I'm really not sure what I'm supposed to take away from this.
As in, I understand the feminist interpretations, the religious symbolism (really how could you not) and all that, and I very much understand that Brian De Palma is just a little bit of a creep, but what I don't understand is why I should care about any of it.
What I mean by this is that this film feels less like a horror film and more like a really average and boring high school drama for nearly the entire runtime, with an admittedly really great finale, but still one where I don't care about any of the characters. And yes, obviously you're not supposed to care about any of the bullies, but I don't care about Carrie, or Tommy, or Miss Collins, or anyone else either.
It has a pretty serious case of Tomb Raider syndrome, where the writers seem to expect you to care about the protagonist based purely on how much trauma/damage she endures, which I quite simply don't. And when I don't care about any of the characters, and the plot is completely indistinguishable from any other high school film where the shy girl comes out of her shell - at least until the very end, then I just can't fathom why this is still considered one of the best Stephen King adaptations - or hell, even one of the best horror films of all time.
It's got some good direction, and Sissy Spacek does sell the character really well, but that's honestly kind of it for what I can say I found really impressive.
And man is Brian De Palma creepy in that opening scene...
As in, I understand the feminist interpretations, the religious symbolism (really how could you not) and all that, and I very much understand that Brian De Palma is just a little bit of a creep, but what I don't understand is why I should care about any of it.
What I mean by this is that this film feels less like a horror film and more like a really average and boring high school drama for nearly the entire runtime, with an admittedly really great finale, but still one where I don't care about any of the characters. And yes, obviously you're not supposed to care about any of the bullies, but I don't care about Carrie, or Tommy, or Miss Collins, or anyone else either.
It has a pretty serious case of Tomb Raider syndrome, where the writers seem to expect you to care about the protagonist based purely on how much trauma/damage she endures, which I quite simply don't. And when I don't care about any of the characters, and the plot is completely indistinguishable from any other high school film where the shy girl comes out of her shell - at least until the very end, then I just can't fathom why this is still considered one of the best Stephen King adaptations - or hell, even one of the best horror films of all time.
It's got some good direction, and Sissy Spacek does sell the character really well, but that's honestly kind of it for what I can say I found really impressive.
And man is Brian De Palma creepy in that opening scene...