Rating of
2/4
"Carrie" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/16/12
An awkward and unpopular high school girl reaches sexual maturity and discovers she has the power of telekenesis. Almost inevitably, Brian DePalma's tale of supernatural vengeance is based upon a Stephen King story and right from the opening scene full of full frontal nudity in a girl's locker room that is so gratuitous it crosses the line into outright seediness, it displays his usual level of subtlety and sophistication. Nil. In fact DePalma's clod hopping direction almost wrecks the film, with its painfully heavy handed religious and sexual imagery and some pretty unforgivable audio-visual bullshit during the finale. What makes the film are the powerful central performances from Sissy Spacek as the young girl who only wants acceptance, instead finding cruelty wherever she turns and Piper Laurie as her scripture spouting sociopath of a mother. There's also some pretty striking imagery as a blood soaked Sissy wreaks her revenge upon her peers and it's this pay off that the film is all about. It's a shame DePalma was at the helm because in the hands of someone like Kubrick or Cronenberg, Carrie could've been pretty special. As it is, it's a decent Twilight Zone inspired splatterfest that's a lot better than many of the slasher flicks it shares many plot devices with. And kudos for the line "I can see you dirty pillows!".
