Carrie

The king froze me with how he drove Carrie towards the magnificent finale without any signs of emotion or understanding, only occasionally peeking into her thoughts and wrapping everything in almost documentary form. De Palma and Cohen do it exactly the opposite way. Carrie becomes a supernatural being, not belonging to the ruthless and cynical world around her. Her feelings, whether it's anger, astonishment, or joy, are the main driving force of the story, which, thanks to its brilliant form, elevates the story almost to a message. The original and the adaptation are ultimately quite different, yet they easily won my favor. 85% (06/09/2008)

I didn't read the book, but it launched Stephen King's career as a bestselling author, so I have no doubt that it had its qualities and appeal to fans of psychological horror. After all, critics may point out King's work as part of the so-called "lower literature," but his sense of atmosphere, psychological portrayal, expression of emotions, etc. cannot be denied - he was a true master at that. On the other hand, no offense to Brian De Palma, but I don't see the same atmosphere, tension, and sense of capturing emotional dramas in his characters, not even in Mrs. White as Carrie's mother. The only thing that really works well is the casting and the performance of the main character. For the outstanding Oscar-winning actress Sissy Spacek, this was probably the most gratifying role in her otherwise fruitful career. The opening scene set in the girls' locker room is interesting, where Brian De Palma demonstrates his sense of eroticism and the exploration of the beauty of the female body. He had a rather long period when he experimented with how far nudity and sexuality could go in mainstream cinema, and his music video connected to the song "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood on YouTube best illustrates what De Palma was aiming for. Overall impression: 45%. (06/07/2014)

It’s not really a bad thing that I first watched the new Carrie and only then returned to the original that was created under the wings of a movie legend – Brian De Palma. That’s because the new Carrie only seemed decent before I watched the original. I had no clue just how original De Palma’s horror is. It’s perfect, considering when it was made. It barely mentions telekinesis only to showcase an array of brutal scenes at the end that every one of us has been waiting for. It’s really worth it. I’m taking one star away from the new Carrie just by default. When I realize that this movie is nearly 40 years old and it still has a lot to offer, I’m almost terrified to think what the youth of today, the target audience of the new version, would think about it. You’d hardly find as many original ideas as the original Carrie came up with in a modern horror movie. (25/07/2015)

The first King’s film adaptation turned out to be quite good, great, in fact (which is something you can’t say about most adaptations of his books, but let’s be happy with the few good ones – and when the stars align, they can be great). For most of its runtime, Carrie is a drama rather than horror, but the tension escalates with every minute and and it keeps you expecting something unpleasant coming. The story is quite predictable (and it must have been so even in the 70s), but that’s well compensated by the psychology of the characters – the mother is especially good. PS: At least one and a half stars go to Sissy Spacek, she’s great in the role. (23/05/2008)

The ending was changed and the plot was chewed to the bone, but even so, the film Carrie does not owe anything to the book version. Brian de Palma is great and the way he shot the prom scene blew my mind. But his Carrie isn't just about a bucket of blood. Far from it. The dispute between the daughter and the mother is portrayed so engagingly, is so visually striking and underlined by Donaggio's beautiful music, that it is not boring for even a moment. And I don't need to tell you that Sissy Spacek is unique in the lead role (but she is). (20/03/2013)