Mike: For our first horror movie review, Max and I decided to descend into the abysmal pit, open up the vault, and pull out this classic from the 1970's.
Max: Carrie is a movie based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Directed by Brian DePalma, who with several other directors, would re-interpret the horror genre during this era.
Mike: So, sit back, relax (but keep an eye out for that bucket of pig's blood), and enjoy our review of Carrie.
Max: EVE WAS WEAK.
Max: Say it. EVE WAS WEAK.
Mike: EVE WAS WEAK, MOMMA!!
Max: In my opinion a lot of people still don’t give this movie a fair shake. The common remark I’ve heard is that it’s not scary enough. Unfortunately, I think these people are missing the point. This isn't the kind of picture that needed a bunch of gruesome murders or POV shots to make me jump in my seat. It's just naturally creepy as hell. Maybe the thing that I find so creepy about it is that it's so plausible. Every neighborhood has an infamous house where the crazy lady lives. Every school has a loner kid whom everyone knows is being abused. In Carrie, DePalma takes us into the claustrophobic world of a girl and her mother who could be living right down the block. The reason this story haunts us is because we know it's real to an extent.
Mike: I couldn't agree more; this movie didn’t need—pun intended—buckets of blood and gore, or some crazed indestructible psycho wielding a butcher’s knife to scare the audience out of their seats. The story is about real kids in real suburban America, where the norm is flipped upside down, and that is terrifying enough. Though, I doubt WE all knew someone with telekinetic powers who was abused, pushed too far, and then took out their revenge by burning down the school.
Mike: In Stephen King's book, though not mentioned in the movie, the character Sue gave her explanation as to why she and the other girls were so mean to Carrie. "We were kids," she said.
Max: There is an animalistic tendency (especially among teenagers) to pick on the creature that is weak. I think S.K. and DePalma both used Sue Snell's character to illustrate this. Sue wants to be nice to Carrie, but she's unable to because of the mob mentality that Carrie inspires among her peers. Even the coach says to the principal (in both the movie and the book) she couldn't help but feel frustrated that Carrie, a grown teenager, had no idea about her own period. There is always a cruelty that exists toward the runt of the litter. Carrie is a runt, both at school, and at home. But is Carrie also a terrifying monster like Freddy or Jason?
Max: There is an animalistic tendency (especially among teenagers) to pick on the creature that is weak. I think S.K. and DePalma both used Sue Snell's character to illustrate this. Sue wants to be nice to Carrie, but she's unable to because of the mob mentality that Carrie inspires among her peers. Even the coach says to the principal (in both the movie and the book) she couldn't help but feel frustrated that Carrie, a grown teenager, had no idea about her own period. There is always a cruelty that exists toward the runt of the litter. Carrie is a runt, both at school, and at home. But is Carrie also a terrifying monster like Freddy or Jason?
Mike: What I think makes her more terrifying as a Monster, assuming we classify her as such, is that she comes from suburban America and is supposedly, at least outwardly, an average teenage girl. Freddy and Jason, and even Michael Myers, are supernatural beings that come from the darkest depths of our nightmares and imaginations. Carrie White is just a sweet girl who doesn't even know she has any sort of power until she gets her period.
Max: It's interesting how Carrie's period is her transformative point. She is a completely changed character after that occurrence, and I think that is also the point at which her mother begins to really suspect that there is something "evil" in her. I think there is a strong message of emerging female sexuality in this movie. Kind of rare for a horror flick to examine this theme, at least in such a serious way. Margaret White (Piper Laurie) is really afraid of what it means to be female. She wants to take Carrie's womanhood and literally cut it out of her. There is so much blood symbolism in this movie. The pig's blood that covers Carrie at the prom might as well be menstrual in the eyes of her mother. As Mrs. White says, "First comes the blood, then comes the sin."
Mike: The scene where Carrie is on her knees in front of her mother saying, "You should have told me, Momma. You should have told me,” is one of the strongest in the film. Her mother Lords over her, as if God Himself casting down judgment for the sin of menstruation. It sets us up for the fire and damnation theme that crescendo at the end.
Max: Religious fanaticism is very real. I think that "The Devil" is a literal presence in the life of Mrs. White because everything she does is based around her fear of him. For her, I think the line between Satan and God is completely blurred. Especially when she gets the idea that it's time to murder Carrie. The way she smiles when she comes at Carrie with the knife. It's a look of complete bliss that Piper Laurie intentionally used to illustrate that her character thinks that she is doing this out of love. Murdering out of love is something that seems "evil" to me. That's what the Manson family and the Branch Davidians did.
Mike: I guess she had the look of "murdering out of love," but I don't think it was any sort of love towards Carrie. I honestly don't believe you can say that Margret loved her daughter in the way that we understand it. I think she felt it was more of an obligation, a Godly duty, if you will, to take care of this blasphemous hell spawn that she gave birth to. I think the love you see in her face is that complete love (in the Judeo-Christian sense), one is supposed to have for God. Margret hates her daughter, and loves God. THAT is the look I think you really see when she stabs Carrie in the back.
Max: Piper Laurie's death is another moment that haunts me in this film. Her moans are practically orgasmic while she gets crucified with those kitchen tools. And she doesn't stop moaning. It seems like it's her dream to go out like a martyr. Her head is completely sick until it droops to the side and dies. And even then you still see that awful look on her face...
Mike: Well didn't you tell me, while we were watching this film, that the figure in the closet wasn't Jesus, rather Saint Sebastian the patron saint of suffering? That would totally fit in with Margret White and her Martyrdom, though I suppose a statue of a headless John the Baptist might have been more appropriate in that sense.
Max: Yeah...I think the Saint Sebastian inspired death is basically Carrie's way of reaping revenge for years of suffering that she's endured inside of that closet praying to the ugly figure. It's her telekenetic way of saying to her mother, "Look, I've suffered, now why don't you try it for a change?"
Mike: It's an obvious connection between Saint Sebastion and Margret White. DePalma makes it his point to show the statue once, show us Margret, and if we didn't get the connection right away, he shows us the Statue again when Carrie drags her mother into the closet. Which brings to mind the idea of the closet not only being a place of great suffering for Carrie, but in a way it was also a protective place. I mean, she totally hated the closet, yet at the end of the film that is the very place she drags her mother into for safety and cover while the house is being pulled, if you will, into the depths of hell.
Max: I think that Carrie hates the closet but she is also comfortable with it. This is similar to the way in which she hates her mother but she also loves her because she is all that she knows. In my opinion, Carrie is desperate to find love (or acceptance, empathy) from someone. Having been betrayed by everyone, she appeals to her mom in the end saying "you were right", only to be literally stabbed in the back. Even after all of that has happened, once the house comes crumbling down and Carrie knows she's about to die, she retreats with her mother to the only place she's ever been told to go in a time of need and crisis.
Mike: So true...so true
Max: I have a question about Carrie's powers. Can she control them at the prom, when she kills everyone in the gymnasium? Or is it more of an overload?. A blackout from all the pain and torment?
Mike: Well, from the stand point of the film I feel like it's a little bit of both. If Carrie's powers start when she is menstruating then you have to assume that she might also be having some major PMS. In that sense she really doesn't have control, and I think most women would agree on that. However, if you watch how calculated she is when she locks everyone in and uses the hose to stop people from escaping, I think she is very much in control of her powers and what is going on. As she leaves the gymnasium she opens the doors with her telekinetic powers and then shuts them again once she's passed through. It's hard to decide, but I think I'm going to say that she has complete control over the situation, and she takes her revenge against everyone who has tormented her, presumably, for her entire life.
Mike: We've reached the end of the line (thankfully, there's not a bucket of pig's blood attached), and it's time for us to give you our Bloody Nubs of approval/disapproval on this flick. What's your verdict, Max?
Max: This movie is a classic and for any horror addicts who haven't seen it, you should add it to your Netflix queue immediately. There is no excuse at this point. I give it two Bloody Nubs up. And some telekinetic kitchen knives for good measure.
Mike: Indeed this movie is a classic, and a MUST OWN in your collection if you fancy yourself a horror fan. I give this creepy movie two Bloody Nubs up!
