Carrie (1976)★★★★☆

I’ve always liked this movie. I’m sure that’s partly because my mom likes it and partly because I always secretly wanted to discover that I had telekinetic powers. I like this movie despite an unfortunate incident involving me watching this movie and a palmetto bug.

I suppose I also always liked this movie because of John Travolta. Despite the jerk of a character he plays as Billy, I even liked him in this movie. And Sissy Spacek is incredible. Carrie White is such a sympathetic character that I really felt for her every step of the way. Amy Irving helps round out the great cast, with Piper Laurie really shining as Margaret White. 

Interestingly (to me anyway), this is another one of the few Stephen King works I haven’t read. I guess I’ve avoided a lot of his works that I’ve already seen on the screen. Mostly because I’ve yet to be disappointed by a Stephen King adaptation and this movie is obviously no exception to that.

I’ll admit this one is paced a little oddly. It’s slow to build but once it’s prom night the real horror begins. I love the juxtaposition of a coming of age story next to the paranormal events. Carrie is so relatable that I felt like I could have gone to high school with her – which makes me a little glad I skipped my high school prom.

I remember thinking I never went to high school with anyone like Tommy, but I recently worked with someone who looked just like him, so I guess he’s not out of the realm of possibility. Anyway, I mostly watched this one tonight because I was planning on giving the remake another try tomorrow. I watched about 10 minutes of it a while back and didn’t get any further. This one, however…I’ve seen this one many times and it holds up really well. Definitely recommended!