Perhaps the most famous prom dress in history, Carrie's light peach-colored satin gown is simple and sweet. But to Margaret, her daughter's emerging womanhood is sinful. "Take off that dress," she pleads. "We'll burn it together and pray for forgiveness."

Chris's friend Norma rigs the election and Carrie is crowned Prom Queen. But her joy is cut short when she finds herself covered in pig's blood.

Believing that everyone is laughing at her, Carrie unleashes telekinetic fury upon the crowd. Her English teacher is electrocuted so badly that his body erupts in flames, setting the gym on fire. As the inferno rages, Carrie calmly walks out and locks the remaining students inside, sealing their fates.

After watching her murder their classmates, Chris and Billy attempt to run over Carrie with a car. Carrie causes their car to flip and explode, killing them both in a burst of flames.

Carrie comes home to a candlelit house. Her mother comforts her, holding her daughter tenderly in her arms, then stabs Carrie in the back and pursues her through the house with a delirious smile on her face. Defending herself, Carrie causes kitchen utensils to fly through the air using her telekinesis, killing Margaret. Distraught over her mother's death, Carrie loses control of her powers as the house crumbles and burns around her.

Sue has a nightmare in which she lays flowers on the remains of Carrie's home. A "for sale" sign has been vandalized with the phrase "Carrie White burns in Hell!" Suddenly, Carrie's bloody arm reaches from beneath the rubble and grabs Sue's forearm. Sue wakes up screaming as her mother comforts her.

Spacek's performance was widely praised, and Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote, "Though few actresses have distinguished themselves in gothics, Sissy Spacek, who is onscreen almost continuously, gives a classic chameleon performance. She shifts back and forth and sideways: a nasal, whining child; a chaste young beauty at the prom; and then a second transformation when her destructive impulses burst out and age her. Sissy Spacek uses her freckled pallor and whitish eyelashes to suggest a squashed, groggy girl who could go in any direction; at times, she seems unborn--a fetus. I don't see how this performance could be any better." She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in the film.

The Rage: Carrie 2 was released in 1999. It featured another teenager with telekinetic powers who is revealed to have shared a father with Carrie White.