From Page to Screen: Bringing Carrie to Life

This chapter examines Carrie's transition from page to screen, which involved numerous changes to the style and tone of Stephen King's novel decided upon for creative and budgetary reasons by Brian De Palma and screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen. Alterations to the final shooting script (the second draft of the adaptation) were brought about by a combination of time constraints, on set improvisation, and decisions made during post-production editing. Though the studio approved the second draft, a fairly rare occurrence in Hollywood, United Artists would waver on the project in other areas. Even given the horror genre's commercial and critical successes during the period, United Artists were, perhaps understandably, unconvinced that the adaptation of a debut novel by an experienced director still looking for a major commercial success was worth risking any more than the figure allocated. It is telling that the only real problem De Palma had with the project was in relation to those controlling the marketing of the movie. For De Palma, Carrie was a serious movie, with serious points to make about the cruelty of teenagers, the insidious effects of religious fervour, and the state of contemporary American society, regardless of it being wrapped up in supernatural trappings. United Artists, however, marketed Carrie as cheap popcorn entertainment.