Carrie meets North by Northwest with just a dash of Scanners. Also features some of the best diopter lens work of De Palma short of Blow Out and Dressed to Kill thanks to Richard H. Kline.
6+/10
A strong six plus to this modern classic film top list thriller by Brian de Palma with Kirk Douglas and Amy Irving. About exciting parapsychological abilities and state experiments and corruption. Interesting camera pans back and forth several times during conversations instead of editing - works really well in fact, even though it feels off-putting at first - builds up some kind of tension.
I first saw this film decades ago, but I just caught the ending on cable and was freshly struck by how it makes no sense.
Andrew Stevens is seen floating near the ceiling of a room because his telekinesis is just that powerful and, then a moment later, he can't stop himself from falling off a roof. Um, what?
Brian De Palma dressed Carrie up as a spy thriller to make The Fury, giving Amy Irving from that film a chance to BE bullied rather than be the bully. She has psychic powers that include - for that horror vibe - blood telekinesis (haemokinesis?). It's notable that this is 3 years before Scanners. She might also be able to track Kirk Douglas's son, a powerful psychic himself, snatched from his father by a super-secret government agency. Douglas pulls a Taken and is actually pretty cool as an agent on the run evading death squads as he tries to find his son, at odds with an equally cool John Cassavetes. Andrew Stevens as the son is actually the weak spot, one of these hairdos from the late 70s-early 80s, strictly television movie quality. It's a shame because even the bit parts have interesting casting. This is Daryl Hannah's first film (as one of the catty school girls) and an easy-to-miss Jim Belushi's too (as a beach bum). A young Dennis Franz, only on his second film, plays a nervous cop. Overall, this is a case of two genres clashing, but it's pretty entertaining nonetheless. Douglas most of all.
Add your comment
Comments 1 - 8 of 8
Prof. Lumpcicle
Brian De Palma, you make me smile.thestuman101694
Carrie meets North by Northwest with just a dash of Scanners. Also features some of the best diopter lens work of De Palma short of Blow Out and Dressed to Kill thanks to Richard H. Kline.Emiam
6+/10A strong six plus to this modern classic film top list thriller by Brian de Palma with Kirk Douglas and Amy Irving. About exciting parapsychological abilities and state experiments and corruption. Interesting camera pans back and forth several times during conversations instead of editing - works really well in fact, even though it feels off-putting at first - builds up some kind of tension.
neocowboy
Why does everyone in this film pronounce Gillian with a hard 'G' instead of a 'J'? That makes me want to bleed people with my mind.puppetofmasters
I don't know, how on earth one can keep up this kind of output and still be this energetic and intense (almost) every single time.Ebbywebby
I first saw this film decades ago, but I just caught the ending on cable and was freshly struck by how it makes no sense.Siskoid
Brian De Palma dressed Carrie up as a spy thriller to make The Fury, giving Amy Irving from that film a chance to BE bullied rather than be the bully. She has psychic powers that include - for that horror vibe - blood telekinesis (haemokinesis?). It's notable that this is 3 years before Scanners. She might also be able to track Kirk Douglas's son, a powerful psychic himself, snatched from his father by a super-secret government agency. Douglas pulls a Taken and is actually pretty cool as an agent on the run evading death squads as he tries to find his son, at odds with an equally cool John Cassavetes. Andrew Stevens as the son is actually the weak spot, one of these hairdos from the late 70s-early 80s, strictly television movie quality. It's a shame because even the bit parts have interesting casting. This is Daryl Hannah's first film (as one of the catty school girls) and an easy-to-miss Jim Belushi's too (as a beach bum). A young Dennis Franz, only on his second film, plays a nervous cop. Overall, this is a case of two genres clashing, but it's pretty entertaining nonetheless. Douglas most of all.PaulC138
Man, the audio on my digital copy is awful.