Carrie
Ballroom Blitz
released 11 december 1976 | 18 | blu-ray
Director brian de Palma Cast sissy spacek, Piper laurie, amy Irving, William Katt
The first Stephen King movie arguably remains the best. Brian De Palma’s take on King’s 1974 debut novel strips out the epistolary framework for a more intimate focus on its put-upon telekinetic teen.
It’s a provocative film – particularly in an early changing room sequence, which gear-shifts from shower-room sensuality to vicious mob bullying as Spacek’s sheltered innocent experiences her first period.
De Palma’s a stylist, and a few directorial/editing choices are overly gimmicky – the splitscreen in the prom night massacre is a mistake, pulling you out of the moment. But the build-up is beautifully choreographed. Spacek is superb, winning your empathy and retaining it even as she exacts a monstrous vengeance, and Piper Laurie is gloriously gestural as Carrie’s swivel-eyed ma. The 2013 remake pales in comparison – the original still reigns supreme as the prom queen.
Extras This pricy Collector’s Edition boasts significant new bonuses, but the oldies are the best. Dual 2001 retrospectives “Acting Carrie” and “Visualising Carrie” (84 minutes) run through the making of the film from first the cast’s perspective, then the crew’s; it’s odd they weren’t edited into one feature-length doc, but there are fascinating insights here. Seven new interview pieces with cast and crew (136 minutes) mostly retread the same ground; only a chat with composer Pino Donaggio really reveals anything new. Expert commentary by two critics is enthusiastic and informed, if a little fond of jargon like “liminal space”, while a “visual essay” efficiently compares all three screen versions of King’s novel (21 minutes). Plus: the toned-down TV version of the changing room scene; a piece revisiting the locations; trailers; TV and radio ads; gallery; 60-page booklet. Ian Berriman
A prologue in which Carrie causes stones to drop from the sky was shot, but dropped as the results looked like rain. Arrow Video’s 2016 box set American Horror Project collected three obscure indie horrors; now all three are available separately. Good news, as it means you can pick up the woozily dream-like MALATESTA’S CARNIVAL OF BLOOD (out now, Blu-ray) on its own. Following the new owners of an amusement park as they fend off cannibalistic ghouls, it’s John Waters making Spider Baby, as dreamt by Agent Cooper. We said: “There’s real lo-fi, bad-trip ingenuity on display.” While The Walking Dead slowly rots, its sister show only got more interesting this year. Shuffling from war movie to Western and beyond over the course of 16 fraught episodes, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD SEASON THREE (out now, Blu-ray/DVD) mixes complex new characters, shock deaths and fascinating politics (including, bizarrely, the ethics of colonisation). All this, and zombies! Speaking of TV box sets, Netflix have snuck out a couple more for you streaming luddites – Luke Cage season one and Black Mirror season three are available now. So is Red Dwarf series XII – reviewed in our Viewscreen section, over on p108. Finally, DOCTOR WHO: SHADA (out now, Blu-ray/DVD/download) sees the gaps in Douglas Adams’s unfinished Tom Baker adventure plugged with animation. Sadly this was unavailable before our deadline, but we said of the previous DVD (which patched the holes with narration): “Contains glimmers of Adams’s genius, but it’s no match for previous efforts… There’s not much to the plot, other than a lot of dashing to and fro.”