Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		5.0

Carrie Blu-ray Movie Review

UK-based Arrow Video has released a "Special Edition" of Brian De Palma's CARRIE (1976), which includes a 4K remastered transfer and an exclusive audio commentary recorded expressly for this release. Arrow also put out a Limited Edition Slipbox, which includes a 40-page booklet and eight lobby cards. Region "B" locked.

Brian De Palma and Stephen King both enjoyed their first commercial successes around the same time, although it took De Palma considerably longer to achieve his. The New Jersey-born auteur had already directed nine features through the first half of 1976. Sisters (1972), Phantom of the Paradise (1974), and Obsession (1976) had received critical accolades but none were slam dunks at the box office. Carrie would change De Palma's fortunes all for the better. Carrie was nearly set up to fail by King, who infamously threw a bunch of pages from an unfinished draft in the waste basket, only to have his wife, Tabitha, rescue those scraps and convince King to resume work on what would become his first novel. According to author Neil Mitchell (among others), Doubleday gave King an advance of $2,500 against royalties after he submitted the final manuscript. The hardback of Carrie sold only 13,000 copies. But when the novel was reissued in paperback to coincide with De Palma's adaptation (which is aided by an excellent script by Lawrence D. Cohen), it went on to sell more than two and a half million copies. The film was made on a budget of 1.8 million and not taken that seriously by its distributor, United Artists. To the chagrin of De Palma and his collaborators, UA initially put Carrie on a double bill with other B horror features. The movie received stellar reviews on went on to gross $33.8 million at the box office, a considerable amount for a little horror film with relatively low expectations. Film critic Gary Arnold wrote that it's "the most astute, skillful and satisfying thriller crafted for the screen since 'Jaws'....The preview audiences left 'Carrie' feeling scared...the mood in the lobby was one of elation rather than revulsion."

Carrie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This is the third major release of Carrie (1976), following MGM/Fox 2008 bare-bones disc and Scream Factory's 2013 Collector's Edition. Arrow's print is sourced from the same 4K restoration, which is derived from the original negative, that Shout! Factory used on its 2016 release. The two transfers aren't identical, however. Having studied both, I can attest that SF's has some filtering applied. The Arrow has more grain and appears the more organic of the two. George McKinnon of the The Boston Globe originally noted a "reddish haze" for the prom sequences that is nicely preserved here. Others have commented on De Palma's use of misty lenses on theatrical prints and those are also prevalent here. I've included frame grabs from the Arrow that you can compare with the original Fox release from twelve years ago. Both Arrow (avg. bitrate: 34876 kbps) and SF (avg. bitrate: 35000 kbps) employ MPEG-4 AVC encodes, while the old UK release uses MPEG-2 (avg. bitrate: 21819 kbps).

Arrow has demarcated the 98-minute feature into a dozen chapters.

Screenshot #s 1-14, 16, 18, & 20 = Arrow UK 2017 4K Scan
Screenshot #s 15, 17, & 19 = Fox UK 2008 Blu-ray

Carrie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Arrow supplies the original monaural on a LPCM Single Mono Audio track (1152 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround remix (2693 kbps, 24-bit). The restored mono and 5.1 tracks sounded very clean to my ears, as did Pino Donaggio's pitch-perfect score. Donaggio's music was remastered in 1997 for an album release by Rykodisc. In 2010, Kritzerland presented the complete score in chronological order on one disc and the original album on another. Both releases are long out-of-print and hopefully will receive reissues.

Arrow delivers optional English SDH for the main feature.

Carrie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 1991 Criterion LaserDisc of Carrie contained a feature-length commentary track by screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen and Laurent Bouzereau. Unfortunately, Arrow (and every other studio) hasn't licensed it for release on Blu-ray. The Arrow does port over practically all of SF's extras sans the larger still galleries.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Lee Gambin and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas - Gambin is the author of Nope, Nothing Wrong Here: The Making of Cujo. Heller-Nicholas, an Australian film critic and editor of the journal Senses of Cinema, wrote Cultographies: Ms. 45 and Devil's Advocates: Suspiria. They deliver their interpretations of scenes throughout the film, unpack Carrie's symbolism, discuss the movie's differences with the book, and several other subtopics. Neither is a fan of the remake, however, and they don't go into how it compares with DePalma's version. Gambin and Heller-Nicholas play off each other very well and share great chemistry. The chat flows smoothly with nary a gap in between. This commentary track was recorded exclusively by Arrow for this release. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Comparing Carrie (20:43, 1080p) this new piece compares DePalma's original to the 2002 TV movie and Kim Peirce's 2013 reboot.

• Acting Carrie (42:42, 480i)

• More Acting Carrie (20:19, 1080p)

• Visualizing Carrie: From Words to Images (41:33, 480i)

• Singing Carrie (6:24, 480i)

• Writing Carrie: An Interview with Screenwriter Lawrence Cohen (29:07, 1080p)

• Shooting Carrie: An Interview with Director of Photography Mario Tosi (15:22, 1080p)

• Cutting Carrie: An Interview with Editor Paul Hirsch (25:09, 1080p)

• Casting Carrie: An Interview with Casting Director Harriet B. Helberg (16:03, 1080p)

• Bucket of Blood (23:53, 1080p)

• Horror's Hallowed Grounds (11:25, 1080p)

• Alternate TV Opening (3:31, 1080p)

• Still Gallery (0:44, 1080p)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:06, 1080p)

• TV Spots (3:11, upscaled to 1080i)

• Radio Spots (1:29)

• Carrie Trailer Reel (15:07, 1080p)

Carrie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Carrie (1976) is a classic for all times. It's rich in themes and motifs and should be scrutinized closely. With its exclusive commentary track (which is most enjoyable and informative), Arrow's Special Edition has eclipsed Scream Factory's (whose transfer has some DNR applied). Until an UHD release comes along, this is the finest overall version. My HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.