Carrie at 50: Brian De Palma’s fiery masterpiece still has the power

The Oscar-nominated 1976 adaptation of Stephen King’s high school horror remains heartbreaking and horrifying in equal measure

Often when a pop culture figure, whether real or fictional or somewhere in between, is described as an eternal teenager, it refers to an image of youthful vitality. Carrie White, the wallflowery, telekinetic, sort-of heroine at the center of Stephen King’s book and its multiple adaptations, is a sadder case. She’s forever a teenager because until recently, every version of the story ends with her demise – a turn that would qualify as a spoiler if not for the universal familiarity of her story, or the fact that the book heavily implies her fate within the first 30 pages or so.

That fate is poised to change with Mike Flanagan’s TV series, which was recently renewed for a second season (though even then, there’s still plenty of room for poor Carrie to die young). The new show updates and expands the story of the 1974 novel, taking its inspiration from a combination of 2020s social trends and details from the original text. In other words, it’s a new adaptation, not a remake of the Brian De Palma film from 1976. As such, it’s the first truly successful version of Carrie in half a century. (Previous iterations popped up in a 1999 movie sequel, a 2002 miniseries and another film in 2013.) It’s arguable, however, that the reason such a high-profile new version of Carrie exists in 2026 is that first film, which was released 50 years ago on 3 November.