CWC Classics: Carrie

The Carsey-Wolf Center is proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Carrie with a special screening and discussion. In Brian De Palma’s chilling adaptation of Stephen King’s 1974 novel, a troubled teen (Sissy Spacek) grappling with her telekinetic powers is pushed to terrifying extremes by an abusive mother (Piper Laurie) and high school bullies. As a canonical horror film about a witch, Carrie has inspired scholars to reflect on the powers of horror and the monstrous feminine, as well as the appeal of the genre to women. The film lives in popular memory as a coming-of-age story about a repressed teenager who exacts revenge in a climactic ending that has been referenced and parodied countless times. But the enduring power of Carrie lies in its confrontation with misogyny and the monstrous-feminine figure.

Shelley Stamp (Film & Digital Media, UC Santa Cruz) will join moderator Kyna McClenaghan (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a pre- and post-screening discussion of Carrie and its legacy.