Original Bad Girl

By Christina Harlin, your Fearless Young Orphan Carrie (1976) Directed by Brian De Palma

I have been defending this Brian De Palma film as the version of Carrie that one must see in order to really appreciate a film interpretation of a pretty entertaining little book. I have compared it in my discussions of the 2013 remake, the 2002 TV miniseries, and the strange 1999 sequel. I touted it rather heartily, and was sad when I heard people didn’t like it, like my feelings were hurt about it. Well, this was a favorite of mine when I was younger and thought that burning a room full of bullies sounded like an awesome idea.

Obviously it’s been at least ten years, probably more, since I watched De Palma’s film. It’s not as good as I remember. Crap. Oh, it still has its moments – many of them – but it’s not the well-crafted endeavor that my brain had re-imagined. I’ve gotten a lot smarter about movies since last I watched this. Amazing what you’ll discover, when you put yourself through the paces of classics or force yourself to analyze films to the best of your knowledge, and then your knowledge begins to expand. I’m still an amateur at movie talk, I know that, but apparently I’ve either learned enough or aged enough that all the rough edges of Carrie (1976) are showing larger than life. It doesn’t help that my brain likes to fill in gaps for me. Damn brain! I’ve read the book so many times that I’ve filled in all the gaps that the movies leave, so I had quite forgotten that De Palma’s version is so short, and moves so quickly, that one can barely catch breath before it’s Prom Night. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie star, of course. Spacek’s performance is elegant, aided mightily by her petite childlike looks. Never has a Carrie looked more vulnerable than this little wisp of a girl. Piper Laurie is having uproarious fun playing Margaret White, but after the fascinating spin Julianne Moore put on her performance of the character, Piper isn’t quite as scary to see. Oh, she’s still fun to watch, don’t misunderstand me. But these two women, daughter Carrie and mother Margaret, who are facing off on the grounds of God vs. the World, mother vs. daughter, innocence vs. experience, are not given enough time in De Palma’s film for us to understand what is really at stake between them. This Margaret has no valleys, she’s all peaks, and without any valleys, she is less a character and more a force of nature. I realized that, for years now, I have been supplementing her performance with what I knew from the book.

Well, is that fair? I know from experience that having “done the reading” is often an important part of enjoying a film, but then again, a film should be able to stand on its own too. Carrie of 1976 does not do that as well as I had thought.

Okay, so we rush headlong into the story. Carrie is tormented by the girls in her gym class, led by mean girl Chris Hargensen (the vicious, voluptuous hottie played by Nancy Allen with the terrifying nastiness of Grade A bitch) when Carrie has a shocking first period in the gym showers. It makes more sense in 1976 than it does now, though her principal still asks “in this day and age?” about Carrie’s ignorance. But okay, the information superhighway wasn’t running through Carrie’s home town.

There are other appreciable differences in this earliest version: the actors who play the supporting characters are by far the best in their respective roles. Amy Irving is perfect as Sue Snell, even in her abbreviated time: a girl who wants to do the right thing at least to ease her own conscience but also, oh my, relishing that secret pleasure in being able to convince her hunky boyfriend to do something crazy for her. William Katz is surprisingly sweet and believable the golden boy jock who

Isn’t this a nicely arranged moment? Shots like this make is also kind and decent and wow – some other mistakes forgivable. what an amazing mop of hair on his head. Our villains Chris and Billy (Allen and Travolta) are the perfect combination of sadistic bitch and stupid violent sociopath.

Bam, we see Carrie abused at home by her religious maniac mother, bam, we see Sue Snell try to redeem herself by offering up her yummy boyfriend as Carrie’s prom date, bam, there is friction from the doubters, and then BAM it’s prom night. Relative to the length of the film (it’s about 90 minutes long) Prom is a major portion of this movie, so we get a definite feel that this was where De Palma’s passion was leaning.

That passion shows in this exquisite scene of horror. De Palma has always had a knack for filming a complicated scene with impressive grace and unforgettable touches, and it is during the prom that this version of Carrie really starts rocking and rolling. It’s beautifully staged, with Chris and Billy Nolan (teen heartthrob era John Travolta) hiding under the stage, backlit in ominous silhouettes, that rope leading from Chris’s fingers to the bucket of pig’s blood dangling above the stage, the dread-filled moments before the catastrophe happens. Sue Snell is almost in time to avert disaster – we’ve been screaming at her for ten minutes to notice that rope, stupid bitch! And meanwhile Carrie and Tommy smile through their coronation. The blood falls and all hell breaks loose. The scene of destruction is succinct and ruthless. This Carrie is not messing around, and she is given no excuses, no fugue states, blackouts, incomprehension at her actions, nor any opportunity to redeem herself with apologies. She lays waste to everyone and then heads home to throw herself – and her mother in a harrowing murder scene – onto the altar.

Carrie may be succumbing to the affliction that strikes so many horror movies over time: it was made to appeal to the audience of the time, and now it’s looking quite dated. Techniques used in the movie, which might have felt clever way back when, look clumsy, badly out of place. Consider the scene in which Tommy and his friends try on tuxedos for the prom. Why is this scene included? Why is it played for comedy? What about the overloud, sometimes irritating soundtrack, that seems to punctuate moments that really don’t need its help? Laurie and Spacek take a little time to warm into their parts – they make up for it later, but the false start is noticeable.

If too many of these awkward things pile up over the course of a movie, then I have to admit that no, it’s really not the classic I remembered it being. This does not mean it doesn’t have some extraordinary moments. What it does mean is that this 1976 Carrie, like its 2002 and 2013 counterparts, trips up in enough places that it still doesn’t feel like a definitive version of the tale. It remains, however, the most frightening version of the three, the one with the most striking imagery, the best prom scene, and the version that makes us feel the most pity for Carrie White, who probably doesn’t even deserve it.