Carrie (1977)

CARRIE (1977)

Dir: Brian De Palma

5/31 #31daysofhorror

Carrie White didn’t deserve a fanatic mother, absent father, tampons thrown at her, or the constant teasing of her peers. Her story is heartbreaking. Brian De Palma's Carrie represents a first in menstruation horror. This packed phrasing simply means Carrie shows the fears of adolescence through the eyes of a sheltered individual on the verge of womanhood. Told as only two heterosexual cisgender males can. Wait, that just includes Stephen King and Brian De Palma. This film has been utilized for sequels and reboots since it was conceived. Carrie’s next outing would be in 1999. The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) had director Katt Shea who invented Poison Ivy (1992). A female director, a big step forward, but as we know feels like a Halloween store rip-off of the intellectual property. Go see, Telekinetic Girl, she uses CDs as weapons. I’m a fan of The Rage, just not the Carrie 2 part of it. Moving on, there was a TV movie version with the phenomenal Angela Bettis and Patricia Clarkson. Again, this version was headed up by men. The teleplay was written by Bryan Fuller of the Hannibal and Pushing Daisies series, and directed by David Carson in 2002. Carson directed episodes of Northern Exposure, Star Trek, and Doogie Howser, M.D., before tackling menstruation horror made-for-TV. At least for the 2013 remake, another woman was behind the camera. Kimberly Peirce, who fearlessly tackled Boys Don’t Cry in 1999, somehow didn’t know how to improve upon Carrie. This circles back to the original film. As literally no one has made a better adaptation we must look upon De Palma’s masterpiece.

The opening sequence features Carrie's first period and through extreme repression at home, Carrie has no idea what is happening to her. She assumes she is dying and all the girls in the locker room laugh. They throw tampons and pads at her and begin to chant, “Plug it up.” In her frenzied state, Carrie has smeared her menstruation blood everywhere. Miss Collins, the gym teacher, tries to comfort her while secretly wanting to laugh as well. In the principle's office, the principle doesn’t want to be bothered with this issue. He repeatedly calls her Cassie and recoils when he sees the period blood on Miss Collins. Carrie's anger and frustration manifests itself through telekinesis.

Instead of discussing puberty and periods, Mrs. White locks Carrie in a pantry to pray. Adolescence and rebellion go hand in hand. However, in Carrie's case, both are made more extreme by the oppression and suffering she's had to endure. Sue Snell, the once childhood friend of Carrie, feels terrible for taunting her in the locker room. Sue plans to gift Carrie one night of normalcy, and what better night then the prom. Unfortunately, another plan is underway to embarrass Carrie in front of the entire school. When both plans merge, Carrie hits her breaking point.

The insanity of her mother, her repressed adolescence, and the presence of her first telekinetic catalyst (blood) sets off a chain reaction that destroys the school and everyone inside. When Carrie breaks, she is broken, and there’s no turning back. The moment the gymnasium doors shut and lock, Carrie White is no longer with us. She didn’t deserve that fate, but the rest of the school, well, f*ck em.’

De Palma created the film with dreamlike imagery. The cinematography always seems a bit washed out, and everything looks a little too bright overall when we’re at school or walking home with Carrie. But the moment we’re home with her, everything is dim and full of contrast. It works to juxtapose the life Carrie could have had with the one she is doomed to suffer. De Palma gives us glimpses of Carrie's powers to provide a slow build. When she unleashes her wrath, he uses a fast-paced editing style along with split screens, lens filters, and flashing red and green lights. From when they all laugh at Carrie to the end of the prom sequence, De Palma creates a perfect nightmare using any trick he can. Overall, as we see from the sh*tty attempts to re-create this film, the original Carrie will stand the test of time.