The imagery of Sissy Spacek as Carrie bug-eyed, drenched in blood as she walks through the flames is as powerful as ever. But Carrie’s tragedy is castrated by incredibly hammy performances that border on a cartoon’s depiction of high school students, as well as a lack of intensity due to the era the movie was released. It’s a wonder how Brian De Palma thought many of these takes were believable at all. Empathizing with Carrie by relating any of this to real bullying is almost impossible.