Carrie [1976] (4½ Stars)

Today I watched the 1976 adaptation of the Stephen King novel "Carrie". It was his first novel, and it was also his first novel that was adapted for film. Since then the number of films based on his novels and short stories has increased from year to year. I read an article in Empire Magazine which stated that exactly 50 films had been written based on his writings, but that was 15 years ago. I don't know if there's an up-to-date list. I might have to write one myself, scraping the information together from IMDB.

Some of his films are better than others. "Misery" is one of the best films ever made, partly due to the phenomenal performance of Kathy Bates. Of the films I've seen, "The Tommyknockers", a made-for-television movie, stands out as particularly bad. I watched it more than once and I was baffled because there were things in it that just didn't make sense. Then I read the book, and there was an ah-ha effect. In the book everything is written perfectly, but things were left out of the film or changed, ruining the story. It's a very good book, so let's hope a second attempt is made to make a good film.

"Carrie" is an amazing book, especially considering it was Stephen King's first full-length novel. It's a rarity that a book's heroine becomes the monster at the end. It's much more common for the bad guy to do good than for the good guy to do bad. The reader feels for her and wants there to be a happy ending, but the ending shocks the reader. There are similarities with Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".

The film profits from the superb acting by Sissy Spacek in the title role. She was relatively unknown at the time, and "Carrie" projected her into stardom. Piper Laurie is also excellent as Carrie's mother, in her first film after taking a break from acting for 15 years. In the past I've criticised her acting as wooden and unnatural, but today I changed my mind after paying close attention to her performance. The character she plays is a wooden character, a woman forcing herself to be something she's not. Piper Laurie's acting perfectly portrays this.

It could be argued that Brian De Palma's pacing isn't ideal. After the big climax at the high school dance the film slows down to a crawl before reaching the epilogue in Carrie's home. The 2013 version moves more quickly into the final scenes. I really have to watch it again in the next few days so I can make  a better comparison.

Success Rate:  + 16.8

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