Carrie Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Carrie
IMG 0514
Directed by Brian de Palma
Produced by Paul Monash
Written by Lawrence D. Cohen
Starring Sissy Spacek
Piper Laurie
Amy Irving
William Katt
Nancy Allen
John Travolta
Betty Buckley
Music by Pino Donaggio
Distributed by United Artists
Release date(s) November 3, 1976
Running time 98 minutes
Language English
Budget $1.8 million
Gross revenue $33.8 million
Preceded by
Followed by The Rage: Carrie 2

Carrie (1976) is vigilante horror film and the first film adaption of Carrie. It was directed by Brian de Palma and is a supernatural horror film. The film was made one year after the publication of the novel and is considered a classic. It revived the horror genre.

Plot

A shy, unpopular and bullied 16-year-old high school student named Carrie White experiences her first period as she showers with her fellow female classmates after gym class.

Unaware of what is happening to her, she panics and desperately pleads for help, believing herself to be bleeding to death. The other girls, led by the arrogant, popular and beautiful student Chris Hargensen, who frequently bullies Carrie, gleefully responds to this by pelting her with tampons, laughing and chanting "Plug It Up! Plug It Up!" Gym teacher Miss Collins breaks up the commotion and slaps Carrie in the face in an attempt to calm her down. A light bulb mysteriously breaks as Carrie reaches the height of her panic. Miss Collins manages to console Carrie and tell her what menstruation is.

Later, the school principal seems uncomfortable as Miss Collins expresses bewilderment that Carrie is so uninformed about menstruation. As he dismisses Carrie from school for the afternoon, she becomes frustrated as both cigarette smoke emanates from an ashtray, and the principal repeatedly referring to her by the name "Cassie", causing the ashtray to flip from his desk and shatter. On her way home, a young boy teases Carrie, and she makes him fall off his bicycle with just one look.

At home, Carrie is abused by her fanatically religious mother, Margaret, who rants about menstruation being the result of sinful thoughts. Carrie is dragged and locked in a small specially decorated “prayer closet” and forced to pray for forgiveness. When she is finally allowed to go to her room, she gazes into her reflection, causing the mirror to shatter. Carrie's classmate Sue feels guilty for participating in the locker room antics, so she arranges for her boyfriend, handsome and popular Tommy, to ask Carrie to the upcoming prom instead of her in order to make up for her cruel actions. Carrie is reluctant, but is encouraged by Miss Collins in a conversation to accept.

During Miss Collins’s after school detention, Chris furiously throws a tantrum and defiantly skips her detention for tormenting Carrie, resulting in her getting slapped in the face by Miss Collins and gets excluded from attending the prom. Swearing vengeance, she recruits her delinquent boyfriend Billy to play a prank on Carrie. They slaughter pigs from a nearby farm and place a bucket of their blood above the stage at the school’s gymnasium. Margaret discovers Carrie's prom plans and attempts to abuse her again. Having researched her telekinesis, Carrie asserts her power and stands up to her mother. Margaret responds by accusing Carrie of being a satanic witch.

At the prom, Carrie finds acceptance among her peers and shares a kiss with Tommy. Chris's friend Norma rigs the election and Carrie is crowned Prom Queen. Carrie’s joy is cut short when Chris pulls a rope to dump the pig's blood on her. Chris and Billy escape through a back door, while the bucket falls on Tommy's head, knocking him unconscious. The blood-soaked Carrie hallucinates that everyone in the gymnasium, including Miss Collins, is laughing at her motivated by the fact that a small majority is indeed laughing at her. Enraged, Carrie goes into a silent-psychotic breakdown which causes her to unleashes telekinetic fury upon the crowd, guilty and innocent alike.

The doors slam shut, a high-pressure water hose assaults many people (including Norma, who is knocked unconscious), the principal is electrocuted, Miss Collins is crushed to death, and Mr. Fromm is electrocuted so badly his body erupts in flame, setting the gym on fire. As the inferno rages, the enraged and entranced Carrie calmly walks out and locks the remaining students inside, sealing their fates.

Later that night, Carrie still entranced with rage walks slowly home as a firetruck rushes by her, siren on full blast and racing towards the burning school. Just then, Chris and Billy, who witnessed all, attempt to run over Carrie in revenge for the massacre as she walks home, but Carrie causes their car to flip and explode, killing them both by burning them alive.

At home, Carrie washes the pig's blood off in the bathtub, finally breaking out of her insane state. Carrie is comforted by her mother, who strokes her daughter's hair as she tenderly comforts her in her arms; revealing her guilt about having conceived Carrie through her only act of sexual intercourse with Carrie's drunken father, which was marital rape that she had in part both enjoyed and loathed. As they pray together, Margaret stabs her daughter in the back and pursues her through the house with a delirious smile on her face. Defending herself, Carrie causes kitchen utensils to fly through the air using her telekinesis and crucify Margaret. Distraught over her mother's death, Carrie loses control of her powers as the house crumbles and burns down around her.

Sometime after Carrie’s death, Sue, the sole survivor of the prom massacre, is seen laying flowers on the charred remains of Carrie's home beside a vandalized For Sale sign saying "Carrie White Burns In Hell!". Just then, a bloody arm reaches from the rubble and grabs her, causing Sue to wake up from her recurring nightmare, screaming.

Cast

Carrie Sissy Spacek
Margaret Piper Laurie
Sue Amy Irving
Tommy William Katt
Billy John Travolta
Chris Nancy Allen
Miss Collins Betty Buckley
Norma P.J. Soles
Mrs. Snell Priscilla Pointer
Mr. Fromm Sydney Lassick
Mr. Morton Stefan Gierasch
Freddy Michael Talbott
The Beak Doug Cox
George Harry Gold
Frieda Noelle North
Cora Cindy Daly
Rhonda Deirdre Berthrong
Ernest Anson Downes
Kenny Rory Stevens
Helen Edie McClurg
Boy on Bicycle Cameron de Palma
Ruth Sharon Benson
Trudy Terry Bolo
Katie/The Balladeer Katie Irving
Vance or Towers Dan Protheroe, James Saad, Mike Towers and Glen Vance
Julia Janie Squire
Alice Cynthia Schuler Larsen
The Balladeer/Katie Katie Irving
Afro Guy Jean Glaudé

Music

Soundtrack

IMG 0331
  1. Heatwave by Martha and the Vandellas
  2. Education Blues by Vance Or Tower
  3. Born To Have It All by Katie Irving
  4. I Never Dreamed Someone Like You (Could Love Someone Like Me) by Katie Irving

Score

IMG 0332
  1. Theme from Carrie
  2. Ashtray
  3. And God Made Eve
  4. The Closet
  5. Cracking the Mirror
  6. Calisthenics
  7. Card Catalogue/Telekinesis
  8. You Can Trust Me
  9. Pig Pen
  10. Supper
  11. Hanging the Bucket
  12. Sewing
  13. Tuxedo Shop
  14. Per-prom Jitters
  15. At The Prom
  16. Contest Winners
  17. Bucket of Blood
  18. They're All Gonna Laugh At You
  19. School in Flames
  20. Mother at the Top of the Stairs
  21. The Bath
  22. For the Last Time, We'll Pray
  23. Carrie's home collapses
  24. Sue's Dream
  25. End Credits

Gallery

Movie Posters

Advertisement