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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: October 11th, 2016.
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Amy Irving
Year: 1976
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The Movie:
Based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King and directed by Brian De Palma in 1974, Carrie tells the story of a young woman named Carrie White (Sissy Specek). Her story begins in the showers after phys-ed class one day. She gets her period and, thanks to a mother, Margaret (Piper Laurie), bent by religious fervor who intentionally keeps her daughter in the dark about such things, she has no idea what's happening to her, even if she is seventeen years old. Carrie's an outcast, not by choice, but by design. When her father left, her mother drew inward, taking her faith to ridiculous extremes and dragging her innocent daughter along with her.
It's maybe not such a surprise then to find out that Carrie is ostracized by her peers. She doesn't fit in. some of her classmates, primarily Chris (Nancy Allen) and Norma (P.J. Soles), pick on her almost constantly. Even some of the nicer girls in her class like Sue (Amy Irving) join in on it, pressured by their own desire to fit in and not stir the pot with the more popular girls and potentially risk their own social standing. Miss Collins (Betty Buckley), her teacher, tries to stand up for Carrie and to stop the other girls from picking on her the way they do, but it almost seems like a lost cause.
As the prom gets nearer, Sue asks her boyfriend, Tommy (William Katt), to take Carrie as his date if only so that Carrie can, for once, experience what it's like to be 'normal' at a school social event. He agrees, but Carrie isn't into the idea. At least not at first. It isn't long before she comes around and accepts, however she's completely unaware that Chris and her boyfriend, Billy (John Travolta), are planning a particularly nasty prank. Of course, what no one involved in any of this realizes is that something else changed in Carrie when she bled in the shower that day - she's developed abilities far beyond those of a normal teenage girl and when pushed far enough, for better or for worse she will use them.
Carrie is a very stylish film. De Palma's penchant for split-screen photography is employed here in interesting and effective ways and Mario Tosi's cinematography is excellent .From the opening scene in the shower, that's with a rather tender vibe, to the film's startling and violent conclusion it always looks fantastic. The prom scene, which has gone on to be pretty iconic, in particular is a fever dream of edits and cuts and effects put together so perfectly that, no matter how many times you see it, the scene never fails to unnerve. It's an amazingly effective sequence that has lost none of its ability to pull you in and keep you on the edge of your seat.
However, as fine as the technical merits of the picture are, the performances are what really sell it, specifically Sissy Spacek in the lead. Allen and Soles are perfectly bitchy as the popular girls and both do fine work here. Travolta and Katt are also good, as are Amy Irving and Betty Buckley. Piper Laurie is excellent as the mother, it's rare to see someone do 'damaged goods' the way that Laurie does here and to do it with such admirable conviction. Spacek, however, seals the deal. As Carrie White she the perfect casting choice. She's timid in both her look and her demeanor, she looks like she might break if you touched her and not once do you get the feeling that she's acting - rather, you get the impression that this 'is' Carrie on screen. She does such a great job of working in all the aspects of her abuse, suffered not just at the hands of her peers but in her home life as well, that you know things are going to go south even before they do simply because of the way that Spacek telegraphs her character's pain. At the same time, during those fleeting moments when Carrie does experience happiness, you're right there alongside her. It's a complex role but Spacek nails it.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shout! Factory brings Carrie to Blu-ray on a 50GB disc in an AVC encoded 1080p transfer taken from a new 4k scan of the film's original negative and presented in its proper theatrical 1.85.1 widescreen aspect ratio. The previous MGM Blu-ray looked okay, but this new version offers a substantial improvement. Detail is stronger than ever before and colors look better, a bit bolder even, without appearing over saturated. Black levels are nice and strong but shadow detail remains just fine. There are no noticeable issues with crush or compression artifacts and the transfer is free of any obvious noise reduction. There are some scenes that were shot soft, and they appear soft in this version too, but that's all part of the intended look of the movie itself. Grain appears quite naturally here, but there's very little actual print damage. There are no obvious instances of edge enhancement or over-sharpening and really, this looks like film - which is as it should be. No complains here, Carrie looks fantastic on this disc.
Audio options are presented in English language DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Mono options with removable subtitles presented in English only. Those who dig 5.1 remixes should be plenty happy with what Shout! Factory has done here. The score is spread around nicely as are the effects while most of the dialogue stays up in the front. Purists will opt for the 2.0 track and it sounds more natural. Dialogue has a bit more power to it and it suits the movie better, but hey, there's nothing wrong with having a choice. Both tracks give you nicely balanced levels and are free of any noticeable hiss or distortion.
Extras on the first disc are limited to the film's original theatrical trailer, a Carrie Franchise trailer gallery, menus and chapter selection.
This is, however, a two disc release and there are quite a few new extras provided here starting with a selection of exclusive interviews. The first of these is a half hour chat with writer Laurence D. Cohen entitled writing Carrie that, as you'd guess, covers the writing process. He talks about adapting King's novel, what he tried to bring to the project, the studio's involvement in tweaking things here and there and the timelessness of the story's themes. Shooting Carrie interviews director of photography Mario Tosi for twenty minutes about working with De Palma, putting together some of the film's more iconic moments, the way that the visuals in the film play such an important part in the effectiveness of the picture and more. Cutting Carrie gets editor Paul Hirsch in front of the camera for twenty-five minutes to talk about what was involved in assembling the picture into the form that we all know it as. He's got some interesting stories about how and why the movie flow the way that it does and just some interesting insight to provide into the editing process in general. Casting director Harriet B. Helberg is up next in a piece called Casting Carrie that runs sixteen minutes. She talks about the trials and tribulations involved with ensuring that the right actor is selected for the right part and what making that happen for De Palma entailed.
Also new to this disc is a twenty minute piece called More Acting Carrie. Here we get short but sweet interview snippets with Piper Laurie, P.J. Soles, Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, William Katt, Edie McClurg. It's a nice companion piece to Acting Carrie, which is also included here, carried over from the original MGM special edition DVD release (the previous MGM Blu-ray release contained only the film's trailer, no other supplements). In Acting Carrie we get input from Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Priscilla Pointer and P.J. Soles, Art Director Jack Fisk and Director Brian De Palma. Between the two pieces you get a lot of info about what it was like working in front of the camera on this picture from the perspective of not only the cast, but some of the crew as well.
Also new to this disc is an episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds: Revisiting The Film's Original Locations. It's an eleven minute piece once again hosted by Sean Clark who takes us pretty much each one of the key locations used in the film to show and compare how they look today versus how they appeared in the film. The lengthy forty-two minute Visualizing Carrie featurette, which is made up of interviews with Brian De Palma, Jack Fisk, Lawrence D. Cohen and Paul Hirsch, is also carried over from the aforementioned DVD release.
Rounding out the extras on the second disc is a six minute piece that provides 'A Look At Carrie: The Musical,' three minutes of TV spots, ninety seconds of vintage radio spots, a massive still gallery of behind the scenes photos, a second still gallery of promotional and advertising materials and an interesting text piece called Stephen King And The Evolution Of Carrie that explores the different incarnations of Carrie that have existed over the years since King wrote his original novel.
Both discs fit inside a blue Blu-ray keepcase that features some nice reversible cover art with the original theatrical poster art on one side and the newly created artwork on the opposite side. The case in turn fits inside a cardboard slipcover featuring the new art on the front panel.
The Final Word:
Carrie remains a high point not only in De Palma's filmography but in the filmed works of Stephen King too. It's a smart, well-made picture with some iconic set pieces, excellent performances and some themes that still pack a punch today, forty years after it was made. Shout! Factory has rolled out the red carpet for this release, carrying over all of the extras from the past MGM discs, adding a nice selection of new featurettes and giving the film a beautiful presentation. This leaves the previous Blu-ray in the dust, and one of those reissues that's completely worthwhile for anyone with even a passing interest in the film.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
