Throwback Thursday - Carrie

Carrie is a 1976 horror film starring Sissy Spacek as the title character, a troubled teen who fights back against her tormentors with her telekinetic powers. The film is based off of the novel of the same name written by Stephen King.

While I understand the emotional impact of this film during its release, I feel it falls flat when viewed in the present day. Over time this film has been billed as a must-see horror film, and one that is constantly talked of as being a truly terrifying film. The classification of Carrie as a horror film is extremely hard to agree with….until the last 20 minutes of the film. Throughout the first 80% of the film we are introduced to various horror elements, such as running blood and scary music, but it never reaches the level of pure horror. Sure, some scenes may be a little scary or bizarre, but it really lacks the true horror aspect. That is, until the pig’s blood is dumped on Carrie. The emotional high of the movie helps transition the film from mildly scary flick to pure unadulterated terror. From the music to the sight of Carrie sitting on stage, dripping in pig’s blood as her eyes bulge out of their sockets, the film goes from a 5 straight to a 10.

Unfortunately, the film suffers because of this. The horror is all at the end of the film – we lack that truly terrifying scene in the first half of the film to really exemplify this as a true horror film. While the high is outstanding, the lows unfortunately bring this film down. It is a chore to get through the beginning of the film, as too much time is spent on scenes that don’t need to be dragged out. In addition, elements such Carrie's surprising telekinetic powers are rarely touched throughout the film. Her powers are shown frequently, but Carrie doesn't really seem to notice the peculiar aspects of her new-found power. Carrie seems to be slightly curious about her powers, but they don't take control of the story until the end of the film. From the outset, the film appears to be more of a warning against bullying rather than a true horror movie, and it is not until the end of the film that it begins to live up to its classification.

Cody- 5/10

However, judging from the trailers already released, the 2013 remake looks to be making some improvements on the original film. The casting again seems superb, something that original film did very well. It also appears that Carrie’s powers take more of a focus during the earlier parts of the film, something which I felt was truly lacking in the original. While it is still too early to tell, the remake looks like it should improve wholeheartedly on the original 1976 film.

Check out the trailer for the 2013 remake of Carrie here!