Carrie (1976, Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving)
Take Carrie to the prom. I dare you!
Quick plot: Wallflower Carrie White (Spacek) discovers she has telekinetic powers, and eventually decides to use them to get back at her high-school tormentors and religious fanatic mother. Based on Stephen King’s first novel.
Scariest scene: The slaughter at the prom is probably more famous, and that shower scene at the beginning plays on some primal adolescent fears, but the very last scene is one of the most genuinely shocking moments in horror-movie history. And the worst part is, you should TOTALLY see it coming! Set to slow, tranquil music, a repentant Sue Snell (Irving) visits Carrie’s makeshift grave. As she reaches down to put flowers on the ground — boom! — out comes a hand grabbing Sue and trying to drag her down into the pits of hell. Sue wakes up screaming, and we know her nightmare has just begun.
Final say: It’s a shame Brian De Palma and Stephen King haven’t collaborated since. They seem a perfect fit, and, for better or worse, the success of Carrie paved the path for King’s work to be a cinema mainstay. The kitschy ’70s clothes and music might mute some of the chills for modern audiences, but Carrie‘s place in the horror firmament is well-deserved.
FYI: For those interested, Sue Snell does finally bite it in the who-cares sequel, The Rage: Carrie 2. There was also a surprisingly decent 2002 TV remake, where (spoiler alert!) Carrie lives at the end. It plays better than you might think.