PHOTO PROVIDED A poster for the movie “Carrie” which premiered in 1976.

LAURA JAMESON

It took me over a decade to watch it again after being absolutely terrified the first time around, but I finally did it. I finally sat down and rewatched the 1976 film “Carrie.” It seemed like the perfect, albeit complete 180 from my last one, “Throwback Thursday.”

I’ll start out by saying I did read the Stephen King novel of the same name and I even watched the 2013 remake (it was extra gory but not nearly as scary to me). I think the original movie took a good portion of the key elements of the over 200-page novel and fit it nicely in just under two hours.

The film stars well known 70s actress Sissy Spacek as the titular role of Carrie White, an awkward girl who is bullied both by her classmates and by her own mother at home.

One day after gym class Carrie suddenly gets her first period, and due to her mother’s very radical Christian teachings, doesn’t understand what’s happening. She rushes to her classmates for help only to be shoved into a shower stall all while they throw feminine products at her.

As gym teacher Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) attempts to calm Carrie a light above the showers suddenly explodes. The first hint of the 16-year-old’s telekenetic abilities.

After sending an ash tray flying in the principal’s office and knocking a taunting child from his bike without touching it, Carrie begins to wonder what’s happening.

Of course before she can begin researching her strange new powers, she has to face her mother Margaret (Piper Laurie).

The relationship between Carrie and her super religious mother is the most upsetting dynamic in the film for me. As someone who has a great relationship with their own Mom it sickens me to watch the systematic abuse Carrie goes through by her mother. From physically being dragged into a closet to being told she’s a sinful byproduct of the devil, that’s the real horror of this film to me.

Carrie’s mother is convinced that her daughter “becoming a woman” means she’s swimming in sin and demands she pray with her. All while Carrie just wants her mother to hold her, to explain why she never told her about such a major part of her journey to adulthood.

Instead she’s dragged into a kitchen closet and locked in, her mother’s prayers drowned out by her shouts to be let out.

The next day we’re introduced to the character that’s going to really tip the scales when it comes to the plot: Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen).

After the terrible behavior exhibited by the mean girl and the girls who followed her lead Miss Collins puts them through a grueling 50-minute detention involving various physical activities. If they don’t participate, Miss Collins’s threatens to take away their tickets to senior prom.

Chris, being the arrogant girl she is, refuses to continue taking part and is barred from going to prom.

Meanwhile, Sue Snell (Amy Irving) is struggling with the guilt she feels for participating in the torture of Carrie. To help ease her conscience, she asks her boyfriend Tommy Ross (William Katt) to take Carrie to prom and show her not everyone is so cruel.

Tommy agrees, and after some prodding gets Carrie to say yes.

I won’t necessarily give away the rest just in case you haven’t seen it but it’s safe to say that this doesn’t end happily. It’s a Stephen King based movie for goodness sakes.

After pretty much only watching horror movies from the 21st century I really appreciate how much this movie didn’t rely heavily on effects. The real scare factor for me came from watching how Carrie was treated throughout the film.

She was just a teenager and she was subjected to horrible teasing and bullying at school and went home to be force fed altered religious text by an unhinged mother.

The use of drawn out suspenseful moments was also interesting to me. Watching Sue realize how Chris planned to get “revenge” on Carrie for her well deserved punishment was stretched out just right. Follow it with her attempts to stop the inevitable only to be pulled away from a well intentioned Miss Collins you’re practically ready to scream.

Overall I feel the film is still a good watch even now. It’s got just the right amount of creep factor, mixed with a good story line and a very tragic ending. It’s rated R so it isn’t necessarily a family film but it can be rented on YouTube, GooglePlay, iTunes and Vudu. You may also have access to it if you have a Hulu or Sling TV subscription.

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Laura Jameson is a staff writer for The Express