Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger and Lisa Wilcox’s Alice in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
This past June, I was lucky enough to meet and interview Lisa Wilcox at Horror-Fi in Nepean. . . the first time the event had been hosted, it has already been announced that it will be running June 12-13th, 2027 (so pencil it into your calendars if you will be in the area). For fans of the A Nightmare on Elm Street horror franchise, Wilcox played an integral role in the fourth and fifth features, The Dream Master (1988) and The Dream Child (1989), playing lead Alice Johnson in both.
When I asked her about what her favourite film is, she promptly suggested the original Carrie (1976), directed by Brian De Palma – which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. As for why, she immediately explained that, “I love Carrie because of her redemption and because of how that poor girl was treated. Any of you who have been bullied, as I’ve been bullied, it is absolutely terrifying. . . I love that film! That scene when the pig’s blood comes down and ruins her dress – Sissy Spacek is so perfectly cast for it. . . her innocence opposite that horrible mother, just wow.” She also wanted to highlight Sophie’s Choice (1982) as another great film featuring stellar acting from Meryl Streep.
Considered a horror classic and based upon the novel by Stephen King, even if you haven’t seen this one, you probably know the general premise, which revolves around prom night. The tragic story follows Carrie White (Sissy Spacek – The Old Man & the Gun), a severely bullied high school student who has some hidden telekinetic powers. Opening with a most traumatizing school situation after getting her first period during gym class, much of the blame should land on her fanatical religious mother Margaret (Piper Laurie) – who is so flawed due to her own mistakes made at an early age, thus never giving her own daughter any of the tools to survive in life. . . instead punishing her for growing up. She is so repressed in her religious fervor, the violence she doles out and receives seems almost orgasmic. . . and you’ve never seen anyone cut carrots quite like her before.
Further opening the door for the bullies at her school, upon being punished for teasing Carrie about her period, popular girl Chris Hargenson (Nancy Allen – Dressed to Kill; Blow Out), after butting heads with her gym teacher Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) – the only true defender of Carrie (who bans Chris from prom), devises a more than devious plan with her loser boyfriend Billy Nolan (John Travolta in his first significant film role – also Blow Out; The Thin Red Line), best friend Norma (P.J. Soles – Halloween; Stripes), and others to punish the introverted teen (who has done nothing other than being all too innocent).
Of all the graduating class, only Sue Snell (Amy Irving) feels bad for her original actions – so she devises her own much more positive plan to have her popular beau Tommy Ross (William Katt) take Carrie to prom so that she can live life a little bit. As these two very different ideas come to fruition, what will come of Carrie and the rest of the teens attending prom?
Though relatively early in De Palma’s career, many of his iconic trademarks are already on full display in this one. Having the knack to slow things down during his epic climaxes (in this case, the prom and just afterwards), it is his unique way of ratcheting up the tension – a way to make things all the more ominous to watch. Likewise, he uses many of his other skills to do the same, from his use of split diopter shots (a technique used that keeps two different subjects at different distances in sharp focus at the same time), split-screen views to display the growing action from multiple angles, and his 360 degree emotionally charged panning shots to elevate the entire piece.
Another noteworthy element of De Palma’s that is not as often talked about are his iconic denouement endings, which in normal movies are usually used to wrap things up and explain the final elements of the film (think Psycho’s closing explanation), but instead, he tends to end things on a fever pitch of tension and stress – Carrie being a prime example that will stick with you long after the credits start rolling. See his movies Dressed to Kill, Body Double, Blow Out, and these are just a few in his oeuvre that also feature such unique endings.
An oppressively tormented tale of tragedy, trauma, and melancholia, Carrie is a horror film that exceeds its typical genre limitations, highlighting the anguish that can be found in high school, the danger of over zealous religious fanaticism warped by scarred pasts, and the perils of cruel bullying. Unlike most pictures from this genre, the acting also elevates it, with both Spacek and Laurie giving dynamic performances that earned them both Academy Award nominations. Matched with Pino Donaggio’s epic score, its harshness echoes Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho, its softness a somber sadness of the fractured family dynamic, while there is also a frail innocence found in Carrie’s theme. It is also worth noting that this film shared a joint audition with the original Star Wars, as George Lucas is great friends with De Palma, so they decided to team up to see people together. Another smaller role worth highlighting is Edie McClurg’s Helen, 30 at the time, she played one of the bullying students who went on to appear in two memorable roles in John Hughes’ movies – the secretary in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Car Rental Agent in Planes, Trains & Automobiles. So, enjoy Lisa Wilcox’s favourite film and make sure to give it a nightmarish hand, it’s still on fire after all these years.