CARRIE (1976) AT 50: Stephen King, Sissy Spacek, & The Prom From Hell

CARRIE (1976) d. Brian De Palma (USA)
THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 (1999) d. Katt Shea (USA)
CARRIE (2002) d. David Carson (USA)
CARRIE (2013) d. Kimberly Peirce (USA)

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Based on Stephen King’s first published novel, 1976’s Carrie holds the distinction for being the first filmed adaptation of one of his works. A truly landmark American horror movie that combines supernatural terror with a powerful story about adolescence, cruelty, repression, and revenge, the film stars Sissy Spacek as the titular and telekinetic Carrie White, a shy, awkward high-school student bullied by her classmates and controlled by her extremely religious mother, Margaret White, indelibly played by Piper Laurie.

GHOST STORY (1981) Blu-ray Review

Ghost Story (1981) d. John Irvin (USA)

In the quiet New England down of Milburn, a quartet of elderly men stir fitfully in their sleep. These are the members of The Chowder Society, and they harbor a dark, decades-old secret… one that comes bubbling to the surface as the winter nights grow shorter. When mayor Ed Wanderly’s (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) son dies in a strange accident, a tragic chain of events is set in motion, one that threatens the lives of his now-aged childhood chums Sears (John Houseman), Ricky (Fred Astaire), and John (Melvyn Douglas), as well as his surviving offspring Don (poufy-haired Craig Wasson). The rising ghosts of past wrongs have come home to Milburn, and the time has come to tell the tale....

CARRIE (2013) movie review

Carrie (2013) d. Peirce, Kimberly (USA)

The tagline, “You will know her name” speaks to the very problem inherent to revisiting such iconic material: We already do know Stephen King’s seminal telekinetic protagonist’s name, and she has already been immortalized in an Oscar-nominated turn by Sissy Spacek as directed by a near-the-top-of-his-game Brian De Palma. Even if viewers have never seen the full feature, they’ve seen the highlight reel. But the post-millennial remake trend continues, and despite director Peirce and screenwriters Lawrence D. Cohen and Roberto Aguirre’s best efforts to the contrary, the results are redundant at best and tiresome at their worst.