Carrie White Story

The forthcoming 'Carrie White Story' is another unauthorized stage production. The thing that distinguishes this from the other stage incarnations is that it's neither based on the films nor the musical -- it's adapted from Stephen King's original novel -- and the roles will be filled by actual teens, aged 14 to 20.

Directed by Sean Pollock, the show is slated to hit the stage for two performances on July 18 and 19, 2008 at the Darress Theatre in Boonton, New Jersey. Check out the Stage Hands Performing Arts website for more information as it becomes available.

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Carrie Connections

THIS SECTION IS UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION

Since the introduction of the film version of CARRIE in 1976, Stephen King's prom queen has become an indelible part of pop-culture. She's been spoofed, referenced and blatantly ripped-off in everything from stage plays (CARRIE WHITE THE MUSICAL) to well-known films (KNOCKED UP) to obscure television shows ("Life's Work"). In particular, CARRIE's biggest influence seems to be on the slasher movies that exploded in popularity shortly after the film's release -- suddenly it was no longer the leering psychopath out to get random victims, it was teenagers getting slaughtered by the kid who they scorned.

For me to cite every reference would be downright impossible, but I figured I'd put up a section devoted to some of the big ones, and even a few small ones that I know of. Most of what follows is from film and television. On the individual pages, you'll find photos, summaries, video clips and trailers from the projects, as well as information on how they relate to CARRIE.



SEQUEL/REMAKES:
The Rage: Carrie 2
Carrie (2002)
Carrie '06 (Trailer)

STAGE
Carrie the Musical
Carrie (2006)
Carrie's Facts of Life
Carrie Potter at the Half-Blood Prom
Carrie White Story (FORTHCOMING)
Carrie White: The Musical
A Scarrie Carrie Christmas Carol
Scarrie! the Musical


SIMILAR THEMES/RIP-OFFS
(TELEKINETIC/UNPOPULAR KID GETS REVENGE):
BoardingHouse
Evilspeak
Fear No Evil
Firestarter
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
The Fury
The Girl Most Likely To...
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2
inexchange
The Initiation of Sarah
Jennifer
May
Mirror Mirror
One Dark Night
Prom Night
Rose Red
Slaughter High
Tamara
Terror Train
This House Possessed
To Play or To Die
Valentine

SPOOFS:
American Dad!
Another Gay Movie
Horror Friends
Jawbreaker
Student Bodies
Superstar
Ugly Betty
Zapped!

REFERENCED IN:
Bride of Monster Mania
Eli Stone
Gypsy 83
Knocked Up
Life's Work
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Reservoir Dogs (DVD featurette)
Roseanne
Scream
Terror in the Aisles
Water Power

VARIOUS RELATIONS:
Afternoon Delights
Blow Out
The Craft
The Grass Harp
Halloween
Loveline
Midwives
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Phantom of the Paradise
Phenomena
Ruby
Sisters

REFERENCES:
Psycho
Deliverance











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Friday the 13th

For nearly a quarter of a century, Camp Crystal Lake has been abandoned. Nicknamed "Camp Blood" by the townspeople, a young boy drowned there in 1957 and two counselors were brutally butchered in 1958. But enough time has passed since those deaths that some idiot has the idea to open the camp again... that's always a great idea! Enter a group of teenagers (including then-unknown Kevin Bacon), who are helping to restore the camp to its former glory and staying on as counselors. Unfortunately, someone doesn't want the camp to reopen, and they're out to solidify the name "Camp Blood." And no, it's not Jason.

Here's the original trailer (which, predictably, contains some spoilers):



Although FRIDAY THE 13TH is primarily a rip off of HALLOWEEN, it was one of the very first slashers with explicit gore, and it was followed by endless sequels -- plus it started a whole sub-genre of its own: camp killings. The reveal of the killer was far more shocking and original than any of the sequels, but one can't help but notice the films that laid the groundwork. The final scene, in particular, owes more than a little bit of debt to CARRIE.



SPOILER:

While having a serene time floating along in a boat on Crystal Lake, from out of the water, Alice Hardy (Adrienne King) is attacked by young Jason Voorhees, who drowned there decades earlier. With its surreal dream/jump scare ending, it's easy to see why it's often said that the finale was ripped off from CARRIE. Here's the clip:



This opened the door for the sequel, in which Jason actually did return... and from that point on, he wouldn't die. This also opened the door for a few more CARRIE rips. In FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD, Jason squares off with a girl with telekinesis. In JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY, there's yet another CARRIE lift. This time, it's Freddy Krueger's glove popping out of the grave and taking Jason's mask to Hell (which later segued to FREDDY VS JASON).

inexchange

Maury (Sean Blodgett) is the ultimate introvert. Rather than rock the boat, he lets his college roommate Jay (Todd Richard Lewis) continuously take advantage of him. But Maury's world goes spiraling out of control after being lured to a college party where he's humiliated by the meathead fratboys... so he asks a creepy, cloaked, blindfolded figure to exact revenge. As the bodies pile up, Maury becomes smitten with lovely Lara (Tiffany Wilson), but even she has motives of her own...

There's nothing here that you haven't seen before, but it's admirably executed for such a no-budget film. When director Zach Parker was pitching the movie, he called it CARRIE meets PSYCHO, and that's certainly a fitting description. Isolated Maury leads a very Carrie-like existence, and the prank... let's just say it hearkens back to CARRIE, and it made me squirm. Very little makes me squirm. If you can forgive the fact that it's shot on video, some of the acting's bad, the sound's tediously uneven, and that it moves at an intentionally Kubrickian snail's pace, you might find something to like about INEXCHANGE. At the very least, it's markedly better than any other shot-on-video, cheapie horror film I've ever seen (trust me, I've seen way more than a few), and I've found myself pulling out the DVD more than a couple times. I'd be interested in seeing what Parker could do with a real budget.

Here's the trailer. Predictably, it's marketed as a hardcore slasher, though that's not really the case. Yes, it has its brutal moments, but it's neither as fast paced nor as gratuitously gruesome as this trailer implies. Oh yeah, and the trailer contains SPOILERS!





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Jawbreaker

Three girlfriends (Rose McGowan, Julie Benz, Rebecca Gayheart) plan a birthday prank for their dear friend Elizabeth (Charlotte Ayanna), but the prank backfires when Liz chokes to death on the jawbreaker she was gagged with. The girls try to cover up their accidental crime, but they're busted by geeky Fern (Judy Greer), so the popular girls invite Fern to join their clique. But before long, personalities clash, friends are disowned and the police begin to investigate Liz's death... This goofy, campy, dark comedy was a hit in 1999 and it quickly gained a cult following.

Here's the trailer:


Though JAWBREAKER has been pigeonholed as a rip-off of HEATHERS, there's quite a few ties to CARRIE. For starters, the ill-fated Elizabeth Purr, who's chokes on a jawbreaker during the opening sequence (and then has a great deal of screen time as a corpse), is portrayed by Charlotte Ayanna, who played the villainous Tracey in THE RAGE: CARRIE 2. Further pushing the connection, her parents are portrayed by William Katt and P.J. Soles, who both starred in the 1976 version of CARRIE. Unfortunately, Katt and Soles were nearly chopped out of the film. Apparently their big scene (the discovery of their daughter's body) was deemed too dark by the powers that be at the studio, so it was cut out -- you get a better look at them in the trailer than in the movie itself.

Fern Mayo (Judy Greer) is sort of Carrie without the magical powers. An ugly duckling turned swan, Fern begins the film dressed and looking more than a little bit like Sissy Spacek in the 1976 CARRIE. Writer-director Darren Stein even admitted that this scene was meant to be a homage:



Late in the film, after Courtney's gone psycho and disowned her friends, Fern makes a direct reference to CARRIE while plotting a course of action:




And then there's finale of the film... Click below to reveal spoilers.

SPOILER!

In the final scene, as Courtney (Rose McGowan) is being crowned prom queen, it's revealed to the entire student body that she killed Elizabeth. Suddenly the crowd turns into a mob, berating her and pelting her with corsages as she breaks down. Though hardly a bucket of pig's blood, the scene has a similar "they're all gonna laugh at you" vibe. The scene also begins and ends in slow motion, though it's nowhere near as elaborate as DePalma's staging in CARRIE.

BACK TO CARRIE CONNECTIONS!



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Bride of Monster Mania

In 1999, AMC premiered the original special BRIDE OF MONSTER MANIA. Hosted by Elvira Mistress of the Dark (Cassandra Peterson), the documentary/retrospective was a showcase for women in horror movies. For the most part, however, the films featured were obscure black and white b-movies. As a clip show, it's decent enough, but they obviously couldn't secure the rights to show scenes from a lot of the films (most of the footage shown is from the trailers which have lapsed into public domain), and most of the commentary is provided by psychologists, not anyone actually involved in the films or the film world in general. The special is now available on DVD -- if you're a fan of old b-movies, it's at least worth a rental.

Towards the end of the special, the trailer for CARRIE is shown nearly in its entirety, and there's a brief comment on it. Hardly worth seeking out solely for CARRIE. Here's the clip:



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Afternoon Delights

This one is sort of a companion to WATER POWER. AFTERNOON DELIGHTS is another porn movie by Shaun Costello. The plot revolves around a bunch of buddies who, during a poker game, recount their ex-wives infidelities.

So what makes it notable for a CARRIE fan? As I mentioned with WATER POWER, Costello frequently lifted musical scores from other films. That film featured music from SISTERS, as does this one, but DELIGHTS also includes the "Bucket of Blood" score from CARRIE. I haven't seen the film and and don't intend to seek it out just for a brief piece of music, but I thought it was at least worth citing...

Fear No Evil

FEAR NO EVIL is the story of Andrew (Stefan Arngrim), an awkward high schooler who has unworldly powers -- because he's the reincarnation of Satan. Tormented by his peers, feared by his parents and hunted by several human archangels, Andrew's ultimate reign of terror may or may not prove to be short lived... Here's a collection of TV spots which include some spoilers:




The first film of director Frank LaLoggia (LADY IN WHITE), FEAR NO EVIL, (known as LUCIFER in some regions) is a mixed bag. The movie feels like a cheesetastic Hammer/Corman production with a high school plotline synthetically injected in. Further bogging down of the already overly ambitious film occurs when a zombie army appears... LaLoggia wanted to make his own Hammer-like film, but various investors insisted on piling in ridiculous elements which ultimately resulted in a film that doesn't really work. There are moments of genius (including a particularly effective scene of baby Andrew being baptized and a death-by-dodgeball scene), and visually the film is superb, but the story has too many jerky detours.

The movie lifted elements from a variety of other films. It's not too much of a stretch to compare Arngrim as the outcast high schooler with supernatural powers to Spacek's CARRIE, though the character seems to have been more inspired by young Damien in THE OMEN. There is, however, a shower room taunting scene which, like the scene in CARRIE, seems to be the part that everyone remembers... but for very different reasons. You stick a group of butt naked guys into a shower on film and it's gonna be labeled 'homoerotic' anyway, but LaLoggia went a step further and made the scene memorably uncomfortable, much like DePalma before him. Here's a clip; be forewarned that there's an extremely brief multi-ass-shot (though I cut it off right before the scene went frontal):





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Slaughter High

In the horror genre, there have become many standard sub-genres. CARRIE spawned the ever popular 'high school loser gets revenge by killing off their classmates' sub-genre. After premiering on video, SLAUGHTER HIGH earned a rep for itself, and a particular interest from fans of '80s slashers for its uncomfortable prank gone awry scenes, its bizarre (but appropriately fun) finale, and for its overall gruesomeness. Filmed under the title APRIL FOOL'S DAY, they were forced to change the name to SLAUGHTER HIGH when Paramount's APRIL FOOL'S DAY was released first.

Marty (Simon Scuddamore) is the school nerd. Belittled by the cool kids, he unwittingly walks into a prank on April Fool's Day that finds him taunted by his peers... in the girls' locker room... in the nude (seeing a connection yet?). Instead of"Plug it up," they chanted the then-popular Wendy's slogan, "Where's the beef?" The cool kids are reprimanded by the coach for their antics and ordered to his detention, where they decide Marty has to pay for getting them into trouble (anything yet?). Their next prank results in an unfortunate accident for dear Marty... Flash forward ten years and all of the cool kids are invited to a high school reunion. They arrive to find the school a decrepit mausoleum that's been closed for five years. Before long, you know the drill, many are hacked to death... blah, blah, blah. The ending, however, is noteworthy -- because if you're not watching for it, you won't see it coming until it strikes.

Here's the trailer, which includes SPOILERS aplenty:


Credit where it's due, I swiped the trailer from fearnet.com.


The build-up to Marty's accident occurs during the first third of the film, and it echoes back to CARRIE. From that point on, its turns to the routine HALLOWEEN / FRIDAY THE 13th hack and slash standard -- with some of the most moronic characters ever. I mean, after getting splattered in blood, with a killer still on the loose, would your next step be to go and take a bath? Didn't think so. And why there's even a sole bathtub in an old school building is beyond me. Oh yeah, for gratuitous nudity purposes. I forgot. Anyway...

After the first prank in the shower (I'm not showing that clip in its entirety, suffice it to say skinny Scuddamore was displaying more uncut 'beef' than his peers were crediting him for), the director seems to have stolen DePalma's camera blocking for the set up of the next prank. Although nowhere near as elaborate, this scene bears an uncanny similarity to the reveal of the bucket of pig's blood. It also, however, contains a SPOILER:



Later in the film, as victim fights off masked attacker, we have this little clip, which is reminiscent of a scene from CARRIE. What's most disconcerting about it upon first viewing, is that they give no other hints that the killer has telekinetic powers, nor any electrical ingenuity to pull off such an elaborate parlour trick...




Perhaps the thing that's most noted about the film is that star Simon Scuddamore (whatta name!) committed suicide shortly after it was released. There's been speculation that Simon, who had a tortured childhood, was pushed over the edge by taking the role in this film. Good thing I didn't show the initial prank -- this knowledge makes it even more uncomfortable...

SLAUGHTER HIGH was released on VHS around the world in the late '80s, though it the tape is difficult to obtain today -- particularly the unrated print. It should be noted that in some parts of the world the film's known as APRIL FOOL'S DAY -- and in other regions, CUTTING CLASS and TERROR TRAIN were marketed as sequels (?!!). The film seems to be tied up in another case of 'nobody knows who holds the rights,' so until that gets straightened out, it's not officially out on DVD... though DVD-R's aren't very hard to come by.

The entire film is currently available to watch at Fearnet.

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Superstar

The 1999 comedy SUPERSTAR is another in a long line of TV to theatrical film spin-offs from "Saturday Night Live." Molly Shannon reprises her role as Mary Katherine Gallagher, a dorky girl (that may be mentally challenged) who tells everyone she's gonna be a "Superstar!"

Stuck in Catholic school with a lot of other 30-somethings portraying teenagers, the soft-spoken Mary Katherine has few friends. She dreams that someday she'll be a "superstar" in films, because she feels that's the only way she'll ever be able to kiss a boy -- and she's got her eye on dreamy Sky Corrigan (Will Farrell), who's currently dating bitchy airhead Evian Graham (Elaine Hendrix). This drive to be a superstar leads her to want to try out for the school's talent show, but there are plenty of bumps along the way.

There's several references to CARRIE in the movie. At the video store, Mary Katherine is employed as the rewind girl, and she spends her days watching films in reverse for research. And one of her favorite films is CARRIE -- they even show her watching it... and trying to become Carrie. Here's the clip:



During the fight sequence with popular girl Evian, there's a callback to the previous scene:




SPOILERS BELOW!!!

The third and final reference to CARRIE in the film comes at the end of the talent show audition and should be instantly recognizable by looking at this photo:

But in case that's not enough, here's the clip:

Carrie's Facts of Life

In 2007, a New Orleans based theatre troupe named Running With Scissors mounted yet another spoof, though this one was quite different from the others... it's a hybrid of CARRIE and the 1970's-80's hit sitcom THE FACTS OF LIFE. Nine performances were staged between October 5-21, 2007.



Here's an excerpt from their website about the production:

Join Running With Scissors as they stumble back a few decades to the ivy-covered halls of the Eastland School, home to Blair, Tootie, Jo, Natalie, and their spunky supervisor, Mrs. Garrett. It’s late in the spring semester, and the girls have just one thing on their minds: hot dates for the senior prom! But it’s when part-time housekeeper/full-time proselytizer Margaret White moves into the attic with her telekinetic daughter, Carrie, that things really start to heat up!

Will Blair be, like, totally banned from the prom? Will Natalie confess her true feelings to Jo? Will Tootie ever take off those damn rollerskates? And, um, what’s the deal with Cousin Jerri? Tune in this October and find out!

Carrie’s Facts of Life stars (in order of appearance): Bob Edes as Mrs. Edna Ann Garrett; Travis Acosta as Joanna ‘Jo’ Marie Polniaczek; Donald Lewis as Dorothy ‘Tootie’ Ramsey; Dorian Rush as Blair Warner; Lisa Picone as Natalie Letisha Sage Green; Brian Peterson as Mrs. Margaret White and Cousin Jerri; Brad Caldwell as Carrie White; and Jack Long as Principal Morton, Billy Nolan, and poor, misguided Tommy Ross.

Carrie’s Facts of Life was conceived by Richard Read and Flynn De Marco and written by Jack Long and Richard Read. Wigs and costumes by Brian Peterson. Sets by Brad Caldwell. Props by Liz Zibilich. Technical assistance by Zalia BeVille and Cameron Stewart.

Official Site

Best of New Orleans - Review



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Firestarter

Nobody rips off Stephen King stories as well or as often as Stephen King does. Though that seems like a preposterous statement, there's more than a few recurring themes, ideas, actions, names and locations that run rampant throughout King's writings and his films. FIRESTARTER was the first of his subsequent stories with a lot of things in common with CARRIE. What's more, it also bears more than a passing resemblance to THE FURY, though it was half written when the John Ferris novel (which spawned the Brian DePalma film starring Amy Irving) was published.

FIRESTARTER revolves around Charlie (Drew Barrymore), a troubled youngster who's inherited the ability to create fires at will. This pyrokinesis is a trait she inherited from her parents (Heather Locklear, David Keith), who met while trying to make some extra cash by participating in a government-run drug study. Now Charlie's on the run from a clandestine government agency who are hellbent on exploiting her special ability. Here's a vintage TV spot:





The rare full-length trailer, lots of photos and more are available at the great Creepshows: Stephen King Movies site.

In the film, Charlie only had the pyrokinetic and telepathic abilities (for the most part -- she stops a bullet in midair at one point). Both Carrie and Charlie had these powers in common in their respective novels -- and in the novel it's clear that Charlie had some telekinetic abilities too.

Released against films like BREAKIN' and HARDBODIES, FIRESTARTER was moderately successful (look again at the competition), and it ran routinely on TV for the better part of two decades, where it's still broadcast from time to time. Critics, however, were quick to note the connections to CARRIE, and they were brutal in their reviews. Even Stephen King himself hasn't always had kind things to say about the film. Here's a vintage clip from "Siskel and Ebert at the Movies" (the sound inexplicably synchs in and out):



Since I'm pointing out parallels, I should also mention that star David Keith later went on to play the role of Detective Mulchaey in the 2002 version of CARRIE.

The idea to franchise FIRESTARTER in the form of a weekly TV series, which was a trend in the '80s ("Starman," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," "Fast Times," "Ferris Bueller," etc.), was tossed around and abandoned. That is, until the turn of the century. In early 2002, The Sci-Fi Channel premiered FIRESTARTER: REKINDLED, a mini-series that (like the version of CARRIE that would air later the same year) doubled as a pilot for a TV series. This version featured Charlie (Marguerite Moreau) grown up and still on the run from the people who run "The Shop."

The film, "based on the novel by Stephen King," ignored the first movie, and even rehashed some scenes. It was also made slightly more clear that Charlie had some telekinetic powers. Inexplicably, when released on DVD the film was re-titled FIRESTARTER 2; it was even supposed to have been double-packaged with the first film (though it looks like that fell through at the very last moment). Despite heavy promotion (that even appeared off-network), ratings were lackluster, critics and people online have savaged it, and ultimately a series never materialized. Here's the teaser for the film:



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Student Bodies

"This motion picture is based on an actual incident. Last year 26 horror films were released... None of them lost money."

Decades before we had the moronic Wayans-fest known as SCARY MOVIE (and all of its sequels), spoofs of horror movies were going strong. Unfortunately, most of these spoofs were even lower budget than their low budget counterparts... As a result, most of the older ones are unavailable on DVD (PANDEMONIUM, WACKO, etc.), but they're still beloved by the horror fans who saw them back in the day... Amongst the very first is STUDENT BODIES, which stars a cast of people you've never seen before or since.

The villain of the film is known as "The Breather" (guess why?), and he likes to lurk in ladies' lockerrooms and kill people who have sex. The prime suspect (after the initial prime suspect becomes body #12) is virginal Toby Badger (Kristen Riter), who goes to great lengths to prove her innocence. The whole film is ridiculously absurd, from its surprisingly good bad acting, to its corny spoofs, to its running body count... but there's also something hilariously charming about it. It's little wonder that it's become a cult favorite, and it's a shame that it's so hard to find.

Although there's a few scenes that could be considered call-backs to CARRIE (namely those in the girls' locker room), the biggest one occurs during the nonsensical finale. Be forewarned that there's a BIG SPOILER here:




The film is amongst those unavailable on DVD, and copies of the '80s VHS release are pricey. At present it's available in nine parts on YouTube (but anyone who knows that site knows it could be gone in an instant).

Boardinghouse

If you can make it through the opening credits and prologue without committing suicide or ripping the speakers out of the TV/computer, you might like the gruesome BOARDINGHOUSE (aka HOUSEGEIST) for its sheer stupidity. That is, if you have an appreciation for outlandish gore and lots of nude/nearly nude men and women. It's utterly goofy and holds the distinction of being the first horror film released that was shot on video (and the only film released in Horror-Vision!).

'80s studmuffin Jim Royce (writer/director/star John Wintergate) spends his days lounging in his undersized briefs, making his plants move with the power of his mind (and the aide of a small, off-screen fan). But those days are soon through when he opens up a boardinghouse at the scene of a series of murders, and invites a slew of nymphets to live with him. Soon they're disrobing at the drop of a hat, and we're treated to an endless barrage of tits, blood, terrible acting, hokey Halloween masks, atrociously '80s musical numbers and the slaughtering of an innocent cat. Whoever's committing the murders seems to have telekinetic powers, so is it Jim... or someone else? Let's just say that the killer is not who you'd suspect...

It could be speculated that there were several lifts (or at least ideas that spawned) from CARRIE. For starters, there's the telekinesis, but CARRIE was hardly the first story to delve into that area (though it did popularize it). During the girls' frequent hallucinations, they see someone clad in a gruesome pig mask. Pigs' blood, pig mask -- coincidence? Then there's the part (pictured above), where a woman smears he bloody hands across her face as she... never mind, watch it. But the scene is sort of Spacek-like. One scene shows a girl awakening from a vivid nightmare, so she screams... and screams... and screams.... Maybe I'm pushing it with that one, but an anonymous person recommended I add this title to the list... though in places, I can certainly see why they'd make the connection to CARRIE.

Here's the trailer which contains graphic gore and SPOILERS:


Elsewhere I've read that BOARDINGHOUSE is due out on DVD in 2008, and it includes a commentary with Wintergate and his wife, star Kalassu. For the moment, it's available to watch on You Tube.

Water Power

This is without a doubt the strangest film to contain a CARRIE reference. WATER POWER is a 1977 pornographic film... and it's not your run of the mill porn movie. It's actually a horrific drama (with a plot, acting and everything!) more than loosely based on Michael H. Kenyon, who bears the infamous moniker The Enema Bandit. It's plays like a real movie with a few money shots.

The narrative is a surprisingly effective, low-budget, rip-off of TAXI DRIVER, and the film was allegedly shot in a few days (which is extremely difficult to believe, given the numerous locations, scenes and set-ups). B-Movie/porn star Jamie Gillis takes the lead role of a Burt, a man who goes to The Garden of Eden brothel, where he witnesses a weird fetish that excites him, so he ultimately ends up, um, brutally cleansing and raping women.

Credited to DEEP THROAT director Gerard Damiano (for marquee value) but actually written and directed by Shaun Costello, the film was designed for and marketed to the sleazy theatre district in New York... but it flopped. Subsequently, it became a hit in Europe under the title SCHPRITZ, and it's since become a cult curio amongst horror, sexploitation and porn fans. Allegedly there's numerous prints with different edits, the Greek version being the most complete. This is the one instance where I'm thankful to have the edited version, sans anal expulsion. Bizarre film that's certainly not for the faint of heart. I feel like I need an altogether different sort of cleansing for even having a copy of it (which I found a while ago with some tapes that someone abandoned at a storage building -- it's not something I sought out!), though it's extremely difficult to obtain today. Yet there's something bizarrely fascinating about the film... it's raw and gritty and unpleasantly entrancing -- even Quintin Tarantino has publicly cited affection for it.

I do have to say that I miss the days when film posters were actually works of art, even if they were for obscure, unsavory, X-rated movies.

Anyway, the connection to CARRIE, slight as it is: As Gillis walks down the New York streets, he passes a theatre with a massive display for CARRIE. Obviously this wasn't set-dressing or meant to be a direct reference (it's not like he growled "They're all gonna laugh at you" as he administered high colonics), it actually just happened to be playing at a theatre on a street where they filmed Gillis walking. The interesting thing is how elaborate the display appears. It surrounds the doorway -- there's huge photos of Spacek and Laurie, and the enormous logo above the ticket booth looks pretty cool. Unfortunately, you don't get more than a poorly-lit, way too close, fleeting glimpse of it, which is a shame (whoever spotted it and submitted it to imdb must've had an eagle-eye). Still, it's a rare glimpse at the marketing of a film in a long-gone, pre-home video era. Here's the clip:



Also notable, director Costello had a penchant for lifting musical scores from other films (Pino Donaggio's "Bucket of Blood" track from CARRIE was later used in Costello's 1980 film AFTERNOON DELIGHTS). Strangely, he never got sued for the unauthorized musical lifts. For WATER POWER, he used portions of the score that Bernard Hermann composed for Brian DePalma's SISTERS.

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