Difficult to rate, this film isn't quite a 5 star film, but it deserves more than 4½ stars. This would be an argument for me to add quarter star ratings. I would have given it 5 stars if it hadn't been for the film slowing down in patches towards the end. Slowness is fine with me early in a film because it builds up the suspense, but when the action starts happening it should just flow, there shouldn't be any pauses.
But let's step back. This was the first film based on a Stephen King novel. 30 years later Stephen King is the author who holds the record for the most films based on his books. There have been more than 50 films, if TV dramatisations and mini-series are included. Some of his books have been filmed more than once, including "Carrie" itself, which was refilmed in 2002.
There's no need for me to review the film, since the plot is well known. "Carrie" has been shown on television every Halloween for the last 30 years. Sissy Spacek gives an amazing performance, her face twisted in madness in the final scenes. But tell me, don't you all agree with me that Carrie's mother is the film's real monster?
Carrie is a classic of horror, in my opinion. I saw most of "The Rage: Carrie 2" yesterday and it was frankly boring. The new "carrie"'s revenge was so much more graphic but at the same time so hapless. I mean people actually got out of the house. WTF? All to extend the scene I know, but the original Carrie was so complete in her emotional response.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch Carrie till the 90s - me and horror don't mix well, because I find it hard to sleep for many days after. I find if I wait for a number of years after a movie has come out sometimes I can watch a film and be ok with it. Usually when on tv and when I can walk away if I need to.
There are aspects of Carrie that now 30 years later are campy, the acting is not stellar across the board in my opinion but Spacek is amazing.
I agree that it's a classic. I'll always remember when I first saw it. It was shown at a film club at Walsall Teacher Training College. The films for the club were chosen by my best friend Chris Burton. I forget the exact year, but it was shown on a film projector. It was the first time I'd ever seen a film in a place that was neither a cinema nor a living room on television.
ReplyDeleteI may seem to be rambling on, but what I'm trying to say is that a film is truly great if you can remember where you were when you first watched it. Now to answer your comments:
"Carrie 2" doesn't deserve commenting on. It's just a bad film capitalising on Carrie's success by pretending to be a sequel. Forget it.
I loved Sissy Spacek in "Carrie". She's played many small parts in films I've never seen. The only other film I've seen her in is the stunning Costa-Gavras film "Missing" about a coup in an unnamed South American country. The country seems to be Chile, but they carefully avoid saying so. Also a classic. And I also remember where I was when I first saw it.