STACK #253 November 2025

FEATURE MOVIE

And Stephen King’s arrival

CARRIE GOES 4K

Whilst working in an industrial laundry, a young Stephen King wrote his debut novel about a tormented misfit schoolgirl who uses her telekinetic powers to gain revenge on her cruel classmates. Words Bob J

Whether you’re a first-time viewer or returning to Carrie for the umpteenth time, the new 4K UHD + Blu-ray Limited Edition Lenticular Hardcase from Imprint Films is a must-have for horror fans and cinephiles alike. This strictly limited two-disc release comes complete with art cards and a treasure trove of bonus features, including interviews, documentaries, and more.

T itled Carrie , he managed to get it published and, shortly after, to his surprise, the movie rights were purchased by United Artists. After making small budget thrillers such as Sisters and Obsession , film director Brian De Palma was offered the chance to direct Carrie on an extremely tight budget of $1.8 million. He eagerly accepted the offer and immediately began casting his actors. For the role of Carrie White, De Palma originally

Oscar nomination for her outstanding performance in The

Psycho , is continually used throughout the film. The prom scene is also a true tour de force and is totally Hitchcockian in its

Hustler (1961) and had then immediately retired from show business. But after reading the Carrie

Carrie daybill

delivery of suspense and horror, enhanced by De Palma’s split screen technique, for which he

script, she initially passed on it because it seemed to her to be just a bland role.

opening more widely the following week. To their total surprise, audience word of mouth swiftly turned it into a ”must-see movie.” Carrie ’s phenomenal success ($33 million US box office – $170 million today – plus two Oscar nominations) would lead to a tide of American teen-oriented thrillers beginning in the late 1970s and still running strong today.

would become famous. Subsequently, his next

two movies, The Fury and Dressed to Kill , earned him the title ”the new Hitchcock of the ’70s.” The ”Carrie White burns in hell” finale, as dreamt by

wanted actress Amy Irving, but she was

not keen to portray the awkward and withdrawn character and settled for the emotional Sue Snell role, as one of the campus girls who befriends Carrie. After auditioning for numerous roles, Sissy Spacek’s screen test was so

a guilt-ridden Sue (Amy Irving), which involved Carrie being buried in a coffin under rocks, has entered the annals of all-time memorable movie endings. However, the film’s limited budget prevented De Palma from depicting Carrie’s slow walk home from the prom, as it appears in the book, where her telekinetic powers destroy the whole town by fire. United Artists were convinced that they had a box office dud on their hands and sneaked it into a few theatres, playing as the second half of an unbilled double feature in an attempt to gauge reaction before

Sissy Spacek with director Brian De Palma

persuasive that she ultimately won the lead role of Carrie. Nancy Allen and John Travolta (in his first major movie role) were then cast as the two cruel enemies of Carrie who plan to humiliate and ruin her prom night. However, De Palma could not find a single actress interested in playing Carrie’s religiously fanatical mother, Margaret. An executive at United Artists then urged De Palma to try to persuade Piper Laurie to take the role. Miss Laurie had won an

However, following a re-reading with De Palma, she began to see how she could inject an element of black humour into the insane, domineering character and subsequently accepted the part. Her role as Margaret White would earn her a second Oscar nomination. The DNA of De Palma’s favourite movie master, Alfred Hitchcock, can be found throughout Carrie . The school is named ”Bates” High, and Bernard Herrmann’s infamous four-note violin theme, also from

Stephen King clipping

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