10 Great Horror Movies That Will Crush Your Soul
2. Carrie
Carrie is one of the best horror movies of all time. Ironically enough, it isn't actually scary - outside of the dream sequence ending, but even that's probably lost its fear factor due to the countless imitations - and its power instead comes from it having one of the all-time best horror movie stories, not to mention one of the very saddest.
If there's ever been a horror film that felt like a Shakespearean tragedy, it's Carrie. A bleak and haunting revenge thriller in which every major character but one dies (and the lone survivor is left with everlasting trauma), this is a shattering representation of the real-life horror story that is growing up, and it features many difficult-to-watch scenes involving child abuse and sadistic high-school bullying.
Carrie is an exceptional piece of storytelling; everything about its heart-breaking conclusion feels earned, and even though Carrie (Sissy Spacek) commits many terrible acts of violence, she still keeps the audience's sympathy and feels like the story's main victim. This was a hard thing to pull off, but Carrie makes it look easy.
Carrie also offers a reminder that horror is more than just a vehicle for frights; it's also a genre that tells many remarkably rich stories, which reflect the world around us in devastating ways. While this movie is too damn sad to watch again and again, it is still arguably the best horror film ever adapted from a Stephen King novel - sorry, The Shining.