tommy Ross: Well, she already said no, anyway.
Sue Snell: Yeah, well, with a little effort, you can change that.
Tommy Ross: Don't count your chickens.
Miss Collins: Just don't try!
Tommy Ross: Fine. I won't try.
Sue Snell: Hey wait a second! It's not fine! You can't order someone not to take someone to the prom.
Miss Collins: Well, you know, I can make sure that you don't hurt Carrie White anymore.
Sue Snell: We're not trying to hurt her, Miss Collins. We're trying to help her!
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Bob's Burgers: Lobsterfest (2011)
Linda compares Hugo in a sash to Carrie on prom night.

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Soundtracks

"Ernest's Announcement"
(uncredited)
Written by Mike Towers, Eugene Garfin, Stephen Bonnem, Joseph Walter Newton Jr.,
& Carmine Lauro
Performed by Vance or Towers

User Reviews

Though cluttered up with crass humor, De Palma's trashy flair and killer instincts make this a classic screamer...

When picked-on high schooler Carrie White discovers to her horror that she's been made the butt of a nasty prank, she unleashes her secret powers at the school prom and all hell literally comes loose. This sequence, filmed in split-screen, is a canny marvel of technical wizardry, twisted imagination and production design (check out that gorgeous blaze that erupts behind Sissy Spacek). The cinematographer lights everything up like fluorescent goodies in a candy-box (the continuity problems with Carrie's appearance here can be overlooked). But Carrie's anger is all encompassing--it's a high school holocaust--and some of her victims are innocents, like the gym teacher (played very sensitively by Betty Buckley). Carrie has become as bad as her enemies, and director Brian De Palma doesn't seem to understand the irony (he's also too interested in girl-peeping, although to his credit nobody comes off looking foolish). The picture is fun on the surface, but has a depressing undermining that is never quite resolved. Spacek's performance in the lead is flawless; Piper Laurie exceptional as her deranged mother (it was her comeback role, Oscar-nominated, yet it nearly typed her as a horror-movie actress); Nancy Allen, P.J. Soles, and William Katt are excellent as Carrie's classmates; Amy Irving is intriguing as schoolmate Sue who just wants to do the right thing (Pauline Kael of The New Yorker complained that Sue's role in the disaster wasn't made clear, but I disagree. I think she's conflicted and guilty and wants to help, wants to see Carrie bask in some of the glory which she helped create). Although an improvement over the Stephen King source novel, "Carrie" isn't perfect and is weighed down somewhat with dirty jokes and cheap laughs. Certainly it is a stylish picture, with beautiful (if repetitive) music by Pino Donaggio, and the final sequence is still being copied today. *** from ****