Carrie remains Brian De Palma's best and most influential movie. His other films in the horror genre have often been dismissed as pale imitations of Hitchcock's work. This is probably true,
but the fact remains that some of his films are visually exciting and effective.
Sure, Dressed To Kill is a variation of Psycho, and Body Double is derivative of Rear Window,
and Obsession is a virtual remake of Vertigo. But somehow De Palma manages to make us forget, at least temporarily, that what we're seeing isn't entirely original.
1973's Sisters put him on the map with horror fans. Margot Kidder starred in the story of siamese twins seperated at birth. Only one of the sisters survives the operation. She developes a split personality to keep the dead sister alive and becomes a murderess. It's a theme of dual identities which was to become a staple of De Palma's films and which, by the way, was central to a number of Hitchcock's movies.
The follow-up to Carrie, 1978's The Fury, expanded on the theme of telekinesis. It contains one of the single most exciting endings ever - the demise of the evil character Childress, played by John Cassavetes, at the hands of Gillian (Amy Irving.) You have to see it to appreciate it.
In recent years, De Palma seems to have lost interest in the horror genre. He had a huge hit with the movie version of Mission: Impossible, but faltered with the unsuccessful Snake Eyes.
