FAQ for
Carrie (1976) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags are used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Carrie can be found here.

Yes. Carrie is a 1976 novel by American horror writer Stephen King. The story was adapted for the movie by American screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen. A sequel, The Rage: Carrie 2 was released in 1999 but Carrie, the title character, appears only in archived footage.

The script for Carrie can be seen here.

Because of her mother (Piper Laurie), Carrie (Sissy Spacek) was socially "behind" ever since childhood, and that made her strange in the eyes of the other kids. That's why they treated her the awful way they did when she got her first period while showering after gym class. Carrie didn't have any idea what was happening to her, and the other girls were disgusted at her ignorance about menstruation.

Sue (Amy Irving) felt guilty for throwing tampons at Carrie, so she wanted to make it up to her by having her boyfriend Tommy (William Katt) take Carrie to the prom and show her a good time. As he was one of the most popular guys at the school.

The song is called Education Blues, performed by the band "Vance or Towers," who appear on the stage. The song was released on the band's long out-of-print self-titled album, though the LP version has extra lyrics and different orchestrations.

Those who were in on the blood bucket prank are: Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen), Chris's boyfriend Billy Nolan (John Travolta), Norma Watson (P.J. Soles), Norma's boyfriend Freddy DeLois (Michael Talbott) (who helps Norma switch the votes), and Kenny Garson (Rory Stevens) (the kid laughing with Freddy).

PJ Soles had originally only been cast for 2 weeks but director Brian De Palma decided to expand her role, which included Norma switching the prom ballots and acting as Chris's gal-pal.

No, although Sue's motives are kept ambiguous right until the prank is executed. Sue only figured out the prank when she snuck into the prom and hid under the stairs. It was then that she noticed the rope leading to the bucket hanging right over Carrie's head. Tommy also felt sorry for the way that the other girls were treating Carrie and agreed to take her to prom on Sue's request.

After Carrie got drenched in blood, several of her peers did begin laughing. Carrie's mother had previously planted a seed in her mind the idea that "they're all gonna laugh at you," so, in Carrie's mind, everyone was laughing, including Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) -- when in reality, very few were. This part of the film does, however, differ from the original Stephen King novel.

TOMMY: When Carrie got soaked in pig's blood, the bucket fell on Tommy's head and knocked him unconscious. Ms. Collins and a group of students carry him off the stage but none of them are seen again after Ms. Collins death. In the epilogue, Sue's mother mentions his death.

NORMA: During the attack at the prom, a fire hose is released, spraying massive and powerful amounts of water onto everyone. The spray was so powerful that it knocked Norma against three tables, killing her almost instantly.

CHRIS: Chris and her boyfriend Billy escape from the school and drive off, but Carrie causes their car to crash, killing them both.

BILLY: See Chris.

MISS COLLINS: A rafter falls on Miss Collins, crushing her to death.

CARRIE: After setting fire to the school, Carrie returns home, is stabbed by her mother, and her telekinetic powers go out of control. She then locks herself and her mother in a closet and sets fire to their house. The final scene is a dream sequence in which Sue visits the empty lot where Carrie's house was. There is a For Sale sign in the shape of a cross with the words 'Carrie White burns in hell!' written across it. But as this was a dream sequence it's left a shade ambiguous, but likely she was killed.

MARGARET: When Carrie returns home from the prom, Margaret has resolved herself to the notion that Carrie is spawn of the devil and must die. As she hugs her sobbing daughter, Margaret stabs her in the back. Carrie retaliates by killing Margaret.

SUE: Sue, who snuck into the prom in time to see the prank that Chris and Billy had set up, was expelled from the gym by Miss Collins, who thought she was there to make trouble. Consequently, Sue was not in the gym when Carrie set it afire. However, the shock of watching the school go up in flames and seeing all of her friends die gave Sue many days and nights of bad dreams. It is Sue who, in the final scene dreams of visiting the vacant lot where Carries house was as if it was her grave.

OTHERS: Sue's mother confirms in the epilogue that her daughter is the only survivor of the prom. It appears likely, though, that a few other prom-goers made it out alive. Those who weren't knocked down by the water from the hose were running in panic before Carrie walked out after having set fire around most, if not the entire perimeter of the gym. But the fire department arrived quickly and could have saved some of them.

The music during the P.E. detention scene (as well as the similar music that plays when the boys are renting tuxedos) is part of the film's score by Pino Donaggio. It is referred to as Groovy Track on a few bootlegs that have surfaced on the internet. Unfortunately, this music has never surfaced on an official soundtrack album.

It's well documented that a lot of footage was cut out of the film, most notably the rain of stones prologue. Since there were no DVDs, LDs or other venues for deleted material when the film was made, it's believed that the footage no longer exists. On the 25th anniversary DVD, they told about the prologue and somewhat recreated it using rare black and white photos that were taken on the set.