Dir. Brian De Palma | Now Streaming On: Hulu | Rating: 5/5

This review is a collab with one of my best internet friends Kelvin at @hk_movieaddict for a special October tribute to American horror icons. Be sure to check out his review and drop a follow.

Most of the iconic American Horror legends are two things – men and slashers. Think Freddy, Jason, Michael. This makes Carrie White stand out as one of our most unique icons. She managed to break the mold of what is considered worthy of genre acclaim while also creating a pop culture legacy that still continues almost 50 years after her inception.

The original Carrie holds its own all these years later as spellbinding, haunting, and frightening. It tackles ideas of isolation, religious fervor, and the true horror of human nature as we watch Carrie stumble her way through high school. Being a teenager is hard enough, adding sadistic bullies and a fanatically religious mother to the mix is a recipe for disaster.

When watching this in 2022, most viewers will be familiar with the ending. I can only imagine the sheer terror that would’ve come from watching the final prom scene for the first time in 1976 with no idea what was coming. These prom scenes manage to be cinematically beautiful, even by today’s standards, and set the tone for the happiness and then horror that follows Carrie’s crowning as prom queen.

One thing I’ve thought critically about this time around is how as an icon, Carrie embodies the strength and power in a woman’s rage, but both her source material and the movie that made her infamous were created by men. It brings an interesting lens to the ongoing discussion of how true and genuine stories of the feminine experience can or can’t be captured by male artists.

Beautiful to look at and meaningful decades later, Carrie encapsulates the campy and hard hitting nature of 70s horror and continues to set the stage for horror greats across the globe. This is a must watch for casual and committed horror viewers alike.

Know Before You Watch: Features nudity, death, blood, flashing lights.