The fascination with Carrie and The Carrie franchise

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

I just rewatched some scenes from the 1976 version of Stephen King's Carrie and found a few clips that compared scenes from the original and the two remakes. I read the book and saw the original over 40 years ago, and I was thinking about the fascination with this movie, both my own and apparently the general public, with two remakes, a sequel of sorts and a notions musical.
The original movie still holds up, imho, because of its strong performances which included one of my favorite actors, Sissy Spacek. There's also a wonderfully tense buildup to the climax. The movie takes its time to get there, which makes Carrie's revenge that much more intense.
I'm wondering if a large part of the fascination with this movie is the cathartic nature of it. The bad people get their comeuppance, which so rarely seems to happen in real life. Everybody faces the consequences of the bullying and alienation that Carrie endured over the course of her life. Even those who didn't directly do anything to her but just accepted it as the status quo didn't escape unscathed.
One scene that really conveys the idea of justice finally being served, with the emphasis being on finally, is when Chris, the o.g. mean girl talks back to the gym teacher. The teacher is sticking up for Carrie, gives the girls a two week calisthenics heavy detention for their cruel actions toward Carrie, and is trying to get it through to them just how malicious their behavior was. Chris stops in the middle of the punishment, confronts the teacher and with that obnoxious, "I can get away with anything" smug entitlement tells her to stick her punishment where the sun don't shine. Of course, this is where today adults, teachers etc would be advised to let her get away with so they don't get sued or to speak calmly and rationally to her. The teacher disregards all of this and slaps the callous entitlement off her face. This scene resonates just as much today as it did back then, maybe more so, because its so good to see a "bad guy get what they deserve." No teacher should hit a student, but symbolically it's a great catharsis to see such people really face some consequences.
Then there's the prom scene in which Carrie unleashes years of rage and Chris and her boyfriend really face consequences.

Stephen King has said he thinks the initial fascination with Carrie and The Exorcist is that it tapped into a subconscious fear of female empowerment as well as the fear of the early 1970s youth movement. In today's world in which people are afraid of being sued or "canceled " to the extent so many don't want to speak out against bad or erroneous behavior and the usual rich and powerful people getting away with everything the movie is almost a big, "Screw it, ALL you b****** and b******* are getting what you deserve. Finally!"
I had just witnessed some blatant corruption at work yesterday and I'm wondering of my subconscious was leading me to watch clips of the movie for this reason
Anyone else find this movie fascinating, and do you have a preference among the three versions?

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

There's also a wonderfully tense buildup to the climax. The movie takes its time to get there, which makes Carrie's revenge that much more intense.

I think it's more like a tragedy that was unavoidable, and like every other mass murder it just happens to look like a horror scenario.
She can't control her telekinetic powers, it was never meant to be a tool for anything let alone revenge. Killing her mother was a matter of survival instinct, not punishment.
The fact that Margaret ended up crucified was a stroke of genius, imo.
And it's not like her mother needed to try to kill her daughter because Carrie's life was already over as soon as she started the prom carnage. Basically, she died with them.
My favourite horror scenes happen inside the White's house, that dreadful, loveless, miserable and "damp" atmosphere.
The finale sequence is a nice shocker but it also makes Carrie look like a villain and perhaps that's the part that lingers on (even if it's just a dream) and adds to the idea of a "revenge flick".
I've read the (short?) story many many years ago and found it underwhelming compared to the film.

I watched THE RAGE - CARRIE 2 for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity. My expectations were low so perhaps that's why I don't hate it.
I've never seen the made for TV CARRIE remake (2002) and I prefer to keep it that way.

CARRIE 2013 is a revenge flick and I can enjoy it for what it is.
It's very clear in the original that Sissy Spacek plays Carrie in trance, it's the sum total of the whole film rather than the prom scene itself. It's an horrific twist on THIS IS YOUR LIFE.
Carrie 2013 is much more about the moment of humiliation, especially with the added shower scene footage, and the gleeful expression on her face makes her look like an X-MEN mutant.
It also doesn't help that Julianne Moore, a very fine actress, lacks the somewhat hammy intensity of Piper Laurie's Margaret White.
Nevertheless, the alternative graphic death scenes are fun to watch because unlike in the original, I want it to happen.

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

Great observation about a Carrie portrayed as a villain and/or a tragic figure. I always saw her as a tragic character because she's so defeated by the world she becomes as cruel and unjust as it is in that her revenge includes so innocent people and those who are truly contrite for their actions or silent complicity(I'm drawing on the novel for that last part)
You are also right in that Carrie cam never come back from what she does at the prom and then to her mother.
King discusses the idea of female empowerment as it relates to the make figures. Chris and Sue's respective boyfriends are drawn into this scenario by them. They have no vested interest in Carrie one way or another,and both are destroyed. Kingpins out that most of the characters are influenced by forces of which their not really conscious, whether it be mental illness(the mother), sexual manipulation(the boyfriends), mob mentality(the girls in the locker room), and genetic quirks(Carrie's powers). Is every villian a tragic character to some degree?
Great post @De Villie Oleson !

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

I recently rewatched Christine and the Arnie character is so similar to Csrrie: bullied outcasts, domineering to abusive parents(this is made more clear regsrding Arnie in the book ) who exact revenge through the acquisition of extraordinary power, end as tragic people. The same could be said for Jack Torrance in The Shining. Tragedy and horror are a gruesome twosome.

 

[Barbara On A Broomstick]

I saw original Carrie on a reshowing in the late 80s at the cinema. I know that when the ending came my bag of malteeser sweets went everywhere!!

 

[LMLDallas78]

Anyone else find this movie fascinating, and do you have a preference among the three versions?

I absolutely love Carrie and for me you just can't beat the original version. I'm a bit of a horror fanatic, not blood and guts, but supernatural stuff.

When I first watched Carrie it made such an impression on me and when I've watched it again I still really enjoy it even knowing what's going to happen.

Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie are brilliant and the supporting cast are especially Ms Collins played by Betty Buckley.

I can understand why Carrie wanted her mother dead, but not the Ms Collins. She showed kindness and a genuine affection for Carrie.

She was trying to help Carrie at the prom and I know in the confusion it could look like she wasn't, but Carrie with her super powers should have known. That's the one thing which has always slightly bugged me.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

It's interesting how we can view these things in very different ways.

I can understand why Carrie wanted her mother dead

She was wounded and tried to get away from her mother who was about to finish the job. Her options were limited, to say the least.

but not the Ms Collins. She showed kindness and a genuine affection for Carrie.

Apparently the teacher thought it was funny that a girl was ruined in her first moment of true happiness. Nah, she deserved it.

but Carrie with her super powers should have known

To me it doesn't look like there's any "knowing" or "thinking" going on when she unleashes her power. The body has funny ways to protect itself, like fainting because the physical pain or distress is too much to handle.
Of course I don't know how the scene was meant to be interpreted, but Sissy Spacek's performance comes across as in instinctive reaction to create something bigger than her own destruction, something to make that incredible pain go away.


Let's say that she didn't have telekinetic powers but instead she was holding a gun in her hand. Would she have used it? Personally, I don't think so.

The only time she seemed to be aware of the possibilities of her power was in her most teenager-like moment, when her mother tried to stop her from going to the prom.
So I guess it was a little bit of everything.

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

The novel makes it more explicit, but the movie imho makes it clear that the gym teacher and most of the others weren't laughing at Carrie. Carrie had a psychotic break because of the trauma and her mother lost words, "They're all gonna laugh at you!" made her see them laughing when they weren't.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

but the movie imho makes it clear that the gym teacher and most of the others weren't laughing at Carrie

I had no idea!

 

[Crimson]

The novel makes it more explicit, but the movie imho makes it clear that the gym teacher and most of the others weren't laughing at Carrie. Carrie had a psychotic break because of the trauma and her mother lost words, "They're all gonna laugh at you!" made her see them laughing when they weren't.

To be honest, I thought it was fairly explicit in the movie too. Most of those in the audience looked pitying or aghast. The "laughing" all happened in the highly stylized, split screen -- i.e., Carrie's fractured mind.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Apparently the teacher thought it was funny that a girl was ruined in her first moment of true happiness. Nah, she deserved it.

No, no, no! If I recall rightly the teacher was smiling - a happy smile for Carrie before she realised what was happening.

It was unfair to show Ms Collins laughing with everyone else which was part of Carrie's "imagination".

Once Ms Collins was aware of what was happening she tried to stop it and got spliced in two.

Carrie should have known the teacher was genuine and saved her from that horrible fate.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

Most of those in the audience looked pitying or aghast.

Yes, and that's a very understandable reaction because Carrie's misfortune (prom night always seems like a big thing in these films) plus the sight of all that blood (even if it wasn't blood) isn't something that makes many people laugh.
But Chris' friend Norma laughed, there's no mistake about it.

The "laughing" all happened in the highly stylized, split screen -- i.e., Carrie's fractured mind.

I don't think the split screen had anything to do with it, but I do agree that the kaleidoscopic sequences could suggest that reality and Carrie's mind are out of sync, as it were.

But that weren't the only parts that showed the laughter.

And it only stopped when the doors started to shut.

Actually I think this change in atmosphere is essential to the scene. Changing from joy to fear is much more powerful than changing from aghast to fear.
But I'm not saying that they were all explicitly laughing at Carrie.
Laughter can be contagious, and especially in a situation like this when people don't know what to do with themselves it could easily work as a feeling of relief or denial, something to make the anxious situation look less serious. And I guess some of them were actually laughing at Tommy.

What you and Jimmy say makes perfect sense to me but I'm still not convinced that the laughter didn't happen.
Naturally, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't even matter if they were laughing or not. It doesn't change Carrie's feelings and it doesn't make the drama bigger or smaller.
Just the fact that they witnessed her ultimate humiliation, which also happened on "their" territory, made them all look complicit by default, from Carrie's point of view anyway.

I just rewatched the scene in which Sue discovers the bucket, it sort of goes on forever but it works because it oozes suspense.
The film is a masterpiece no matter how you perceive the events and characters. It's not just horror, it's CARRIE.

Great thread @Jimmy Todd

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

I think you make a good point about laugher being contagious and people often laugh at inappropriate times and aren't necessarily laughing out of cruelty.
Chris' friend Norma, the one with red hat who was in on the scheme, tried to get other people to laugh at Carrie and it looks as if she succeeded.
I wonder if DePalma was being ambiguous in that respect. Maybe Miss Collins did laugh out of the sheer shock of the situation or maybe it brought out some cruelty hidden deep down inside, and she instantly regretted it.
I knew someone whose grandmother fell down an elevator shaft and survived. He told me when he was telling that story and got to the part "down an elevator shaft," many people seemed to be holding back a laugh. Stephen King writes quite often about situations that elicit callousness in otherwise decent people. Maybe this was being conveyed in that scene?
It's a testament to the movie and novel that there are so many layers to explore. You're right, @Willie Oleson , it's more than just horror

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

Any thoughts on the new miniseries?
I liked it until the last episode. The climax was so underwhelming.
I also didn't care for the inclusion of certain elements and characters. They felt more like something in a Marvel superhero movie prequel.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

Any thoughts on the new miniseries?

It's an adaptation rather than a remake (none of the films are exactly like the novel) and therefore it should be judged for what it is, not for what it isn't.
On the other hand, if you're going to do yet another remake of a popular IP (like they all do) then it's not unreasonable to think that people are going to have some expectations.
I don't think people expected a The League Of Extraordinary Telekinetics meets Dawson's Creek.
But that's what it is and I was actually relatively optimistic when I was watching the first episode....but then it ended with those other "special" characters and I realised that I was not the target audience.
Performances are good, Samantha Sloyan is well-cast as Margaret White, Matthew Lillard is very watchable and Chris Hargensen's nasty father is a total DILF.

But, and however...

Was it really necessary to use a poignant pop ballad for every move they made? Oh sorry, I should say needle drops.
Walking into school: song
Walking home: song
Reading a book: song
Talking about books: song
And this goes on and on.

Margaret White is basically two different characters. The abusive mother in the flashbacks with little Carrie, and the Karen-type activist in the present-day narrative.
She doesn't want to have anything to do with the modern outside world and suddenly she's on tiktok? Or whatever it was.
It's one of the several examples that shows that Mike Flanagan wanted to have his cake and eat it. And in my opinion he did not succeed.

The introduction of the story suggested a CARNAGE climax like we had never seen before, but then when it happens it's like "blink and you'll miss it".
People watch 8 episode for the story's pièce de résistance and this was the reward??
It's a soft and safe and politcally correct interpretation in which everybody is a victim one way or another, and I believe more seasons are planned.
I wouldn't be surprised if they'd team up with Firestarter and make it a series about young women with superpowers. Isn't that just a novel idea.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

The story of Mrs. Voorhees, now a pretty young(ish) woman, as it happened to Mrs. Bates in Bates Motel.
Actually, Friday The 13th was entertainingly remade in the second series of SLASHER, but that's not enough. No, we need more of the same, over and over and over again.
Another werewolf film, another Exorcist film, another Spider-Man film. It's just pathetic.

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

I tried not to compare it to the original version because Flanagan is taking a 1970s story and bringing it into the 21st century. I thought he used cell phones and the internet successfully in this version. The first movie could be viewed as a meditation on the "banality of evil" in that the entire town, includt adults, are used to the abuse heaped upon Carrie her entire life it becomes just part of the background. Flanagan's version is less about that since they've only Carrie a few months and toward the end she has supporters and friends. Instead, it's about putting power(telekinesis or technology) in the hands of young people who don't fully understand it nor it's consequences. As @Werewillie Oleson said, it's not a remake of the original, but an adaptation.
However, what I really missed that the Brian Depalma's original did so well were the cathartic moments. Of course, there was Carrie's main cathartic when she releases rage from years of abuse. Depalma and Sissy Spacek know how to do a rampage. It's more than just a horror movie bloodbath. It's a palpable deliverance of revenge(or justice depending on your point of view). Ly scene is like a book of wet matches.
The original had a few others. When Miss Desjardin (Collins) in the movie slaps Chris, it isn't just about the disrespect Chris is showing her in that scene. It's about the disgust and anger the teacher has about the cruelty behind what they did to Carrie and that the students and male principal don't seem to get.
There are other smaller ones such as when Carrie stands firm against her mother regarding going to the prom. When her mother comments on Carrie's dress by saying everyone can see her "dirty pillows," Carrie coolly responds, "They're breasts, momma. Every woman has them" there's no shouting match or drama. That's what makes it cathartic, IMHO. Carrie has moved into a position of confidence and power she doesn't have to resort to histrionics or telekinesis. In the miniseries there are moments that could have been like that, but they just didn't. Maybe it's because as @Werewillie Oleson pointed out, everyone is a victim in some way that the impact of their actions is a bit diluted.

 

[Spells & Karma]

The story of Mrs. Voorhees, now a pretty young(ish) woman, as it happened to Mrs. Bates in Bates Motel.

This is going to sound flippant, but I say this in all seriousness. If I take off my glasses and squint at the image in the video thumbnail, I can actually kind of see Betsy Palmer.

(But it only seems to work if I angle the left side of my laptop away from me).

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

You might have a good idea for a horror movie. A dead actor is brought back to life for the reboot by being buried in Pet Semetary.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

I thought he used cell phones and the internet successfully in this version.

But is that still novel in 2026? Has it not been done countless times in films unrelated to Carrie?
A great film about social media and trying to "fit in" is Eigth Grade (2018).

However, what I really missed that the Brian Depalma's original did so well were the cathartic moments.

And the cinematography (everything in the series looks bland) and the music, and the moments in Carrie '76 that are actually scary.

Once she's locked inside the closet she starts to prey to a Jesus figure that resembles Roger Daltrey. I wonder if that was a nod to Ken Russell's Tommy (1975).