Seeing as how it is almost Halloween I figured I'd start watching movies from my least favorite genre, horror. I'll admit it, I'm a sissy. I don't like being scared. So fresh off of watching Blow Out, I figured I'd watch Brian DePalma's classic Carrie, which I had seen most of through bits and pieces over the years, but never in one sitting.
Carrie sort of opens like Blow Out with a generous dosage of seemingly unnecessary nudity in the introduction. Perhaps it is a commentary on the link between sexual excitement and violence, a theme that DePalma explores throughout the film. While showering in a kind of surreal dreamlike scene, Carrie experiences her first menstrual cycle discovering blood trickling down between her legs and promptly freaks out. She is quite old to be experiencing her first period, but perhaps even more shocking is that she has no idea what it's all about; her religiously fanatical mother has suppressed all this information from Carrie. The girls in the locker room respond by ridiculing and throwing tampons at her. At this point it has become clear to me that this isn't so much a horror film, but a film about social outcasts, bullies, and the anxieties of growing up.
It is kind of remarkable that the central conflict and outcome of the film, Carrie's torment at the hands of bullies, would be such a relevant issue with the likes of Columbine and the Virginia Tech massacre. Viewed now Carrie could almost be seen as a social commentary on this subject. The majority of the film revolves around the popular girls' planning of a mean prank during senior prom. Watching it, you just know that the nastier the prank, the nastier Carrie's reaction will be to it. Oh, I guess now would be a good time to mention that Carrie has telekinetic powers.
This is another example of DePalma's brilliant direction as he builds the story slowly but surely towards the frightening conclusion. He gives a little taste here and there of what Carrie is capable of doing, but never in our wildest dreams could we imagined she was capable of this. The prom sequence is done in typical DePalma fashion with an ever moving camera outlining the evil scheme in the midst of Carrie's happy moment.
IT'S SUCH A FAMOUS SCENE BUT SPOILER ALERT ANYWAYS:
The sequence where the pig's blood is dumped onto Carrie is expertly done; it is tense, dramatic and shocking. The aftermath is even more horrifying as Carrie uses her telekinesis to trap the students and teachers inside and set the gym on fire. The scene of death and terror in a burning room is eerily similar to the scene in Inglorious Basterds; I would not be at all surprised if that scene was inspired from Carrie, especially given Tarantino's professed love for DePalma.
The showdown between Carrie and her mother is also a really great scene. Carrie's mother is a really memorable villain. The way she floats in front of the camera brandishing the kitchen knife is a pretty creepy image and one of the several allusions to Psycho.
I mentioned earlier the link between sex and violence in the film. In the scene where Carrie gets the blood dumped on her, right before the girl pulls the rope she licks her lips in a clearly sexually excited manner. When Carrie's mother is being stabbed by the knives, she lets out what seems like moans of pleasure rather than screams of pain. It is interesting though how similar the two differing sensations sound. In a way, the viewer is excited too; we want to see these horrible bloody things too right? We get excited, even aroused, with violence.
Carrie isn't actually a hold me tightly while I cover my eyes type of horror movie. It doesn't rely on cheap scares, instead it haunts us with the visual imagery and characters. It may not be as scary, but nobody remembers the random killer popping out of the closet after the movie is done, everybody remembers Carrie's horrified look covered in blood.
Grade: A-
No comments:
Post a Comment