Carrie's adapted screenplay, from his own novel, was horror meister's Stephen King's first story to be made into a movie. Already some of King's trademark touches are here in the story. The special powers in Carrie are much less prominent in the story than in the next project Shining (where it is a major part of the film) and is much more a study of cruelty and outsiders than it is about the supernatural. The film has some stunning and original set pieces which show De Palma's forte in invention. Spacek fulfils the promise she had shown in Badlands (1973) and plays the title role magnificently. Making up a decent cast was TV teen idol John Travolta, Piper Laurie and in her debut Amy Irving.

Carrie almost has a feeling of being a prototype teen horror (albeit an extreme one). The story and plot are nothing very complicated and have the feeling of a stretched short story, but as whole package it works particularly well benefiting from some imaginative direction and a committed lead actress.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7000 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-10-22
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Danish, English, Finnish, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
This terrifying adaptation of Stephen King's bestselling horror novel was directed by shock maestro Brian De Palma for maximum, no-holds-barred effect. Sissy Spacek stars as Carrie White, the beleaguered daughter of a religious kook (Piper Laurie) and a social outcast tormented by her cruel, insensitive classmates. When her rage turns into telekinetic powers, however, school's out in every sense of the word. De Palma's horrific climax in a school gym lingers forever in the memory, though the film is also built upon Spacek's remarkable performance and Piper Laurie's outlandishly creepy one. John Travolta has a small part as a thug, De Palma's future wife, Nancy Allen, is his girlfriend, and Amy Irving makes her screen debut as one of the girls giving Carrie a hard time.--Tom Keogh

Special Features

• Visualising Carrie: From Words to Images (Making of …)
  
• Acting Carrie documentary
  
• Singing Carrie featurette
  
• Stephen King and the evolution of Carrie
  
• Animated photo gallery
  
• Original theatrical trailer
  
• Collectable booklet

Synopsis
Brian De Palma's commercial breakout, based on a novel by Stephen King, helped launch a whole slew of teen-based horror films, and Carrie the blood-spattered prom queen has taken her throne in the pantheon of modern American myth. High school girls played by Amy Irving (in her film debut), P.J. Soles, and Nancy Allen plot to avenge themselves on ostracized fellow student and budding telekinetic Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) after they get in trouble for pelting her with tampons. When they get popular boy Tommy Ross (William Katz) to be her date for the prom, the stage is set for some heart-rending cruelty and fiery retribution. De Palma expertly uses split screens, slow motion, color filters, and tracking shots to imbue the proceedings with a haunting, allegorical elegance. Piper Laurie plays Carrie's mentally ill, devoutly Christian mom; she's brilliant, as is Spacek. John Travolta has a memorable pre-SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER role as one of the girls' beer-guzzling boyfriends. There was finally a sequel in 1999, as well as a short-lived Broadway musical.

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Customer Reviews

A tremendously powerful film.
I was looking through my TV guide for something to watch and this film automatically stood out to me. When i told my mum I was going to watch it she recommended it to me, which really surprised me because my mum is not usually a horror movie fan. I am so glad that I did notice this film because it is one of the best films ive seen recently, which considering the films i have watched recently, (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, LA Confidential, The Shining and other reknown films) is a really amazing feat. Well it may not be as good as One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but what is? I dont think that it is fair to compare carrie to anything outside of the horror genre so I will say it is up there in the top three horror films I have seen. To sum up that paragraph , VERY VERY VERY GOOD!!!

With regards to the film itself, I was unsure how to feel towards the main character, but ultimately I felt a great deal of sympathy for her. Sissy Spacek's portrayl of the naive and bullied Carrie is truely amazing, and considering she got an oscar nomination for it it proves how remarkable it was, as horror films tend not to be acknowledge by the Academy. This film left me with a great deal to think about and left me feeling tremendously sorry for Carrie and her eventual victims.

The final scenes in this film however are what set it apart from other films. Usually horror films tend to have violence for the majority of the way through, but in this film the beginning is very quiet in terms of violence/horror and until the last 20 or so minuites could be from a film in the drama genre. The contrast is stark and disturbing. The effects are remarkable and considering the age of the film are still very powerful images. The film is worth buying for the ending alone, it is that damned good.

To sum up this entire blabbering on by me, if you like horror films are psycological films, like me, BY THIS FILM NOW.

An excellent portrait of the classic book, carrie.
This psycholoically thrilling ride of a horror movie will have you in tears, laughing and feeling sorry for carrie.
Carrie is an isolated teenager, depressed and lacking self confidence. She has no friends and only THIS is how she releases her awesome power of telekinses. This is horror has emotion, fun and a great plot. This is one of the best Stephen king films and i urge you to see it if you haven't already. Sissy Spaeck is perfect for the part, as i think no one else could portray such vunrableity as her. This is worth every star i give it as i think anyone will be able to enjoy this genius movie.

creepy Carrie delivers
This movie has always stayed with me. Yes it's rather dated, and the effects compared to today's are lame, but still it conveys a certain level of genuine creepiness that, well, current horrors rarely deliver. I suppose this comes from the music, Brian de Palma's direction, and the focus on Carrie's relationship with her Christian fundamentalist mother, played wonderfully by Piper Laurie. Ultimately the tension and abuse Carrie has had to endure both at school from bullies, and at home at the hands of her crazed mother, culminate in perhaps one of the most famous scenes in movie history. Its build-up is just as amazing, as it ratchets up the tension immensely to the final "bloody" act.

So, put away your brash, overboard modern day Hollywood horrors ladened with gore and nothing else. If you want a real horror movie that stays with you, that affects you in ways you might not understand, get this movie.