Don't Look Now (1973) or, Grief in Venice

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The exciting, chilling poster for Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now

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An English couple lose their daughter in a drowning accident. Soon hereafter they venture to Venice, where the woman meets a blind, psychic woman who then disappears.

Based on a short story by Dauphne du Maurier (Jamaica Inn (1936)), Nicholas Roeg's (The Witches (1990)) horror drama Don't Look Now is somewhat similar to Rosemary's Baby (1968)), though substantially less exciting.
It is lovely to be in Venice in the film, and the acting of leads Julie Christie (Troy (2004)) and Donald Sutherland (The Art of War (2000)) is fairly good. But Roeg's visual and editing style is stressful and feels a bit film school-y and tedious and at times involuntarily funny to me, although others find it innovative. Don't Look Now divides people, and I am obviously not among its many fans. I think it could have been a considerably better film.
Allan Scott (Regeneration (1997)) and Chris Bryant (The Awakening (1980)) wrote the screenplay.

Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 1.1 - 1.5 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[The film was shot in England and Italy December 1972 - February 1973. It became controversial upon release due to a heated if not very stimulating sex scene between the two leads, which led to the film's X rating in Britain, where the scene was cut for the its later TV premiere on BBC. It has been rumored that the scene featured unsimulated sex, which naturally infuriated Warren Beatty, Christie's boyfriend at the time, but the truth remains obscure. In Britain, the film was released on a double bill with the better film The Wicker Man (1973). The film's B.O. numbers are unfortunately not available online to my knowledge. It was well-received by many critics and won a BAFTA for Best Cinematography, (and was nominated for another 6.) Its star has only grown since then, also with many filmmakers praising it. Don't Look Now is certified fresh at 96 % with a 8.9 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Don't Look Now?

Carrie (1976) or, Don't Bully the Strange Girl!

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Sissy Spacek's transformation from prom queen to avenging angel in Brian De Palma's Carrie

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Carrie is a young girl with a loony-religious mother. She gets bullied in high school in the crudest ways, and at the prom, she loses control of her telekinetic powers.
Brian De Palma (Obsession (1976)) elbows himself into the American 'big league' with Carrie and shows his visual masterfulness very clearly here. The film is packed with neat and innovative camera-work, (by cinematographer Mario Tosi (Resurrection (1980)).
Carrie is an exceptional youth horror classic, - and a film with some fine women in the leads: Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story (1999)) is a marvel as the fragile, eerily gifted Carrie, Piper Laurie (The Hustler (1961)) is memorable as her zealous mother, (they were both Oscar-nominated for their performances), and Bette Buckley (The Happening (2008)) is sympathetic as the nice gym teacher.
Pino Donaggio's (Passion (2012)) score is co-responsible for the overwhelmingly operatic quality that radiates from Carrie's 2nd half.
Before the finalizing shock (SPOILER with Carrie's hand), De Palma has fired up a tragedy of Biblical proportions, especially with SPOILER the death of the mother. The only slight disappointment with Carrie is to find that behind all the powerful uses of multifarious effects which are at work in it, no real statement or faith rests, besides the belief in these strong scenes. These, however, can't be taken away from De Palma or the film.
Carrie was Stephen King's bestselling first novel and the first to be adapted, (now his writings have resulted in more than 100 films and TV-productions.) The rights were bought for just 2,500 $, and King was thrilled with the finished movie.
The trailer wrongly announced that Carrie sees John Travolta in his first feature role, which is untrue, because he also stars in the phenomenally strange The Devil Rain (1975), in which SPOILER he melts!
De Palma is getting old, but he's still active, with two movies optioned; the Émile Zola-adaptation Therese Raquin and a film called Happy Valley. The same goes for Spacek, who will star in an untitled KZK/Sony TV-series, debuting next year.

Related review:

Brian De Palma: Carlito's Way (1993) - De Palma's best gangster movie

Piper Laurie made a comeback as Carries mother, having been out of film and TV since the mid-sixties, in Brian de Palma's Carrie

Puberty and getting your period for the first time has rarely been scarier than it is for Sissy Spacek's character in Brian De Palma's Carrie

Brian De Palma's Carrie involves a delicious sense of evil that we almost partake in, because we know what will happen to poor Carrie, whereupon most audiences will relish her revenge

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: 33.8 mil. $
= Huge hit

What do you think of Carrie?
Seen the sequel and/or the TV or feature remake?
If so, sum them up, please