Carrie

Magnifico! Adoro questo film di Brian De Palma

Allt som förväntat

A super price for one of Stephen King's finest adaptations!

This 1976 film has achieved a secure reputation as a mystical shock-horror film. This is a far cry from Hammer films though as it explores at its heart the effect of prolonged abuse and how, in an imaginary way, a girl with special powers might eventually react. Thus there is a believable element to this story which increases its compelling nature as a drama.Carrie is the victim and is brought up by her mother who has extreme religiously motivated views as regards general behaviour and especially sexuality as it applies to the adolescent Carrie. Her mother, although this is never explained, is probably at least second generation in this sequence herself so the story has an inevitability about it as events conspire and spiral towards the conclusion. Thus Carrie is subject to considerable bullying at school but is eventually befriended by well-meaning peers and one member of staff as the annual school dance approaches. This proves to be a horrifying event for the innocent Carrie who then unleashes a terrible response motivated by extreme anguish rather than revenge. This is not a revenge movie in normal terms but can be seen as something of a psychological exercise in consequences. Interestingly, there is a clear parallel with Saint Sebastian's martyrdom in terms of Carrie's mother 's final fate.The casting and acting throughout is compelling and the plot keeps every development within the bounds of possibility if not always of probability. To find out what happens readers will need to purchase the film. The above is not a spoiler!However, this review is not intended to discuss the actual film in any further detail as by now it will have both its supporters and detractors. Entering into those conflicts is not the purpose of the review which is aimed squarely at the many supporters of this film.Essentially, for all of those who are keen supporters of this film and who have bought the previous DVD version of this disc, the only issue of vital importance will be whether the Blu-ray offers an improvement technically sufficient to justify the additional expense.For this reviewer the answer is a clear affirmative. The upgrade offers a clear advance on both image and audio quality with the imaging being a marked improvement. The colours are firmer and there is an increase to the perceived depth of the imaging. The whole film simply becomes more 'real.' The film, which is so concerned with close characterisation, benefits considerably from this enhancement of reality.The degree of improvement experienced from this BD will also inevitably depend on the replay equipment used. The following technical information is intended to be a guide to aid in assessment.The screen used for this review is only of moderate dimensions being a 40 inch television screen. However, the television is a high performing 4K unit which delivers a compensating positive effect. The moderate screen size lacks the impact of larger screens but is less critical of film faults.However, the contributing player is, unusually, able to separate the audio and visual HDMI signals before they leave separately to the television and pre-amp. That feature enhances both the visual and audio elements of the output. The audio, not so critical in the case, delivers an unusually wide-ranging and revealing performance. Its precision is equally revealing of film scores.Readers with alternative equipment will have to interpret this review bearing in mind their own equipment and its comparative advantages and disadvantages.The disc offers purchasers with suitable replay equipment a substantial improvement over the previous DVD.In summary this BD is a transfer from good quality 1976 film stock and has responded well to the upgrade. This is an essentially unique and compelling film which deserves its following and this effective Blu-ray presentation.

I bought this book for a Stephen King fan, who had not read his first attempt. She was very pleased to receive it.