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'Carrie' shocking, but brillant By SAM L. IRVIN JR. Gamecock Staff Writer Stephen King's best-selling novel "Carrie" has been brilliantly adapted into a film by Director Brian De Palma, closely following his successful "Obsession." This shocker centers on an ugly-duckling teenager Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) whose mother (Piper Laurie) is a tyrannical religious fanatic. Carrie is the laughing stock at school, her meekness lending itself to continuous ridicule by her sadistic classmates. There is an anger brewing inside her, yearning to defy the tenacious grip of her repressive mother, and show her friends that she will no longer take their abuse. However, there is more than anger waiting to be unleashed; Carrie possesses telekinesis, which enables her, in times of stress, to control things with her mind. When she shows her anger, there is a ferocious climax that delivers some spectacular shocks. The theme of female superiority is evident. When thp Pvil fhri? (M nnnv Allan^ urantc hnvfrion^ KilUr v.*v X/ V \tiMXVJ i lilVl / ?? UIIVO WVJ 1A iVilU UH1J' (John Travolta) to help her ridicule Carrie at the prom, she merely seduces him into agreement. THE MALE English teacher (Sydney Lassick) is presented as an eccentric weakling, while the female gym teacher (Betty Buckley) is anything but a softy. She gets sadistic thrills out of punishing the school girls for harassing Carrie, and then balances any personal guilt with motherly kindness toward Carrie. The principal of the school (Stephen Gierash), another male, is so dumb he cannot remember Carrie's name, even after repeated corrections from the gym teacher and Carrie. Carrie's mother rejects men, thinking that any association will lead to sexual sin. She says that she was weak one time?the result was Carrie's birth? but never again. She cqntrols Came. Even the school jock Tommy Ross (William Katt) is dominated by girlfriend Sue (Amy Irving) who, out of pity for Carrie, makes Tommy take Carrie to the prom. When the gym teacher asks, "Don't you think you will look just a little ridiculous taking Carrie to the prom?" it is obvious from Tommy's face that he really does object. Ultimately, he aco. i iin n - i* ucpis ouc & in in uemaiiu. wntiii ^arne cornpiimenis Tommy's poem that is read in class, he tells her that lie did not write it; any spark of real strength in Tbmmy is extinguished. The film implies that there is a survival of the fittest. It is clear in this film that the main power struggle is not among the sexes (the males are quite Fornography in Colui alive, well, respectabl By TERRY DUGAS number of p< Gamecock Staff Writer high level of they see. Porno, that scourge of decency, that Quality p< betrayer of American society, that threat to characterize religion and democracy, is doing quite well photography in Columbia. Somehow, in the nast vear. two nntrnapnne ?i new hard-core theatres have slipped by creased, so hi those dilligent guardians of Columbia's films. Now, la purity and righteousness. and reasonab Actually, the porno trade is slowly ex- rule. panding its audience and establishing itself The image c as legitimate entertainment. This does not deviate or frui refer to the soft-core European product like the "Report ol "Emmanuel" or "The Story of O", but hard- on Obscenity ? core films in' which sex is shown in living finds that "pa color, perfect focus, and often from a characterized distance of two inches. middle class, i The evolution of a cultured skin flick males ..." audience has helped explode the cliches In a college about product and patron. The growing patrons. . . w SHr J v\ Mr : M MB? EmaSk *M I ' : Bp jp '?! . If'fffnF Rpr/ I'Vj The terrified and enraged C blood and calls forth her teleI inferior), but among the ambitions least likely candidate for supremacy through her powers, she triumphs. The juxtaposition of illusion and r employed. Paintings of pigs introduce where live pigs are slaughtered. Am sequence is later revealed to be a transformation of the uelv Carrip to th "0 %/ v* queen is startling contradiction. THERE IS a neatly woven trail of blc that begins with the first scene. At h mother has a stutue of St. Sebastian Woody knife wounds. At the prom, tl literally takes form, and the flow does the movie ends. De Palma has created this film with on rhythmic structure and technique, with its complex symbols and themes, De Palma's touch. Progressing throu labia: e rno connoisseurs demand a professionalism in the films white, and c priArt?*fn^hir io ^ 1 ^ -v ? ?ax ? * iiugi c?|/ii,y jo nu lunger more mienc i by black and white The conn of unattractive people in primarily tc uations. As profits have in- course, the ive the budgets of hard core The discri rish sets, opulent photography tertainment y competent actors are the the scripts Films lik< f the porno patron as a sexual "Story of J< itrated male was dispelled by opposed to p the Presidential Commission comedy cai nd Pornography." The report stick, as in ' rons of adult theatres may be in "Deep Tfc as . . . predominantly white, "Misty Bee niddle aged, happily married Indeed, tl town, such as Columbia, "the movies pro1 ere more likely to be younger, comedy bei JH h ' fiL I | 1W 'VHn S^^BraSp|Sr > jflw ip iiif * BbbBIw wi' -T?' ^ lUHi ' SL ?u i w m . j: '.IK, ^^Bk VkJH' ^vh^VwLV1 NL ? vp 9R Bp* fl\ 11 ^w^Sy Y V V IgMr^ ^ arr/<? White stands drenched with :inetic powers. females. The "Phantom of the Pg is Carrie, but "Carrie," De Palm; recognizable style, eality is well sequences of suspense. De Palma's cast is 1 Th? lawless in the difficu i dream. The 0 , e pretty prom ?Patc?k dlsP' f j r Carrie, the first is a car in Janis Ian's song 4'At ... r-i Carrie radiance and c iod in this film , Cinderella A ome, Carrie's ^ ; , aerella ^ with several mzy* she takes on a tN* he blU bath 7"')lete with bulging h : not ston until sutner. The music by Pino (' 1 an emphasis is a perfect complemer The material, choosing appropriate c lends itself to score borrows the fam igh "Sisters," late Bernard Herrman f The Gar Enferta l. asually dressed; there was also Many Ca lance of male-female couples." source of oisseur goes to adult theatres They are n > be entertained, not aroused. Of or surrogai two are not mutually exclusive. in experier iminating viewer finds en- with a funi either in the humor and wit of or in the eroticism. ??? ? "Behind the Green Door" and ? aanna" offer erotic pleasure as V >urely sexual arousal. Hard-core i range from outlandish slap- Because "High Rise," to social satire, as on Page 9 iroat," to sophisticated wit as in reversed. 1 thoven". have been< should ha be scripts of many hard-core Gamecock vide the best examples of film ng made today in America. (* 'Carrie' At the movie's climax, I Carrie, played by Sissy Spacek, calls forth her supernatural powers to ? retaliate against her classmates. The film, "Carrie" is a good adaptation of Stephen King's novel. I I iradise," "Obsession," and a has refined an easily He masterminds intense ead by Sissy Spacek who is It leading role. She evokes ays three different images of bon copy of the ugly-duckling 9 Seventeen." Then, she gives harm when she goes to the jid finally, when Carrie goes risted snake-like appearance, lypnotic eyes, and trance-like 'Don't Look Now") Donnagio it; De Palma has a knack for composers for his films. The iliar slashing violins that the f n used for "Psycho." necock 1 inmenf rolina students are seeing a valid entertainment in pornography. ot lookincf fnr saviiqI -o ?. uvnuui OlllllUiailUIl tion but for the enjoyment found icing an erotic film or laughing ly one. Correction of an editing error, the pictures of the Dec. 6 Gamecock were Ronald Reagan's picture should >n top, and Gary Cooper's picture ve been on the bottom. The regrets the mistake. #