59. CARRIE

59. CARRIE
(1976)
Directed by Brian DePalma

Let's talk about the horror of high school. Anyone who was ugly, awkward, introverted, strange or shunned during those years most likely harbors little nostalgia for the experience. Surviving that gauntlet of assholes can certainly become a strong bonding point later in life when you find other social pariahs who had to weather the same tedious path, but it's no fun while it's happening. This is one of the reasons horror and adolescence make such complimentary partners. High school horror movies started with that cresting wave of juvenile delinquent films to infect movie screens across the country in the 1950's and the best of these tapped into the awkward trauma of those years with real panache. But it would take 20 years and the pen of a monster kid weaned on those lurid B-movies and gory EC Comics to create the paragon in teenage vengeance, "Carrie". The pen of course belonged to Stephen King and this was his first published novel. Directed by Brian DePalma and sporting a supporting cast that includes P.J. Soles, John Travolta and Nancy Allen, this was a big box office hit in ye olde Bicentennial year. A recent and rather clever addition to the high school horror canon is "Donnie Darko" (2001) but it really can't compare to Sissy Spacek having a telekinetic freak out covered in pig's blood.