Last Friday night, Daily Dead had the distinct pleasure of attending the 40th anniversary screening of Brian De Palma’s Carrie, presented by Scream Factory, weSPARK, and The Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The event was packed with eager fans of De Palma’s Stephen King adaptation, and there was a great Q&A after the screening hosted by Bryan Fuller, who moderated an engaging discussion between Carrie co-stars Piper Laurie, Nancy Allen, P.J. Soles, Doug Cox, Noelle North, and editor Paul Hirsch, who also collaborated with De Palma throughout his career on films including Phantom of the Paradise, The Fury, Sisters, Obsession, Blow Out, Raising Cain, and the original Mission: Impossible.
Prior to the screening, this writer had the opportunity to speak briefly with Allen—who also serves as the executive director of weSPARK—about reuniting with her Carrie family for such a truly special occasion.
“I have to tell you, it’s a tremendous feeling that I’m having, standing here tonight," explained Allen. “I am so excited to be here. We all loved the movie when we were making it. Quite honestly, we were just happy that we had a job and were making $600 a week. We knew we had a good movie, but there was no way to know that this would be translated into 40 years plus. The turnout is wonderful, and seeing all the fans has been great. Plus, seeing the cast, too; we all loved each other while we working on it, so it all feels quite wonderful.”
Allen also reflected on her experiences during production on Carrie, discussing how well she and her co-stars got along throughout rehearsals. “We had a whole week of rehearsal period for Carrie, which is unheard of. They just don’t do that anymore. They don’t have the money for that kind of time, especially when you’re making a small film like this. So the cast came together, and in our downtime we played theatre games, we elected a class president, and we really bonded before we shot anything.”
“By the time we got to the set, we were all really close. It was just really smart of Brian to do that, because we were all young actors, everybody was a little bit nervous and then by the time we were there, we all supported one another. It was easy to find those magic moments because we were all very free-spirited by the time we were shooting the film.”
“Plus, if you look at just the character of Carrie, there was always a Carrie in every school,” Allen added. “At some point in time, every teenager can relate to feeling a little bit [like Carrie] in some way or another. That resonated with all of us, and the fact that we were a little bit older, in our twenties, we had a little bit of distance, so we could try and tap into those memories of being an outcast at some point.”
Below, check out some photos we brought back from the 40th anniversary screening of Carrie, as well as a clip from the screening, and be sure to pick up a copy of the brand new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray of Carrie that's now out from Scream Factory.
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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