10 Saddest Horror Movie Moments
3. The Death Of The White Family - Carrie
Brian De Palma's Carrie features one of the most famous third acts in cinema history. While everyone (understandably) focuses on Carrie's righteous vengeance upon her high school, the tragic centerpiece of the film is what happens when she returns home.
Carrie comes home in a horrified daze, as what she'd just done finally starts to set in. Her mother sets to cleaning the night's...leavings off of her, all the while telling Carrie about the horrific story behind her conception, how Carrie's father sexually assaulted her, and claiming that she enjoyed every second of it. Whether this is true or just a very mentally ill woman's coping mechanism is left a mystery, as soon after, Mrs. White decides that the only solution to her daughter's "sinful" nature is a good old-fashioned stabbing.
But Carrie, armed with her psychic powers, turns the tables and kills her mother with her own knives, crucifying her in the doorway to her prayer closet. Despite everything her mother did to her, Carrie rushes to her mother and hugs her, sobbing. Her powers run wild from the grief, bringing the entire house down on her head, killing her in the process.
A perfectly tragic end to Stephen King's most tragic protagonist.