The fierce sympathy it extends to its unfashionable central character puts the film a million miles above the contemporary line in sick exploitation.
Comment
02/09/06
Carrie (1976)
90
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:42
Fresh:38
Rotten:4
Average Rating:8.1/10
Consensus: Carrie is a horrifying look at supernatural powers, high school cruelty, and teen angst -- and it brings us one of the most memorable and disturbing prom scenes in history.
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: Brian De Palma's commercial breakout, based on a novel by Stephen King, helped launch a whole slew of teen-based horror films, and Carrie the blood-spattered prom queen has taken her throne in the... [More]
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, John Travolta, William Katt
Director: Brian De Palma
Reviews for Carrie
Top CriticCarrie rivals The Shining for the title of greatest ever Stephen King adaptation.
09/25/07
Top CriticUnlike other examples of the horror genre, there are classic elements of tragedy that lend this gruesome tale a compelling edge.
04/17/01
Top CriticThe reason Carrie is still held in such high regard as a horror classic is very simple: it's all in the sheer directorial bravado. De Palma at the top of his game.
09/25/07
Top CriticNo review available.
11/15/03
This 1976 thriller, about a high school outcast (Sissy Spacek) who uses her telekinetic powers to massacre the graduating class, contains a number of interesting ideas. But as with most of his films, De Palma can't keep track of them.
09/25/07
There is little suspense or dramatic tension; everything plays out like bad melodrama or cheap exploitation.
01/01/00
No review available.
09/03/02
It is sometimes funny in a puzzling kind of way, it is generally overwrought in an irritating kind of way, and once in a while it is inappropriately touching.
05/09/05
Top CriticCarrie is a modest but effective shock-suspense drama about a pubescent girl, her evangelical mother and cruel schoolmates.
10/07/08
Top CriticThe film has a strikingly unsettling mood that enhances its power and gives it an impact that the story would otherwise lack. Much of the credit, though, must go to Spacek, who so convincingly portrays Carrie's pain and her longing for acceptance.
09/25/07
Top CriticYoung director Brian DePalma is fast making his reputation in the genre of the suspense-horror film.
03/06/05
I might be the only person in the world who thinks Brian De Palma's 1976 classic thriller Carrie (now out on DVD) is one of the most overrated, disappointing horror films of all time, but I stand behind my review, and I swear I can knock down just about a
08/02/09
No review available.
11/19/03
A nearly perfect film. The combination of pathos, shocks, and grand guignol excess is orchestrated with jaw-dropping precision by young Depalma, whose later films would pale by comparison.
03/31/05
Horror in the classic sense, horror that builds rather than constantly shocking, horror that works so well we don’t need a guts and gore booster-shot every two minutes.
08/28/01
A total knockout. Piper Laurie gives a bravura performance as Carrie's religious fanatic mother, one of the creepiest movie characters ever.
01/24/06
No review available.
10/10/05
No review available.
01/14/03
It’s a gripping and rousing perusal of our human souls -- an opportunity to become aware of our dark sides and meet them head on.
01/01/00
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