"They're all gonna laugh at you"

They're all gonna laugh at you if you don't check out the Carrie - Special Edition DVD, that is. I've been waiting for this one for quite some time and wasn't disappointed.

If you don't know the story, you probably shouldn't be reading this Review in the first place but here's the scoop:

Carrie, adapted from Stephen King's first novel, is one of the Greatest teen movies of all time (and what I believe to be Brian DePalma's best film). Sissy Spacek stars as the high school outcast that has telekinetic powers and uses them to get revenge on all who have humiliated and abused her, including her religious mother, played with mucho gusto by Piper Laurie. With an incredible supporting cast, including Nancy Allen, Amy Irving, John Travolta, William Katt and my favorite, the ultimate tomboy...P.J. Soles...the movie plays like a Judy Blume book from hell. And what a great looking film it is!

Some think DePalma's style is too over the top. He even mentions in one of the interviews on the disc, that he hates the split screen effect during the prom scene. However, I love every gimmicky effect in this film, and it looks incredible on the new DVD. Besides the 1:85:1 Widescreen version of the film, you also get some great interviews with the cast and director on two 45 minute documentaries. These absolutely make up for the lack of a Director's commentary and they pretty much cover a lot of the information that would have been present on it. The first documentary deals with the actors, plenty of cast interviews insight into the casting. It turns out that while DePalma was casting for Carrie, George Lucas was casting for Star Wars, so they decided to cast together, and many of the actors were auditioning for both roles.

The second one, about the look of the film is just as interesting, with tons of facts about filming the modern horror classic. There's also a short interview with the screenwriter, about the biggest flop in Broadway history- "Carrie-The Musical", very cool menu screens, a animated photo gallery with the Pino Dinaggio score behind it, and of course, the theatrical trailer.

I've never seen the version that was released a few years ago, but this edition both looks and sounds great in Dolby 5.1 Stereo Surround, especially the climactic prom scene with the very cool synth sounds in the background. This is a must have for any horror fan.