I love it when I get to talk about an older movie that I feel is just as good today as it was back when it was released. Carrie from 1976 is the first movie to be made based on a book by Stephen King, a neat bit of trivia is that Carrie was also the first book Stephen King had published. You have to wonder, if Carrie had not been the hit that it was, would we have gotten the massive number of Stephen King adaptations over the years?
How to Download Carrie (1976)
Carrie was released on November 3, 1976. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like this one, check out also other fils based on Stephen King’s works such as It, Firestarter, or Pet Semetary.
The Movie Review – A Horror Classic That Still Holds Up
I really do not know what more I can say that has not been said already about this classic. “Classic” is thrown around all the time when people talk about older movies, but there is no other way to describe this movie! I have seen this movie many, many times, but the prom scene at the end still blows my mind and is just as exciting as it was the first time I saw it.
The Story of Carrie White – A Tragic, Powerful Horror Tale
The basics of the story of Carrie are that we have a young 16 year old high school student called Carrie White. Carrie is played by Sissy Spacek and to say that she is awesome in this role is an understatement. Carrie gets her first period while at school and freaks out, causing a bunch of high school cool kids to mock her, which gets them in trouble. One of them, Chris gets banned from prom leading to her wanting to make Carrie pay! Chris decides to humiliate Carrie at prom in an act of bullying revenge.
It is not just at school Carrie has it tough. Her psycho ultra religious mother, Margaret is super mean to her, locking her in a closet so she can beg for forgiveness from God. Carries life takes a turn when she discovers that she has telekinesis abilities and she starts to learn more about them and is able to control her abilities. It all builds up to an epic scene at the prom where Carrie after being a victim, becomes enraged and unleashes hell on everyone in her path.
Carrie (1976) – A Personal Experience With the Film
Look, everyone knows the Carrie story by this point. However, I wanted to share my experiences with the movie. It was released in the latter part of the 70s, but I did not see this until the early 90s, I am sure I was 12 when I caught it on TV late one night and I was just mesmerized by it. That prom scene was just incredible and I will not lie, the ending where we think Carrie has burst through her grave made me jump out of my skin!
While Carrie was not the first Stephen King adaptation I saw, it was one of my favorites throughout my teenage years. I would eventually get an old VHS copy of the movie and I watched it to death! It was a movie that my friends who also loved horror movies would always watch during our movie marathons.
The Best Way to Watch Carrie Today
A couple of years ago, Arrow Video released a fantastic 4K version of Carrie and it is awesome. The picture quality is great, not a massive step up from the Blu-Ray, but I do think you can notice a difference. It does have an incredible surround sound track which in the prom scene really comes to life! They also included some really interesting extras to watch and a few physical goodies as well.
Final Thoughts – A Must-Watch Horror Film
I could watch Carrie tonight and have a great time and then a few weeks from now watch it again and still have a great time. It may not be my all time favorite Stephen King movie (that is It) however, this is right up there as far as far as the best Stephen King movies go. Off the top of my head, I really cannot think of anything that I dislike about the movie, well the unnecessary sequel we got two decades later, but you cannot blame this movie for that!
