Carrie - Pig Blood Scene

Carrie’s Pig Blood Scene: De Palma’s Masterful Suspense! 

Get ready to relive the chilling brilliance of Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976)! In this episode, Craig and Sicco break down the iconic pig blood bucket reveal scene—a single-take crane shot that sets up the devastating climax of this horror classic. From Sissy Spacek’s haunting performance to De Palma’s Hitchcockian suspense, they dive into why this moment is unforgettable. 

Carrie follows a bullied teen with telekinetic powers, culminating in a prom night tragedy that shocked audiences. We zoom in on the pivotal pig blood scene, where De Palma’s masterful crane shot builds unbearable tension. Learn how this low-budget ($1.6M) film became a cultural juggernaut, launching stars like Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, and Amy Irving, and cementing De Palma as a visionary.

Creators and Guests

Host

Craig Cohen

Guest

Sicco Heersink

What is The Director's Chair Network?

Join Ryan and many featured guests and other hosts as they break down and review a variety of directors and their films!
So far, this podcast has featured films from Edward Zwick, John Hughes, Brian De Palma, and Michael Mann.
Soon, we will feature Edgar Wright, Sam Peckinpah, Paul Verhoeven, and David Fincher!

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[Music]
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hello and welcome to another episode of
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this Brian Deama scene by scene journey
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And this episode I am super super
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excited for because this is a movie I
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didn't think I'd be as excited to talk
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about but I'm glad we're talking about
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it And I'm bringing on my friend and
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fellow podcaster Seco Sco welcome Well
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thank you Craig and thank you for
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letting me talk about Carrie because I
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love Carrie So yes we're going to be
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talking today about Brian Deama's ninth
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film 1976's Carrie And it's it's one of
0:39
two films that were directed by Brian
0:41
Deama in 1976 So a busy year for him
0:45
based of course on the novel by Stephen
0:48
King I believe it's Stephen King's debut
0:50
novel It is Yeah
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The more I watch Brian Deama films and
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the more I talk about Brian Deama
0:57
films we see that he's got a very very
1:01
elevated style and technique influenced
1:04
by a lot of European filmmakers Do you
1:07
have any recollection of your initial
1:10
exposure to the Palomo or how he was
1:13
perceived
1:14
uh in your area well the first time I
1:18
ever watched the Dealma movie was Carrie
1:20
So that's one of the reasons I picked
1:22
this one because Oh nice And from what I
1:25
remember I mean I was three years old at
1:27
the time So I saw the movie a few years
1:30
later obviously Okay Um he was revered
1:33
highly highly revered for his type of
1:37
cinematography cuz that's really what
1:39
sets him apart from most other directors
1:40
is that he's much more u a director who
1:46
images a film who creates an entire
1:49
concept Absolutely And from the people
1:53
who do that I mean I would call Ridley
1:56
Scott I call him another one He's the
1:58
closest you can come to Cubric without
2:01
being Cubric Yeah You can tell he's
2:04
meticulous about everything Yes And it's
2:06
it's very funny because Kubric is a
2:09
filmmaker that I've always respected
2:11
I've always admired But since I've uh
2:13
made the jump into 4K I've been getting
2:15
all of the Kubric films on 4K Uh and
2:19
what an an amazing experience that has
2:21
been uh to watch the the Kubric films in
2:23
4K Yeah they're endlessly rewatchable
2:26
just from the the the visuals you get
2:28
Yeah And the Palma's the same way Oh
2:30
exactly But I think you can also use
2:32
those two filmmakers in the same breath
2:34
when you talk about their sense of
2:36
humors because I think a lot of people
2:38
see Cubri as this very sort of stuffy
2:41
filmmaker But if you watch his movies he
2:44
had a wicked wicked sense of humor And
2:47
Dama does as well And you see it in
2:49
Carrie And we're not really going to
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talk about any of the funny scenes in
2:51
Carrie No But he's there's a vicious
2:54
sense of humor in it Mhm And I think I
2:56
mean Carrie influenced every horror
2:58
movie that came after it obviously Oh
3:01
absolutely Friday the 13th just flat out
3:03
stole the ending of Carrie They stole
3:05
everything Yeah They stole everything
3:08
and but that's fine because they stole
3:10
from the master Yeah Yeah So that's wild
3:13
that this was your first uh diploma film
3:16
That is that is awesome
3:17
So for those that don't know Carrie is
3:20
sort of a high school
3:23
uh set novel about uh a young girl who's
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super different and it deals with high
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school bullying at the same time as
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she's learning she has telekinetic
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powers
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Yes And I was watching this and you know
3:39
what I was thinking mhm He's a school
3:42
shooter Pretty much Yeah pretty much But
3:46
it's basically kind of a pre bowling for
3:48
Coline kind of thing Yeah Uh
3:52
but it's bullied Yeah
3:56
Everywhere Cuz her mother is insane
3:59
right she's a religious zealot Hyper
4:02
Lori who was nominated for um uh an
4:06
Academy Award along with [ __ ] Spacic
4:07
who played Carrier This is uh they were
4:09
both nominated Yeah And it's I mean and
4:13
that's one of the reasons why I love
4:14
Carrie so much because those
4:16
performances stand up and they stand out
4:18
and they still do That's why you can
4:21
it's it's an inevitable classic Not just
4:24
because everybody in it became huge I
4:27
mean you you can just rattle off the
4:29
names of the people in it who were
4:30
completely unknown because they they
4:33
came cheap because that movie cost 1.6
4:36
million Yeah That's another mind-blowing
4:38
thing Yeah And I'm glad you mentioned
4:39
that Seiko because famously um when they
4:44
were casting this movie Depalama was
4:46
buddies with George Lucas You know they
4:48
were both up and cominging filmmakers
4:50
They cast this movie at the same time
4:52
and and Lucas was casting Star Wars And
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Dama said "Hey listen Star Wars
4:56
leftovers." Yeah He said "Since we're
4:58
we're both casting you know people in
5:00
the same age range why don't we just
5:02
like you know uh share the audition
5:04
process?" So you know like William Cat
5:06
who ended up playing Tommy he auditioned
5:08
for Star Wars Yeah they could have they
5:10
could have switched over and we could
5:12
have gotten Mark Hamill for this movie
5:14
Yeah Amy Irving from what I understand
5:17
almost got Princess Leia arguably should
5:19
have Yeah And I got to say this John
5:24
Travolta say what you want about Greece
5:27
but had John Travolta not gotten
5:29
involved with TA Palama and made Carrie
5:32
of course he made Blowout after it we
5:34
would not have gotten because of this
5:36
Yeah We would not have gotten John
5:38
Travolta in Pulp Fiction and he wouldn't
5:40
have had the entire second act that he
5:42
had Nope It's pretty remarkable And if
5:45
you think of like other actors that
5:47
Deama did that with he was the first one
5:48
to professionally work with you know
5:50
Robert Dairo Yep It's just remarkable
5:53
when you look at the eye for talent that
5:55
DeAma had as well Yeah Another actor
5:58
director Yeah Right He's just good at at
6:01
directing good talent and finding it
6:04
Yeah And of course um you know some of
6:07
the other people in this movie we
6:08
already mentioned Damian Irving Nancy
6:10
Allen the beautiful Nancy Allen who uh
6:13
is wonderfully wicked in this movie Yes
6:15
And when you're a kid you look at her
6:17
differently Yeah Right Because then
6:19
she's just a meanie and she's just
6:21
annoying and an airhead and vindictive
6:23
and anything you know you'd expect from
6:25
a self-centered narcissistic what she 18
6:29
years old or something This is like
6:31
senior your senior prom Yeah Um 17 18
6:35
years old You graduated at 16 So there's
6:37
a very different kind of depending on
6:39
when your birthday is Yeah True But
6:41
basically when I watch her now
6:44
I'm like oh my she's insane That's so
6:47
ins so insanely beautiful Yeah And she's
6:52
so much more athletic than the rest of
6:53
them because they make them they have
6:55
like this scene where they um they're
6:57
doing the jump punish during gym and
6:59
they have to do calisthenics and she
7:01
just does them with ease and she has to
7:04
act like she hates it right and all the
7:06
other ones just you know just can't keep
7:08
up with her It's hilarious to watch Yeah
7:10
And she would of course work with
7:12
Dealama multiple times They were married
7:15
for a period Just a tremendous actress
7:18
And it's funny my first exposure that I
7:20
remember to Nancy Allen was as Lewis in
7:22
Robocop Yeah mine too Another Oh not
7:26
really Carrie But I was really I never
7:28
made the connection until Well you can't
7:30
because in Robocop she looks so
7:31
different She's got that Butch haircut
7:34
Yeah The performances are about as far
7:36
apart as you can get Yeah Showing a
7:38
little showing how talented she is You
7:40
never make the actual connection You
7:41
just see the character Yeah And this
7:43
does give us a chance to mention a
7:45
mutual other favorite director we have
7:47
Paul Alver Hovind Oh yeah Who I would
7:49
lump in with Cubric and and Deama as
7:52
having a wicked satire uh streak Yeah
7:58
And also a wicked sense of humor Same
8:01
kind of madness Exactly Madness is the
8:03
perfect word for it Seiko And I do want
8:06
to talk a little bit since we're going
8:07
to be focusing on such a specific
8:11
uh we're going to be talking about a
8:12
sequence within a scene which I'm really
8:14
really excited about because
8:17
I want to thank you for suggesting this
8:19
movie because it allowed me to watch
8:21
Carrie twice in a month because I
8:23
literally I watched this probably a
8:25
month ago and that's when I was starting
8:26
to put together the idea to do this
8:28
podcast Mhm And then when you suggested
8:30
we watch Carrie I'm like well obviously
8:32
I have to watch Carrie again now because
8:34
I I need to be able to talk about it So
8:36
thank you You have to get out get it out
8:37
of your head that this is a simplistic
8:39
horror movie Exactly Exactly At all Yeah
8:42
But the one thing I I do want to mention
8:44
while we're talking about it is you you
8:46
know you sort of mentioned the European
8:48
influences in his direction I do want to
8:51
say that Deama is and you know he made a
8:55
lot of films that that went down this
8:58
lane but um he was uh he's like
9:02
Hitchcock if Hitchcock was able to make
9:04
films without being censored
9:07
Yeah Yeah It's it's like if if Hitchcock
9:10
was in Italy Yeah Exactly If he'd had
9:12
based himself in Italy he could have
9:13
made the movies the Palama basically
9:16
made Yeah Um and that's no slight on on
9:18
either one I mean it's it's it's not
9:20
discounting what the Palama did They
9:21
were a product of their time really Yeah
9:23
But the one thing I always look at
9:25
especially if you think about like the
9:26
opening um helicopter it's not a
9:30
helicopter shot It would be a helicopter
9:31
shot in Psycho you know like Hitchcock
9:34
had these big ideas and technology just
9:36
wasn't there yet Yeah And you can sort
9:39
of tell so does the Palma Exactly I mean
9:43
the special effects don't really stand
9:46
up You can see the miniature work and uh
9:49
you can see the low budget It's really
9:52
the performances that make this movie
9:54
what it is And it in that way it sort of
9:56
resembles a Hitchcock film because
9:58
that's the same way You just sort of
10:00
cringe through the special effects and
10:02
you watch the performances and what
10:04
these people bring to bear and that's
10:06
really what you see in this movie It's
10:08
you see a bunch of kids just going for
10:11
it Absolutely Cuz it is obvious they got
10:14
a lot of leeway with stuff Yeah And
10:17
that's again you know trusting your
10:18
actors Yeah And and you can tell how
10:20
what a big star uh John Travolta was
10:24
just how with how much charisma came off
10:26
the screen I mean he he plays a heavy he
10:29
plays a dumb
10:30
galute but there's a lot of extra in
10:33
there Oh yeah And and we're not talking
10:36
about the scene but um one scene that I
10:38
was watching it with my jaw on the floor
10:40
because I can't imagine the scene as
10:44
filmed by anybody else being the same
10:46
But it's when he's in the car with Nancy
10:49
Allen and she's putting her makeup on
10:50
and they get in that fight and she keeps
10:51
calling him a dumb [ __ ] and he
10:53
ultimately smacks her Yeah just that
10:56
back and forth and that bickering and
10:58
how intense it gets and then when he
11:00
slaps her and how quickly the slap
11:02
happens Um it's another moment where
11:04
you're just like that's any other
11:06
director with this script would not have
11:08
done what they did the way the PAM did
11:11
it and and that's why I want to get to
11:13
this sequence now So we're going to jump
11:15
to the towards the uh the you know about
11:17
50 minutes 50 or 55 minutes into the
11:20
movie We're at the prom and it's the
11:23
moment when we see that the ballot box
11:25
is is being stuffed Um so it's basically
11:29
PJ Souls Yeah picking up all the votes
11:32
switching them out and bringing them up
11:34
to get counted At this point Amy
11:36
Irming's character sneaks in and we get
11:39
this miraculous This is all one take It
11:41
it took me the third time of watching
11:43
the movie to see that it was all one
11:45
take It's one and it's one crane shot
11:48
Yes Cuz there's tremendous depth in the
11:51
scene Yeah So it starts with PJ Souls
11:53
picking up Tommy and Car's ballot Mhm
11:56
And then it ends with the reveal of them
11:59
winning king and queen of the prom
12:02
Imagine what it took mentally to block
12:04
that scene It's it's three-day level
12:07
chess Yeah I I talked to this I I talked
12:09
about this in our Snakeheads episode
12:11
which is that extended long you know
12:13
three sort of three shots that were made
12:14
into one shot you know Nick Cage
12:17
sequence right but again another thing I
12:19
love about Dama is he visualized this
12:23
shot and he did it Yeah
12:27
And basically the Palama's like when he
12:30
gets an idea in his head that's what
12:32
they're doing Yeah He's he literally
12:35
films what he can visualize Yeah and
12:37
they have to figure out how to do it And
12:38
this one like you said it's it's a crane
12:40
shot So yeah he actually I I um saw a
12:44
documentary on it and he had to fight
12:46
the studio to get the crane Yeah And
12:49
they didn't understand it and he was
12:51
like "Well I'm the director." And it
12:54
wasn't a high school That place didn't
12:56
have a roof Okay They just hung up stars
12:59
to give the illusion of a roof Oh wow
13:02
It's a
13:04
360° set Mhm And they had
13:08
assistants rip out chairs and tables and
13:11
move people while they were doing the
13:12
shot Excellent Just think about the the
13:15
the I mean the trust and the
13:17
organization Yeah And well no and
13:20
everybody has to hit their mark as well
13:22
It's not just the technical thing behind
13:25
it It's like if an actor or a performer
13:27
in front of the camera [ __ ] up Yeah
13:29
you're you're take shot You might as
13:31
well just start over Yeah And that's the
13:33
Palmer right yeah He's a He's a 30 take
13:36
director He's uh he's I mean and that's
13:38
the ' 70s when you think about it Lucas
13:41
was the same way I mean there's the
13:43
famous uh uh Death Star hallway shot
13:45
they shot like what 50 times or
13:47
something Yeah Where and it didn't and
13:49
then didn't end up in the movie
13:51
But the one thing I will say about this
13:53
uh Seco is all of the quote unquote
13:57
gimmicky shots that the PAMA does Mhm
14:01
They're the best way to tell the story
14:05
the way he needs to tell it Yeah Again
14:08
to see this flow of events from the you
14:10
know picking up of the ballot tracking
14:12
up past Amy tells what one shot he tells
14:15
the story Mhm The basic premise of the
14:19
most pivotal point in the movie Yeah
14:21
This is if they hadn't done this nobody
14:24
would have died Maybe the mother Yeah Oh
14:28
yeah because she was already plotting
14:29
her the death of her daughter Yeah Right
14:32
Uhhuh Yeah Yeah But basically uh the two
14:35
of them might have died because
14:37
obviously uh spoilers about a
14:39
50-year-old
14:41
movie Her mother attempts to kill her
14:44
and in the end she kills her mother and
14:47
then she brings her into a closet where
14:49
she's been uh you know basically
14:52
maligned all her life She pushed to the
14:53
glass to pray
14:55
and then she basically kills herself by
14:57
destroying the house around her and she
14:59
dies in the and they die in the fire Yes
15:02
Right But if that if that rope thing if
15:05
they hadn't done that stupid stuff with
15:06
the bucket Mhm if those kids hadn't been
15:09
so mean
15:11
and I mean it's it's kind of presented
15:14
as well they're just fun-loving kids and
15:16
they didn't really mean it right it's
15:19
just this 18-year-old self-centered
15:21
narcissistic You can't do this to me You
15:24
can't make me uh get detention I'm gonna
15:27
avenge myself Well they picked the wrong
15:29
girl for that didn't they absolutely
15:32
Yeah And we know as a viewer we know So
15:35
we know when we see them at the bottom
15:38
of that base where they're going to be
15:40
getting that award when we see Nancy
15:42
Allen and John Travolta hiding behind it
15:45
you like "Oh what's going on what's
15:48
going on?" And then you see the rope and
15:49
the rope goes up and where does the rope
15:51
go it goes up and it goes up and and and
15:53
Amy Irving notices it What's that rope
15:55
for notice follows it and they follow it
15:58
and they follow it and then you see the
15:59
bucket Oh that's where they were killing
16:01
the pigs And they have this bucket up
16:03
there and it's like what what's this
16:05
bucket going to do well her moment of
16:08
glory is going to be her moment of
16:10
supreme embarrassment Oh Haha Yeah Um
16:12
and you see this strand of creeper
16:14
dropping and Amy Irving notices it and
16:17
that launches it cuz she runs straight
16:20
to the teacher Yeah And the one thing um
16:23
that I wanted to sort of make sure I
16:25
talked about Hitchcock with is this is
16:27
one of Hitchcock's golden rules is
16:30
Hitchcock was always suspense not
16:33
surprise where as an audience member we
16:36
know something that's going to happen
16:38
that the character doesn't the this
16:40
strand of creeper foreshadows what's
16:42
about to happen Yes And I got to tell
16:44
you that I'll take suspense over
16:46
surprise every day of the week twice on
16:49
Sunday It's incredibly effective And the
16:52
other thing I want to say overall about
16:53
this movie yeah the shock scare is a
16:55
copout really It's what Stephen King
16:58
always said It's like okay first I'll
17:00
try suspense um and then I'll try to
17:03
shock you and if that doesn't work I'll
17:05
go for the gross out That's basically
17:06
how it go No And I mean there's a time
17:08
and a place for all of it I mean a
17:09
Friday the 13th movie a slasher film
17:12
isn't going to really work too well with
17:13
suspense Uh but you need surprise But I
17:16
will say this as well Seco this movie
17:20
it's nowhere near the Palama's goriest
17:24
for a horror film it's it's not as gori
17:26
He's made much gorier films that were
17:28
not horror films But at the same time
17:31
the the main takeaway from this movie
17:33
that I got was aside from being like an
17:36
incredibly sad movie Um you know I mean
17:39
[ __ ] Spacics performances incredible as
17:42
this girl that you know she gets home
17:44
and you feel her pain Yeah She just
17:45
wants her mom to hug her I mean that if
17:47
that doesn't like just crush you I don't
17:50
I don't know what will And even after
17:52
her mother's dead she still wants to
17:55
embrace her But I mean this movie it's
17:58
truly terrifying Well basically [ __ ]
18:02
Spacic just gives off the vibe with just
18:06
with the with the with her eyes Mhm And
18:10
especially how the Palma shoots those
18:12
eyes Yeah That's really makes that
18:15
that's what makes the horror because she
18:16
did And that visual of her being
18:18
completely covered in blood Yeah And of
18:20
course that's symbolic because the whole
18:22
thing starts with blood because it's
18:24
about a girl coming into her telekinetic
18:26
powers because she u uh start that's the
18:31
idea king had It's like oh yeah it's a
18:33
it's kind of a preternatural kind of
18:35
thing Yeah that you know uh a woman who
18:39
comes of age uh reaches these powers and
18:42
that's another symbolic thing because
18:43
she that's the point where she she stops
18:45
being a child and starts getting
18:47
receiving power over men basically Yeah
18:50
Right That's the idea and everything is
18:52
a motif Everything in this film is a
18:54
motif and most of it is religious Deeply
18:57
deeply religious Everything Even the
18:59
scene we were describing everything is
19:03
completely engineered to make a
19:06
commentary about organized religion Yeah
19:09
Well and and and I'm sure we'll talk
19:11
about this scene at some point if not
19:13
with you maybe with somebody else but
19:16
the the final scene between Carrie and
19:18
her mother in the book of according to
19:21
Depalama she just has a heart attack and
19:24
dies Yeah Not in this one though Yeah
19:27
Dama said "Wait a minute What she has a
19:29
heart attack Yeah Carrie a heart attack
19:31
No Carrie slowly stops her heart with
19:33
telekinetic powers
19:35
In a book in a book it works Yeah Yeah
19:38
But again this is the visual storyteller
19:40
that is the PAMA putting two and two
19:42
together and saying "We're making this
19:43
deeply religious sort of film How can
19:47
you not a house episode they would just
19:49
show it right?" But of course in the 70s
19:52
the Palma didn't have have that kind of
19:55
visual option So it's like well what's
19:57
best well we just shoot her through with
20:00
knives just like the doll in the closet
20:02
Yeah Yeah There's a doll in the closet
20:04
and that is made to represent I think St
20:06
Christopher who is like run through with
20:09
arrows and she was always made to pray
20:12
and then in the end when she murders her
20:14
mother the mother is in the exact same
20:16
pose as as the as the uh patron saint
20:22
It's very symbolic Yeah And one other
20:24
point I did want to note and
20:28
um god we're we're we're talking about a
20:30
bunch of different scenes here but I do
20:31
want to make sure that we focus on the
20:33
sequence that we were but yes after the
20:34
pig blood we get the split screen where
20:37
she looks up and the lights are red and
20:39
then the whole scene becomes red Right
20:42
This is one of one of the Palmer's
20:44
famous red movies Yes Uh probably only
20:47
outdone by Daario Arento in terms of his
20:50
use of red Right But again Carrie up
20:54
until about 45 minutes ago wasn't
20:59
incredibly high on my list of diploma
21:01
films if I was going to rank them and
21:05
it's probably close to being in my top
21:08
10 right now Yes And it's also so
21:10
important to the Palma himself because
21:12
this was his first real commercial
21:14
success that we probably wouldn't have
21:17
had gotten the Palma after the 70s if
21:19
this one had bombed Yeah And you know
21:22
what's funny about that is he did um uh
21:25
his the movie he did after this was
21:27
called The Fury with Kirk Douglas which
21:30
also deals with telekinesis
21:33
Mhm And there's a wonderful documentary
21:35
I know we've talked about it offline and
21:36
you haven't seen it yet called Deama
21:38
where it's just basically Deama sitting
21:40
down like you are right now and just
21:42
talking through each one of his films
21:44
and he basically says that the fury was
21:47
the only thing he could get So you're
21:50
incredibly correct when you say that had
21:53
Carrie not done what it did uh because
21:55
of course it it became sort of a runaway
21:57
hit and also got nominated for two
21:59
Oscars but Mhm in the immediate
22:01
aftermath of it he was scrambling to
22:03
find a project to do Yeah And then again
22:06
I think after you know Carrie did what
22:09
it did he was sort of given a little bit
22:11
more um of an opportunity to sort of
22:14
pick and choose his projects Yes Well it
22:17
it is when you think about it is it is
22:18
really a showcase of of the ultimate
22:20
talent that he has because he had a
22:22
budget made of nothing He had 1.6
22:25
million What is that so and I mean
22:28
that's why he doesn't blow up the
22:29
village He just blows up the the high
22:31
school gym right
22:33
But the thing is his uh superior film
22:37
making gets him through it all Anyone
22:41
else with 1.6
22:43
million would have delivered a third
22:46
Yeah But the other thing the other thing
22:48
I I I want to stress and I've tried to
22:50
stress this in every episode we've done
22:51
so far is that and I said it already in
22:55
this episode is that when Deama does a a
22:59
shot uh that other filmmakers will do
23:02
and and I'll bring Michael Bay to mind
23:04
and I I I enjoy Michael Bay I like his
23:07
films I think when I want to you know
23:09
eat some popcorn and put my brain on the
23:11
you know on the couch next to me I I can
23:13
watch Michael Ba Bay bay film But but
23:15
when you see one of his like you know
23:16
patented bad boy shots where he's
23:18
revolving around somebody sure you're
23:21
made acutely aware of what he's doing
23:24
whereas anytime the PAMA is doing a
23:26
gimmicky shot or a shot that's very
23:28
complex or very artistic
23:31
there's a very particular reason behind
23:33
it It's serving the story but it's also
23:36
showcasing his technique and his mastery
23:38
of the art And I think that's one thing
23:41
that DeAma doesn't get enough credit for
23:43
because a lot of filmmakers that are
23:46
known for um their cinematography or
23:49
their their use of the camera Mhm get
23:52
highlighted a lot
23:53
more or get you know considered as as
23:56
very sort of stylistic directors Well
23:58
it's it's kind of haunted him to a
23:59
certain extent Yes People think of his
24:02
films as too artsy But that's the other
24:04
thing I wanted to get to because I
24:06
mentioned it in our Snake Eyes episode
24:07
is Deama sort of makes artistic films
24:11
for gutter viewers right he's he's
24:14
Mozart when you think about it Yeah And
24:16
I mean a lot of filmmakers I think they
24:18
operate at a level above a lot of the
24:21
the common you know movie goers heads
24:23
but I think that at his heart is really
24:26
making popcorn films Yes And he he does
24:29
it to great effect That's the difference
24:31
It's not art for art's sake He uses
24:35
technique to elevate the scene Yeah Yeah
24:38
And again it doesn't seem self- serving
24:40
It all is in service of the story But if
24:43
you haven't watched Carrie it's it's I
24:45
don't know where you watched it where
24:46
you are but here in the States it's on
24:48
HBO Max or just Max right now It's
24:51
available there So I own the I own it So
24:54
okay But for for listeners who don't
24:56
have the DVD on their shelf um or their
24:58
Blu-ray or the the new 4K
25:01
it it is on Max here So if you have a
25:03
Mac subscription you can either uh watch
25:05
it there or sign up for the free trial
25:06
and watch it But I encourage you to
25:08
watch this movie Uh but also pay
25:10
attention to this shot because it took
25:13
me the third time I was watching the
25:16
scene
25:18
before I I had to rewind it and I said I
25:20
paused the movie and I said "Wait a
25:21
minute." Yeah This is one long shot
25:24
which isn't even the thing that really
25:27
blew me away about this When you
25:28
suggested we do the sequence I was just
25:30
like "Oh it climbs up and then it goes
25:32
through the pillar to reveal Tommy and
25:35
Carrie." But then I was like "Wait
25:36
there's a whole other half." And then I
25:38
was like "Son of a bitch." Sico knew
25:40
what he was doing when he picked
25:42
sequence Because the the one of the
25:44
reasons why the scene is so important is
25:46
because what comes next is all short
25:49
cuts It's all cut cut And I've heard the
25:52
Palmer say that you can get away with
25:55
something like that because cutting is
25:57
considered you know ugly But you can get
25:59
away with that something like that if
26:01
you don't cut before it cuz that makes
26:05
the cutting more effective It's like
26:07
taking a deep breath Speeds up the film
26:09
And having one long pivotal scene like
26:13
this like you said not just building
26:15
tension but it it kind of stretches out
26:18
time And then when you start cutting
26:21
it's like building power in an engine
26:23
and then releasing it And because the
26:25
final act of the film is again a very
26:29
small uh
26:31
very harshly blocked scene right the
26:35
death of the mother the the um the
26:37
confrontation with the mother It's I
26:39
mean it's back in the house and it's
26:40
dark overtones with all those candles
26:43
and this
26:45
scene perfectly connects everything that
26:48
came before it and everything that comes
26:49
after Yeah It's brilliant Yeah And it's
26:53
it's like I can watch this scene again
26:55
and again and again and again and think
26:57
about like okay how did he come up with
26:59
this because in any other movie it would
27:03
have just been a pan shot and that's it
27:05
Yep No absolutely It would have been a
27:06
throw cut you know Go Yeah Back to back
27:10
basically back to the portrait shots
27:12
because they're pretty young people He
27:13
doesn't do that He shows them from
27:15
really odd angles as well Yeah No I mean
27:17
it's it's one of my favorite aspects of
27:19
of Dealama is just you know that he's
27:22
going to find the most interesting way
27:23
to shoot the scene He sets another thing
27:26
that this scene does it sets up the
27:28
motivation for Nancy Allen to do all
27:31
this Mhm It's a sex thing for her Oh
27:35
yeah Yeah Well you're looking She looks
27:37
like she orgasms when she releases the
27:39
rope trailer And that's why you're
27:40
showing the rope Yeah cuz that rope is
27:42
basically Nancy Allen having sex Yeah Oh
27:45
my goodness Well see Yeah I know We
27:48
could probably you know what at some
27:50
point maybe I'll start doing long form
27:52
episodes on on movies and we can talk
27:54
about Carrie and we can talk about it
27:55
for hours and hours Yeah Yeah Uh but
27:57
yeah again this sequence uh the the pig
28:00
blood bucket reveal is a masterful uh
28:03
sequence in a in a a masterful movie
28:06
possibly to Palama's first masterpiece
28:08
of many But Seiko I want to thank you
28:10
for sitting down and picking this movie
28:12
and picking this sequence I enjoyed
28:15
watching the movie uh immensely and I
28:17
enjoy I really enjoyed speaking through
28:19
it with you Before we go though I know
28:21
uh we're both on the Last of the Action
28:23
Heroes Network podcast together
28:25
Technically I still am Yeah Do you want
28:27
to talk a little bit about what's on the
28:29
podcasting horizon or where people can
28:31
find Oh those are there are big things
28:33
coming Okay Yeah Uh I've been working
28:36
for almost a year now uh to bring the my
28:39
my podcast the Mel Gibson podcast
28:41
Hugging the Cactus to bring it to
28:43
YouTube and we're almost there So yeah
28:46
I've uh because I'm taking it from radio
28:49
to television Excellent Visual entity
28:52
now Yeah And we've done it we've done
28:53
two episodes of that show together right
28:55
yes we have Yeah So I'll be sure to link
28:58
uh where you can find that uh on the
29:00
network And Seco I'm sure uh we'll
29:03
hopefully talk again for uh this Palama
29:05
show because I know we're both big fans
29:08
Definitely All right Take care Thanks
29:10
for having me on
29:13
[Music]