Spacek was in her mid-20s when she played the teenaged Carrie, an awkward, introverted girl with a staunchly religious, abusive mother (Piper Laurie, who famously played the role like a comedy) and blooming telekinetic powers. She has a hard time making friends, and only finds comfort from gym teacher Miss Collins (Betty Buckley). When she unexpectedly has her first period in the locker room shower, her classmates bully her and her mom locks her in her “prayer closet,” setting off a chain of events that will result in a lot of bloodshed.

That Carrie is decidedly not the villain of the film, but rather an almost supernatural force responding to the brutal way she’s treated, plays nicely with the monster movie tradition. You feel for Carrie before anything else — her acute sense of isolation and victimhood takes up much of the first half of the movie, and it lingers well into the prom night climax. A more conventional actress might have been able to play the shy, quiet side of Carrie, but few could have brought her pain to life like Spacek.