Carrie
Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour, Vancouver The biggest hit from the 70s phase of Brian De Palma’s career, Carrie takes Stephen King’s horror novel about a troubled telekinetic teen and weaves it into a purely cinematic rhapsody of angst and (retali-)elation, what Pauline Kael termed "a terrifyingly lyrical thriller". Sissy Spacek is the shy adolescent brought up by an evangelical Christian mother (Piper Laurie - both actresses were nominated for the Oscar), and mortified when she has her first period in the girls’ shower. The incident leads to a cruel prank, which will in turn unleash Carrie White’s furious response…
De Palma would soon become a bete noir for feminists, but Carrie is actually a feminist horror film - if Carrie becomes monstrous, it’s through the repressive treatment she receives, and the movie’s subjectivity is with her all the way.