Dundead Halloween: Carrie (4K Restoration)

One of the best films in the filmographies of two esteemed horror creators: director Brian De Palma and the venerable Stephen King, who wrote the original novel on which it is based.

Carrie was a critical and commercial success and remains hugely influential today – it’s nearly impossible to watch a prom scene in any kind of media and not think of Carrie. Back in 1976, horror also had some cache with the Academy – after The Exorcist’s Best Picture nomination in 1973, both Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie were nominated for their performances in Carrie. 

And what performances they are! Spacek is unforgettable as Carrie, one of horror’s great central performances; she seemingly effortlessly switches her performance from heart-breaking (but never cloying) to truly chilling for the film’s delirious, Grand Guignol finale – credit too to De Palma for knowing how to frame Spacek’s distinctively expressive eyes for maximum pathos, and later, horror. Piper Laurie (Lynch fans will know her as Twin Peak’s Catherine Martell) meanwhile gives Misery’s Kathy Bates a run for her money for outsized, manic villainy, her monstrously human mother paving the way for the likes of Samantha Eggar in the Brood and Toni Colette in Hereditary. 

Gorgeously shot by Mario Tosi, and with an evocative, melancholic, Psycho-referencing score by Pino Donaggio, Carrie is not just one of the best horror films of the 70s (a compliment of the highest order) but also an essential coming-of-age film. Throw in a young John Travolta and you’ve got a recipe for horror magic. 

Get yourself a pass and see all of our Dundead Halloween films for £38.40.