Carrie (1976 film)
Updated: 12/10/2025, 10:23:19 AM Wikipedia source
Carrie is a 1976 American supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay written by Lawrence D. Cohen, adapted from Stephen King's 1974 semi-epistolary novel Carrie. The film stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a shy teenage girl who is constantly mocked and bullied at her school. She later develops the power of telekinesis and uses it to wreak vengeance on her tormentors. The film also features Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, William Katt, P. J. Soles, Betty Buckley, and John Travolta in supporting roles. It is the first film in the Carrie franchise. The film was based on King's first published novel. De Palma was intrigued by the story and pushed for the studio's permission to direct while Spacek was encouraged by her husband to audition. It is the first of more than 100 film, television and theater productions adapted from, or based on, the published works of King. Theatrically released on November 3, 1976, by United Artists, Carrie became critically and commercially successful, grossing over $33.8 million against its $1.8 million budget. It received two nominations at the 49th Academy Awards: Best Actress (for Spacek) and Best Supporting Actress (for Laurie). Critics and audience members alike widely cite it as the best adaptation of the novel among the numerous films and television shows based on the character, as well as one of the best films based on King's publications. The film has significantly influenced popular culture, with several publications regarding it as one of the greatest horror films ever made. In 2008, Carrie was ranked 86th on Empire's list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. It was ranked 15th on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies, and 46th on the American Film Institute list AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills. The film's prom scene has had a major influence on popular culture and was ranked eighth on Bravo's 2004 program The 100 Scariest Movie Moments. In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Infobox
Directed by
Brian De Palma
Screenplay by
Lawrence D. Cohen
Based on
Carrieby Stephen King
Produced by
Paul Monash
Starring
mw- Sissy Spacek John Travolta Piper Laurie
Cinematography
Mario Tosi
Edited by
Paul Hirsch
Music by
Pino Donaggio
Productioncompany
Red Bank Films
Distributed by
United Artists
Release date
November 3, 1976 (1976-11-03)
Running time
98 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$1.8 million
Box office
$33.8 million
Tables
· Accolades
Academy Awards
Academy Awards
Award
Academy Awards
Category
Best Actress
Recipient
Sissy Spacek
Result
Nominated
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actress
Award
Best Supporting Actress
Category
Piper Laurie
Recipient
Nominated
Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival
Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival
Award
Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival
Category
Grand Prize
Recipient
Brian De Palma
Result
Won
Special Mention
Special Mention
Award
Special Mention
Category
Sissy Spacek
Recipient
Won
Edgar Allan Poe Awards
Edgar Allan Poe Awards
Award
Edgar Allan Poe Awards
Category
Best Motion Picture
Recipient
Lawrence D. Cohen
Result
Nominated
Golden Globe Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Award
Golden Globe Awards
Category
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Recipient
Piper Laurie
Result
Nominated
Hugo Awards
Hugo Awards
Award
Hugo Awards
Category
Best Dramatic Presentation
Recipient
Directed by Brian De Palma; Screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen; Based on the novel by Stephen King
Result
Nominated
National Society of Film Critics Awards
National Society of Film Critics Awards
Award
National Society of Film Critics Awards
Category
Best Actress
Recipient
Sissy Spacek
Result
Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Award
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Category
Best Actress
Recipient
Runner-up
Saturn Awards
Saturn Awards
Award
Saturn Awards
Category
Best Horror Film
Recipient
Nominated
Turkish Film Critics Association Awards
Turkish Film Critics Association Awards
Award
Turkish Film Critics Association Awards
Category
Best Foreign Film
Recipient
8th Place
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
| Academy Awards | Best Actress | Sissy Spacek | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Piper Laurie | Nominated | ||
| Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival | Grand Prize | Brian De Palma | Won | |
| Special Mention | Sissy Spacek | Won | ||
| Edgar Allan Poe Awards | Best Motion Picture | Lawrence D. Cohen | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Piper Laurie | Nominated | |
| Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation | Directed by Brian De Palma; Screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen; Based on the novel by Stephen King | Nominated | |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | Sissy Spacek | Won | |
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actress | Runner-up | ||
| Saturn Awards | Best Horror Film | Nominated | ||
| Turkish Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Film | 8th Place | ||
References
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- Carriehttps://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0074285/
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- Empirehttps://empireonline.com/500/82.asp
- "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments"https://web.archive.org/web/20060719071838/http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/index.shtml
- NPRhttps://www.npr.org/2022/12/14/1141630795/iron-man-super-fly-and-carrie-are-inducted-into-the-national-film-registry
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/04/carrie-stephen-king-horror
- Florida Weekly
- Brian De Palma.net. Retrieved May 27, 2007. Archived April 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machinehttp://www.briandepalma.net/carrie/carrint.htm
- Carrie DVD featurette ("visualising Carrie")
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- sites.google.comhttps://sites.google.com/site/cultoddities/home/carrie/carrie-1976/press/sissy-spacek-interviews
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- The Buffalo Newshttps://buffalonews.com/1996/04/28/7-months-enough-for-depalma-wife/
- AFI Catalog of Feature Filmshttps://catalog.afi.com/Film/55851-CARRIE
- Birth.Movies.Deathhttp://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/11/04/carries-prom-scene-an-oral-history-part-two
- Stephen King's Gothichttps://web.archive.org/web/20181005195128/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3UuuBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31
- The DePalma cut: the films of America's most controversial director
- Lost illusions: American cinema in the shadow of Watergate and Vietnam, 1970-1979
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- "Special 2-CD soundtrack "Carrie" full score composed by Pino Donaggio"http://www.kritzerland.com/carrie.htm
- Variety
- Carrie at the AFI Catalog of Feature Filmshttps://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/55851
- "Greatest Films of 1976"http://www.filmsite.org/1976.html
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- Ebert, Roger. Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun Times) Review of Carrie (1976) Archived September 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machinhttps://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/carrie-1976
- Murf. "Film Reviews: Carrie." Variety (Archive: 1905-2000), vol. 284, no. 13, 1976 November 3, 1976/11/03/, pp. 27. ProQhttp://turing.library.northwestern.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/magazines/film-reviews-carrie/docview/1401299800/se-2
- Empirehttp://www.openculture.com/2013/08/quentin-tarantinos-handwritten-list-of-the-11-greatest-movies.html
- Siskel, Gene (November 9, 1976). "'Carrie' has style but violence carries the day". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 7.
- Journal of Narrative Theoryhttps://doi.org/10.1353%2Fjnt.2011.0058
- Film Quarterlyhttps://doi.org/10.2307%2F1211824
- "Carrie: the film that captured the true horror of being a teenager"https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/01/carrie-the-film-that-captured-the-true-horror-of-being-a-teenager
- "Carrie at 40: why the horror genre remains important for women"https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/03/carrie-stephen-king-brian-de-palma-horror-films-feminism
- "Carrie review – Brian De Palma's horror masterpiece is a death metal spectacle of carnage"https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/17/carrie-review-brian-de-palma-horror-rereleased
- Variety
- Richard Nowell, Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle Continuum, 2011 p 256
- Variety
- "The 49th Academy Awards (1977) Nominees and Winners"http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977
- "Category List – Best Motion Picture"https://edgarawards.com/category-list-best-motion-picture/
- "Carrie"https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/carrie/
- "1977 Hugo Awards"https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1977-hugo-awards/
- walkoffame.comhttps://walkoffame.com/sissy-spacek/
- "Past Awards"https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/
- "1976 New York Film Critics Circle Awards"https://www.nyfcc.com/awards/?awardyear=1976
- "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills"http://www.afi.com/Docs/tvevents/pdf/thrills100.pdf
- "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains"https://web.archive.org/web/20170713050650/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/handv400.pdf
- Screen Ranthttps://screenrant.com/box-office-bombs-killed-horror-franchise/#the-rage-carrie-2
- Internet Movie Databasehttps://imdb.com/news/sb/2002-11-04#tv5
- The Hollywood Reporterhttps://hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/mgm-screen-gems-team-carrie-190369
- Deadline Hollywoodhttps://deadline.com/2012/03/mgm-formally-offers-lead-remake-of-stephen-kings-carrie-to-chloe-moretz-249540/
- "Julianne Moore And Gabriella Wilde Board Carrie Remake"https://cinemablend.com/new/Julianne-Moore-Gabriella-Wilde-Board-Carrie-Remake-30909.html
- ""Chronicle" star Alex Russell and Broadway actor Ansel Elgort join "Carrie" remake opposite Chloe Moretz"http://upandcomers.net/2012/05/15/chronicle-star-alex-russell-and-broadway-actor-ansel-elgort-join-carrie-remake-opposite-chloe-moretz/
- "UPDATE: Judy Greer HAS NOT Signed on to the Carrie Remake as the Gym Teacher"https://cinemablend.com/new/Judy-Greer-Signs-Carrie-Remake-Gym-Teacher-31122.html
- Deadline Hollywoodhttps://deadline.com/2012/01/mgmscreen-gems-eye-kimberly-peirce-to-direct-remake-of-stephen-kings-carrie-209860/
- The New Yorkerhttp://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/is-carrie-the-worst-musical-of-all-time
- "Eric Jackson Interview"http://www.horrorking.com/interview-hk1.html
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/arts/26weekahead.html
- "Hell in a Handbag's Scarrie site"http://www.handbagproductions.org/history/scarrie/scarrie.shtml
- "Sci-Fi Dimensions Review"https://web.archive.org/web/20080306114929/http://www.scifidimensions.com/Jul02/carriewhite.htm
- "Carrie's Facts of Life - Official Site"https://web.archive.org/web/20080306054257/http://www.norunningwithscissors.com/carrie.html
- Entertainment Weeklyhttps://ew.com/recap/riverdale-season-2-episode-18/
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- movieweb.comhttps://movieweb.com/mgm-decades-collection-comes-to-dvd-on-december-4/
- blu-ray.comhttps://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/UA-90th-Anniversary-Prestige-Collection-DVD/74635/
- Turner Classic Movieshttps://web.archive.org/web/20211008091137/https://shop.tcm.com/carrie-triple-feature-carrie-1976-the-rage-carrie-2-carrie-2002/88390415390
- blu-ray.comhttps://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/Carrie-and-Misery-and-The-Silence-of-the-Lambs-DVD/87318/
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- "Carrie – Limited Edition"https://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1036
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- Carrie 4K Blu-ray (SteelBook)https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Carrie-4K-Blu-ray/325109/
- Shout! Factoryhttps://shoutfactory.com/products/carrie-limited-edition-steelbook