Carrie (1976) KILL COUNT

[Music] welcome to the killcount where we tally up the victims in all our favorite horror movies I'm James Agee nice and today we're looking at Carrie released in 1976 Carrie is based on Stephen King's first published work this uncharacteristically short book from 1974 it was the first of over a hundred screen adaptations of Kings stories made just two years after the book was published it was so early in his career in fact that the movies trailer didn't even vocalize King's name and even spelled his first name wrong in the text based on the Chile bestseller Terry is considered an essential film though unlike most other Stephen King adaptations looking at you Maximum Overdrive it was directed by Brian De Palma a master of the suspense Shondra who often gives his violent films a touch of eroticism aside from the opening locker room scene that kind of Prince is mostly absent from carrying a relief given that it follows a shy 16 year old high school student Carrie Etta white is teased by her classmates and abused by her fanatically religious mother but they're not gonna have Carrie to kick around anymore after her late arriving puberty triggers some latent telekinetic powers the movies climactic prom scene is often referenced in pop culture and the original De Palma classic would be followed by a very 1999 sequel the rage Carrie - as well as a made-for-tv remake in 2002 and a big-girl theatrical remake in 2013 all of which I'll be covering over the next couple of weeks but it all started here with the original let's see how many people died in it and get to the kills [Music] the movie begins in gym class where outcasts carry Etta White blows the volleyball game that kind of fumble earns her overly loud hats Max and accusations of an unsavory diet eat shit Kari is of course played by Sissy Spacek in a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination she got the role for this unkempt character through some crafty auditioning techniques when I went into the test the next morning I don't think I even washed my face they had hair and makeup there and they saw me come in and they just ran for me because I would just look so awful and of course I we get an insanely maked title card followed by an insanely naked opening credits but since YouTube is apt to to monetize videos even with censored nudity houses have to relay the scene and super fucking close-ups showing the only parts of the frame without boobs and bush everywhere carries usually able to find solace in her shower judging by these loving close-ups and composure Pinot Dena Geo sensual score [Music] but today carries momentary peace is about to shatter because she just got her first period by the looks of it she wasn't expecting this right now nor ever Kerry thinks there's something wrong with her so she asks her cruel classmates for help but they just respond with jeers and a barrage of tampons - the fights all while chanting at her - plug it up Kerry has saved him also slapped by her gym teacher miss Collins though not before her emotions trigger a bit of ballbusting miss Collins is a sympathetic figure for Kerry and a much bigger character than her book counterpart Miss Desjardin that's because Brian De Palma really liked after Betty Buckley and wanted a bigger role for Collins goes to principal Morris the man in charge here at Bates High School which yes is an homage to psycho but more in is so aloof and indifferent to Kerry's existence he can't even remember her name go home take care of yourself Cassie Kerry no seriously this guy might have some brain damage he forgets it after like five seconds oh sorry about this incident of Cassie yo did Kerry just audition for a truth commercial nah she ain't flipping ashtrays as a message she's just lashing out with her mind bullets that's telekinesis bike kid bike kid there was played by the directors nephew Cameron De Palma although his boys yelling creepy Harry was done by Betty Buckley Harry's mother is Margaret white and is played by Piper Laurie coming out of a 15-year acting retirement after her previous role in 1961 The Hustler The Hustler Lauri and Oscar nomination as did Kerry and that might be a record for the longest time between two subsequent roles that were both nominated Kerry ended up revitalizing Lori's career even though she wasn't a huge fan of the movie we saw the movie and everyone seemed to enjoy it but I really don't know when I saw Margaret is the town's religious fanatic going door to door in her little hobbit cave spreading the good word of JC to all her neighbours I pray you find Jesus and I pray you find more dorm is why make sure you take some Elven bread when she finds out about caries incident at school Margaret loses her Jesus love and mind and beats her daughter down with some accusatory literature she blames Kerry for her original sin but her daughter bites back angry that she was left in the dark about her biology the cries for sex ad are met with a visit to the choking where she's forced to pay tribute to a figure somehow scarier than your average crucifix this statue of Saint Sebastian pierced with arrows this holy nightmare fuel was made by art director Jack Fisk who would get Oscar nominations for production design for his work on there will be blood and the revenant he also played the man in the planet in David Lynch's Eraserhead but most interesting to me is that he and Sissy Spacek married in 1974 two years before this movie was made and are still together today their marriage 46 year strong in fact during that difficult locker room scene this was on set with space snake in the shower to put the blood in her hand Carrie's led out of the praying closet when Margaret decides that she's ready for a trademark De Palma split diopter shot if you're unfamiliar with what a split diopter shot is carries editor Paul Hirsch explains here he used what is known as a split diopter lens in which you can focus on something close on one side and focus on something distant on the other side and the effect is you have in a way a built-in split screen Brian is able to take people in different spaces and sort of brings them together into the image on the film's at school harry lands herself in another split diopter shot as she comments on the poetry of school hunk Tommy Ross it's beautiful Tommy's a nice guy who stands up for Carrie when their teacher mister fromm lab Saturn and he was played by William Katt who auditioned for Luke Skywalker but didn't get the role De Palma and George Lucas actually cast Carrey and Star Wars together after striking up a friendship a few years earlier at Warner Brothers Lucas and Palmer were the only directors on the lot who had beards so they became friendly Wow maybe facial hair really does matter after all Carrie gets to skip out on gym class where the rest of the girls are lined up by Miss Collins and told that they're in trouble for all that Carrie cackling they did among the students are Helen shires played by frequent voice actor Edie McClurg in her film debut the red cap wearing normal Watson played by PJ Souls who would totally go on to be in Halloween two years later as well as the 1996 classic Uncle Sam lest we forget and Chris Hargensen the head bi C of the mean girl played by Nancy Alan there's also Sue Snell who's played by Amy Irving and who's the only one who kind of feels bad about the toxic shock they gave to Carrie miss Collins wants to ban all these ladies from prom but according to principal Wharton there instead to endure a week of detention under Collins's rule and that means disciplinary workouts too wacky music play that donkey synthesizer biatch oh but please watch those lower backs ladies Lee push-ups aren't shameful but bad form is Chris Hargensen tries to rebel against this Tony Perkis Ian's treatment only to get banned from prom and slashed by Collins holy shit lady you can't do that Chris shut Oh maybe she can do that back then if that slap looks real by the way it's because it was diploma wanted a realistic reaction so he had betty buckley slap nancy allen a whole bunch of times the exact number varies depending on who you ask and they said about 10 takes you know I slapped her I think about 12 times she slapped me 29 times but I guess Nancy Allen didn't hold it against the director since a few years later they got married Sue Snell goes to the track and meets her boyfriend Tommy Ross so she can Snell tell him she wants him to take Carrie White to prom as a sort of atonement Carrie can go ahead and have that feather haired hawk Chris Hargensen don't mind she's got a first wave John Travolta as her fast driving boy toy and he's a big fan of her boobies tap boobies are rocking and rolling what not a drink to boobies although Billy Nolan is prone to general horn doggedness and some slappy anger issues he's still a much goofier character than his book counterpart who's one of those scary Stephen King sociopaths to recruit this dunce for her plans Chris goes down on him hoping it'll convince him to help her bully her favorite target Gilly I hate carrying white Hajis how are you talking right now Tommy approaches Carrie in the school library and asks her to go to prom with him but her reaction is to run away so no no is that a maybe Carrie is found by Miss Collins and she tells the teacher why she's so worried about Tommy's prami proposal it's shaking the gym teacher tells her to think more positively and also to maybe put some makeup on her face but she means it as a compliment I swear she's a really nice lady still she shares scary skepticism and grill Sue and Tommy asking them what they're up to with all this sue promises she means well and would happily miss out on the dance if it means Carrie can go with Tom who is rear into prom it up I mean look he's already got his Canadian tux on he finally secures Carrie as his date when he drives to her house after school and refuses to leave her porch until she says yes and who says romance is dead this scene is one of about a dozen that wasn't originally in the novel instead it was created by screenwriter Laurence Cohen who had been familiar with the story since he read King's manuscript of the novel years earlier 14 years later Cohen would write another King adaptation pending the teleplay from the 1998 miniseries that night Chris Billy and some other near duels sneaked into a pig farm kept behind an impressively painted wall that mural still exists today at farmer John the meatpacking plant in Vernon California where they shot this scene fun fact that location was discovered by Jack fists assistant Bill freaking Paxton before he would begin his acting career that included predator 2 and aliens Billy picks a pig and while Chris roots Amman gets to work with a sledgehammer [Music] to it they take the pig's blood to the high school and into the gymnasium where they pour it into a bucket placed high up in the rafters over dinner with Jesus and His disciples Carrie tells her mother that she's accepted an invitation to the prom because she's sick of being an outcast all the kids think it would be normal of normal people don't wear tea on their face so you're off to a bad start care-bear margaret ain't havin it and tells caries she'd better tamp down all that boy talk so that's not proper dinner talk especially with the j-man / Carrie once again gets psychic power pissed while Pinot Dena Gio pays homage to Bernard Herrmann's psycho score she plays off her powers like they ain't no thang if I concentrate on come I can know things calling them run-of-the-mill psychic power but Margaret says they come from the devil and prays for her daughter as Harry gets to work on her dress word of Tommy and Carey's prom plans spreads all throughout the school getting discussed at hair salons and the top dangerously tall ladder seriously holy shit those girls are like two stories up yo and Kerry's not the only one getting ready for the big night Tommy and his pals are so excited to rent tuxes they're talking a mile a minute I've always found that moment - goofy by half but I guess editor Paul first really wanted to avoid a jump cut even though there are others in the very same scene Carey finishes her makeup that night while wearing her homemade dress which her mother is not a fan of I can see her dirty pillows everyone will breasts they're called breasts she's got a point Margaret remember what that dude in Texas Chainsaw 4 said to Renee Zellweger go sub tips it's a well known fact but boobs are not Margaret doesn't want Carrie to go claiming the other kids will all make fun of her Carrie doesn't want to listen to her mother's frantic warning especially with Tommy having just arrived outside so she minds slaps her to the bed and leaves they arrive at the dance where Tommy's a proper gentleman opening Carrie's door so they can head inside the admittedly bumpin high school prom he and his friends are really kind towards Carrie even if some other kids there laughs and or stairs their conversations a little stayed though so Tommy swapped out for Miss Colin who's proud of the girls makeover and tells her she's happy Carrie's there nah that's nice when Tommy returned carries warmed up from Collins so he's able to successfully flirt with her and invite her to an after-party all that's left for Tommy to say is let's dance so they sway through the crowd to an empty space where he teaches her what to do man it's so sad when you know what's coming to see how sincerely Tommy and Miss Collins have tried to make Carrie have a good time she even scores a smooch from the guy just don't get dizzy from this endlessly spinning shot you Q you wouldn't want to puke in each other's faces no seriously the spinning shot goes on forever here's the rest of it in fast motion just to show you how long it is it ended up physically affecting the crew who had to run around a circular dolly to shoot it and the dolly was going around and around in a town faster and faster and faster and faster until at the end that almost everybody fell fell in the floor including Biafran before because but we've been going really fast although she doesn't have a date Sue Snell comes to the dance anyway so she can make sure Tommy and Carrie are having a good time Carrie was but now she is it since she just learned that she and Tommy are included on the ballots for prom king and queen but the tom stirrer just about charms that dress off her dirty pillows hey you're beautiful so she scribbles an X for The Odd Couple to the devil with false modesty well Carrie's at the dance while we check back in with her mom for a mo actually let's uh let's stick with the dance things are about to get choppy here too since Chris and Billy are hiding out below the problem stage ready to start their blood dump in their plan is enacted and one of the coolest long takes I've ever seen the so called figure eight shot it starts at Carey and Tommy's table as their ballot is collected by Norma who wore her stupid red hat to the dance like her head would fall off without it the shot goes on for two and a half minutes without cutting as we Norma collect all the ballots and then swapped them out with baek-hwa she hands them into the boat counters and signals at Chris and Billy beneath the stair before we see sue arrive in the gym and peer out from behind the stage the shot then follows the rope up the decorations and over to the bucket of blood sitting in the rafters precariously perched above the state finally the shot zooms in on the place it began to carry in Tommy's table as they're announced the winner of the election director of photography Mario Tasi he called it the most difficult thing to shoot and no fucking wonder this was before modern day film equipment like sophisticated cranes and computers that could help calibrate shots the shot took more than a day to set up and light properly and more than 30 takes to get right since there was so much involved that could go wrong the studio was not happy about how long it was taking to do but De Palma stood his ground and got it in the end fire me basically that was my attitude the announcement of Terry and Tommy as the winners kicks off a dream like slow-motion sequence that goes on for more than four minutes the photography is beautiful with a lot of point of view shots showing how each character is experiencing this moment and it's all capped off by more memorable music by Pino Dena Gio [Music] as Kerry and Tommy take the stage soon notices that rope and the bucket it's attached to her gawking and subsequent attempt to foil the nefarious plan games the attention of Miss Collins who assumes the Snell girl is playing a prank on Carrie after all that's why miss Collins dragged soothe through the gymnasium and tosses her out of prom closing the doors behind her right as Chris licks her lips and orgasmic Lee pulls the row it's a blood dump more infamous than the one in Luke C's season two and although it's an awful prank Norma immediately starts giggling Tommy becomes incensed but as he yells for an explanation not audibly this part is all silence he gets hit in the head by the falling bucket and I know it seems weird to count this as a kill but that's what's traditionally done honestly everyone counts this dude is dead from that day Norma thinks that death is hilarious I guess and her laughing evokes a Margaret memory and carries mine not sure how much of this kaleidoscope humiliation is real but screenwriter Larry Cohen confirms that miss Collins is laughing is not it's just a product of Kerry's paranoia but even if the laughing is subjective it's still real to Carrie damn it so she starts to enact some split screen vengeance although Billy and Chris get out in time Carrie closes all the other doors in the auditorium and changes the gyms hue lights to a much more crimson color it's time for shit to hit the fan starting with a couple of dudes who get crushed as they try to get out the door I'm not gonna count those two guys as dead right now though it's not the same as the bucket to me since we see Tommy splayed out like a dead body here that's never the case with the door dude and I'm also not going to count it when Carrie sprays Norma down with the firehose and knocks her out even though in real life this stunt ended up breaking PJ's Souls ears Rob I guess he wanted me you know get batted around with the fire hose but the fire chief said this is very dangerous to put the fire hose on full force I don't really don't want to do it and Brian's like no no you have to have it look real I want to full force the water coming out when I turn my head was so strong full force went into my ear and just instant pain and that's the last shot you see is actually my eardrum were a bursting which you lose your sense of equilibrium and I just slid down like that so no acting involved complete pain one guy tries to wrangle the hose only to hit the spotlights taking us out of red Tinto vision before Carrie directs the stream towards the mic onstage where principal Morin and mister fromm are that finally gives me another killed account when principal Morin is electrocuted and thrown off stage talk about a hot mic another fatality I'll sadly have to count is miss Collins's since she's killed by a backboard that swings down and crushes her it's tragic since she only ever looked out for Carrie but her death adds a nice moral ambiguity to Carrie's runaway destruction mister from then finally meets his own end when he shocked backwards by the mic stand and extra electrocuted against the whiteboard there Oh with a little fire for good measure to Carrie completely covered in blood walks through the flaming chaos which Spacek actually had to do she was only about 12 feet away from the flames on set and it was a set while most of the school scenes were shot at Pacific Palisades high school they had to recreate the gym on a soundstage for the fire good thing they did since the sound stage ended up catching fire Carrie leaves the gym and locks the doors behind her with her mind condemning everyone inside to death and let me tell you I was pretty pissed REE watching this movie for the kill count cuz I thought I'd have to go through the shots during the crowning ceremony and count each and every little fucker I could find in freeze-frame but then I watched the rage Carrie - which is canon I think and the beautiful bastard who wrote that movie included this line night of the prom 73 people died so thank you the rage Carrie - because of that info I was able to do some math and determine that 65 other individuals died at the dance most of them from the fire since the one specifically says that on the night of the prom 73 people died I'm subtracting the four kills we've already counted Tommy Collins Morton and Fromm as well as the four upcoming kills I've yet to count but presumably the 65 people I'm counting now include the duo of door dudes and Norma the wet wonder got it cool as a fire truck races past Terry towards the school Chris and a very drunk Billy drives straight towards the blood-soaked prom queen intending to run her over after having seen her TK massacre let me know how that goes Chris oh not great huh their car is sent flipping around off the road and was one more multi zoom in Carey blows it up entirely incinerating Chris and Billy inside that awesome car flip was performed by stunt coordinator dick xikar Jack Fisk explains how he did it dick seikar was the stunt coordinator on the film he'd built a cannon in the middle of this car and in that cannon they put about a two and a half foot sawed-off piece of a telephone pole with a charge on top of it now he's driving this car and he has a switch on the steering wheel when he pushes that switch the charge will go off and shoot that telephone pole into the ground and flip the car over they shot it right before the Sun came up and no one got hurt so awesome work there mr. xikar Kerry heads home skipping the town-wide mayhem she causes in Kings books and said just would have been too costly to film she walks into her house to find an irresponsible number of candles lit all over the damn place seriously that is a fire hazard if I've ever seen one that last supper rug is halfway into those flames that fridge has a rounded top and that better be one of those mattresses with a glass of wine in the bowling ball Margaret Kerry goes upstairs and into the bathroom where she fills up the tub and scrub a dub dub off the blood she changes into a hunky occult robe and when her mother finally emerges from behind a door she hugs her hoping to find relief instead Kerry finds a confession I should have killed myself when he put it in me after the first time before we were married Margaret tells Kerry that after marrying her father Ralph she demanded a sexless marriage as to not live in sin No I thought once you were married it was all good too you know what never mind but Ralph grew bored of celibacy and drunk one night forced himself on to Margaret who admits she had a favorable reaction to it well that dirty touching his hands that's the night Harry was conceived and Margaret thinks that because she was conceived in sin that's the reason she's got these devil man powers which is why she goes to take care of that demon reed with a little stabby stabby the strike shock scary it sends her down the stairs but while her mother's ready to bless her with the father son and holy shit Kerry's not gonna stand for this abuse anymore she defends herself by sending a bevy of knives and utensils into her mom some of which pin her in place some of which stab her in the torso and some of which have very obvious wires attached to that seriously kinda hard to ignore that Margaret's reaction to the attack is something yeah I'd feel awkward to carry after all that moaning Margaret died arms spread out in an imitation of that st. Sebastian statue in their closet what a way to go crucified in the kitchen with cutlery oh man Margaret's death in the book is a lot simpler with Carrie using her powers to stop her mom's heart that's not exactly a visually interesting death to have in a movie so DePalma came up with the symbolic end at the last minute which took them an entire day to film Carrie slowly gets up and screams at the realization of what she's done an emotional outburst that quickly begins to destroy the house she drags her mom's body into the prayer closet as their house falls apart around them and Carrie White dies in the closet from being crushed by debris and if that didn't do it the house catching fire probably did and if that didn't do it well I mean the thing is sinking into the goddamn earth there she's pretty screwed all right oh shit and I just say goddamn sorry scary sea bass for this final scene of destruction Jack Fisk built a half scale version of Carrie's house on top of an elevator over a pit that miniature is what they set on fire before the elevator dropped it into the ground the movie ends with Sue Snell survivor of the prom night massacre visiting the grave of Carrie White but why is her grave marker a for sale sign and why is this being filmed with an inch of Vaseline all over the last well because this a dream motherfuckers shot backwards and played in Reverse to give it an eerie effect that's why that car is driving backwards over there De Palma came up with this ending laid into production giving us one more memorable moment with the deliverance inspired jump scares [Music] how many people were killed in Cairo shit I already answered that when I showed that clip from the sequel well whatever I've still got a show to do so come on let's get to the numbers seventy three people died in Kerry according to the beloved and popular sequel my count included six known dudes five known ladies and 62 assorted victims at the dance giving us a prompt eye that's mostly a sickly gray gross was the runtime of 98 minutes that left us with a kill on average every 1.19 minutes welcome the golden chainsaw for coolest kill to margaret white visible wire or not it's so overtly symbolic that I can't help but appreciate it to all machete for lamest kill will go to Tommy Ross because obviously props to William cap for giving his death scene done in one take though and that's it Kerry came out in 1976 and a shot from the prom scene is included in the extended dead meat intro used for non kill count videos if you don't know what I'm talking about try watching non kill count videos next week is the not actually beloved or popular sequel the rage carry to but until then I'm James age Indies this has been the kill count thanks a lot for watching this kill count I want to thank some patrons like Pablo Cortese Ian Kapil Jacob Johnson Keaton Aden Pellegrini and sage JB mm this was a really big episode with a lot of research I hope I managed to do right by this classic also on Sunday as a bonus kill count tourist trap yeah I know a lot of releases this month thanks everyone be good people

Channel: undefined

Views: 3,309,700

Rating: 4.9672456 out of 5

Keywords: horror, dead meat, movies, scary, films, kills, kill count, body count, james a. janisse, jaj, pine commander boogie, original, brian de palma, carrie, 1976, remake, series, franchise, sequel, sissy spacek, telekinesis, prom, bucket, piper laurie, amy irving, nancy allen, william katt, pj soles, p.j. soles, betty buckley, john travolta, stephen king, steven king, novel, lawrence d. cohen, larry cohen, pino donaggio, carrie movie, carrie movie review, carrie 1976 kill count, DMKC

Id: U_dDpmoQjqg

Length: 27min 29sec (1649 seconds)

Published: Fri May 15 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/oofersIII]

Man I thought we were finally gonna have a KC with exactly 69 kills

[u/FarmersMarketFunTime]

My mom worked at a movie theater when this came out. She said that the last jump scare would consistently make people scream, to the point where the scream was the cue to get ready to go in and start cleaning up.

[u/IsaacNarke]

I won't stand for these constant attacks on Maximum Overdrive. Who made who, James? And who turned the screw?

[u/thebrood138]

Aww jeeze, Mr. Janisse, I really like your Travolta impression. I swear to God.

[u/Volfgang91]

I can't lie, I'm a little disappointed he isn't wearing a prom dress.

[u/ItRhymesWithCrash]

Anyone else think the statue of Saint Sebastian looks like Weird Al? Lol

[u/LiquidSwords89]

The prom scene had me

FEELIN A LIL WOOZY

[u/Cheesbugga579]

Do it

[u/IFixxThings]

You get a slap! And you get a slap! Everyone gets a slap!