Carrie (1976)

“Thou shall not suffer a witch to live!”

This is a superb film. It really is. But it’s reputation as a horror film is not quite right. I don’t care how scary Sissy Spacek looks, emotionless and demonic as she gracefully, calmly and indiscriminately kills people , and in slow motion. At the dance. This isn’t a horror film. It’s a tragedy. And Carrie’s tragic flaw, sadly, is both her abusive upbringing and the savage bullying she endures. Abuse of children behind closed doors, and bullying in schools unchecked by adults, are two great evils of this and every age.

The film is shot superbly, with camera angles, viewpoints and (during the prom climax) slow motion being used to an effect of both suspense and beauty. I can understand why this is considered Brian De Palma's masterpiece, although one has to question why it was necessary to have a slow motion tour of the naked bodies of characters who are eighteen-ish years old, even if the actresses playing them are not so young. As a 42 year old man I'm not entirely comfortable with being forced like this to be a voyeur in a school changing room for girls.

That aside, though, the film is a faultlessly unfolding tragedy. Teenagers can indeed be that evil, and adults that negligent of the consequences- although, of course, Miss Collins in particularly doesn't deserve to die so horribly, which itself is the point. And, were I a religious man- which I am not- I would reserve a particularly nasty bit of Hell for people like Margaret White, religious fanatics who abusively raise their children in fear and a life-hating aversion of "sins" which hurt no one. Margaret is filled with a burning disgust of sex which, at first, makes me suspect an abusive past but no- from what we're told it's all fanaticism. The worst thing about her ex-husband having sex with her was that "I liked it". And the religion is no excuse for her being such a terrible mother, any more than it excuses sexism, homophobia or anything of the sort. Plenty of highly religious people are capable of doing none of these things. Interesting, though, that we are presented with no external tragedy in Margaret's life. I wonder whether the novel was any different?

A superb and very well directed tragedy that I had no business waiting until now to see, however weird it is to see a very young Nancy Allen as a bullying schoolgirl.

Hide and Seek (2005)

“I don’t wanna play with Charlie any more!”

There are two points to make before I begin. One, this film is based around one massive great big revelation so, y’ know, THERE BE SPOILERS. Two, this is the ninety-third film I’ve reviewed for this blog but only the first to feature Robert de Niro. How on Earth did that happen?

De Niro gives an extraordinary performance in a role which absolutely requires one. Like a certain part in The Usual Suspects which I shan’t spoil for those of you who haven’t seen it, it requires two performances in one. De Niro has to convince as David, the well-meaning bereaved father who’s trying to do the right thing, and as Charlie. The film structures itself around the revelation well; I, for one, didn’t guess, and was shocked. I have my doubts about basing a film so thoroughly around one big twist, if you guess the twist, the film is ruined for you. That wasn’t the case for me, though, and like all good twists I felt that the clues had been there.

The film moulds itself well around the twist, even to the point of having a character, Mr Haskins, who exists only to fulfil the role of red herring, almost to the point of parody. Aside from De Niro, though, the standout performance is from a very young Dakota Fanning, who fulfils the trope of the creepy kid with aplomb.  

The climax, in which De Niro, as Charlie, chases his daughter through the house with an axe, may be clichéd, but it was the only place to go after the revelation. And the final scene, in which one of Emily’s drawings seems to suggest that she too may have multiple personality disorder (Hollywood thriller version) is delicious.

It’s weird seeing this so soon after Drop Dead Fred; for a while, it appears as though we’re getting a very different spin on the concept of imaginary friends! It isn’t quite up there with the best, relying as it does on that one big twist, but it’s a good film nonetheless, and De Niro is superb.