But the corsage looked so nice: "Carrie"

I'm in New York on business and had hoped to catch a movie sometime in the last couple of days. Then I got shanghaied into drinks both Monday and Tuesday nights by friends and family. Damn them, damn them all to Hell.

Speaking of Hell, I managed to catch a horror classic before heading out of town. I had seen bits and pieces of "Carrie" before, but never the whole movie. The missus had never seen it, either, and we all know nothing brings a couple closer together than watching a '70s prom go bad.

Of course, that's an understatement. Even if you haven't seen "Carrie," everyone knows about the shy title character -- perfectly played by Sissy Spacek -- going berserk and killing people with her mind. Hey, some people just don't handle being doused with pig's blood very well. As for the rest of the movie, it's pretty much a buildup to Carrie unleashing her fury on her fellow high schoolers, including a young John Travolta and a pre-"Greatest American Hero" William Katt. (I loved him in "Last Call!" Hello, Shannon Tweed ... )

Overall, "Carrie" is pretty campy between the scenes of Spacek discovering her powers and Piper Laurie's over-the-top performance as her bible-thumping mom. The prom scene packs a bit of a punch, but that's more from waiting so long for it than the actual violence, rather tame by today's standards.

Here's a fun fact: Katt and Spacek were considered for the Luke and Leia roles in "Star Wars," while Carrie Fisher was going to play Carrie in "Carrie." (Enough "Carries" for you?) But when Fisher balked at the nude scenes -- and "Carrie" does have a few, god bless Brian DePalma -- she and Spacek switched films. The rest, as they say, is history, although you have to wonder how the coal miner's daughter would have pulled off "Help me, Obi-wan, you're my only hope ... "