A landmark teen-horror tragedy that turns bullying, repression, and religious cruelty into a devastating supernatural revenge story. It’s stylish, emotionally sharp, and still influential, though its sexualized high-school imagery and period attitudes can be uncomfortable.
Carrie
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Horror · Thriller
Wed · 1h 38m
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Overview
Withdrawn and sensitive teenager Carrie White faces bullying from her classmates and abuse from her fanatically pious mother. When she begins to suspect that she has supernatural powers, things take a dark and violent turn.
Director
Brian De Palma
Cast
Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Curator Review
Verdict
A landmark teen-horror tragedy that turns bullying, repression, and religious cruelty into a devastating supernatural revenge story. It’s stylish, emotionally sharp, and still influential, though its sexualized high-school imagery and period attitudes can be uncomfortable.
Best for
fans of classic horror with strong visual style
viewers interested in revenge tragedies
people drawn to outsider stories and social cruelty
fans of psychologically charged coming-of-age horror
Skip if
you’re sensitive to exploitative nudity or sexualized teen imagery
you want a purely modern, fast-paced horror movie
you prefer horror without cruelty toward children or abuse themes
you dislike melodramatic performances and heightened 1970s style
Overview
Carrie is one of the defining horror films of the 1970s because it understands that the scariest thing in the room is not the telekinesis, but the humiliation. The movie builds from shame, isolation, and maternal terror into a finale that feels less like a victory than a catastrophe. Brian De Palma stages it with operatic confidence, and Sissy Spacek makes Carrie heartbreaking before she becomes terrifying.
Worth noting
What keeps it enduring is the way it fuses teen-movie emotions with gothic punishment. The prom sequence is legendary for good reason: it’s both a spectacle and a tragedy, a moment where the film’s cruelty finally boomerangs back on everyone in the room. Piper Laurie’s performance gives the story its feverish, religiously warped center.
Bottom line
It is not an easy watch, and some of its locker-room and school imagery reflects the era’s exploitative gaze. But as a piece of horror craft and a portrait of abuse curdling into violence, it remains essential.
Top Letterboxd reviews
kayla (5★) · 19148 likes
Good for her
emma (4★) · 17449 likes
Men be like this isn’t male gazy the extended shots of under age girls naked bodies are crucial to the plot you bitch
maria (4★) · 13193 likes
matilda took a dark turn
fran hoepfner (4★) · 11488 likes
I agree w the gym teacher who hit a student
Muriel (5★) · 10715 likes
she did what she had to do
Themes
bullying, abuse, repression, revenge, coming of age, religious fanaticism, female rage, alienation
Topics
classic horror, teen horror, psychological horror, revenge tragedy, female rage, coming-of-age, 1970s cinema, gothic melodrama, supernatural thriller, social cruelty