Sorry, this movie sucks

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Middling TV movie about a slightly chubby teen (Susan Myers) who is constantly teased by her sister and classmates. Even her own father treats her like garbage. She begins getting even when she is taught how to be a witch by her gym teacher. Her sympathetic mother (Lee Grant) does not approve.This was obviously inspired by 'Carrie', though this one under-develops the high school turmoil in favor of the girl's miserable family life. There is nary a likable character present here. In fact, I haven't disliked characters this much since Mario Azzopardi's 'Deadline', a film where I literally wanted to jump on screen and strangle the wife with my bare hands. The girl's father is a dick, plain and simple. I was hoping for his gruesome demise the entire time. Her sister (played by a young Helen Hunt) isn't much better. I hated these people so much that I was longing for the film to focus more on the school as opposed to the family. I did like Lelia Goldoni as the gym teacher, but she has about three scenes total.Characters aside, there are a few good moments. The opening with the popular girl pulling off circus style tricks on the gym rope was fun. We also get a bizarre death scene where a woman's skin starts smoldering, and the confrontation between student and teacher is well done.Really though, this film is far from special. Along with what's already been mentioned, we also have to deal with one of those horrid TV scores and there's a twist at the end that's pretty weak. The characters, though, are what make it a real struggle to get through.

This movie is available on Hulu, just fyi :) Okay, so apparently my comment must be at least 10 lines long. So, here's what I thought about the movie. At the beginning, I did feel it was a rip-off of Carrie, but the more I watched, the less similarities there were. As cheesy as most 70s movies are, I thought the acting was good. It had a real eeriness to it. What I hated was that this girl, Rita, was considered fat. It's one thing for stupid kids at school to call her fat, I was smaller than her in school & still got called fat from time to time, but for her father to do so was cruel. She was not fat. I'd love to see what she looks like now, if anyone has a link, I haven't searched it yet. Okay, I think I reached my 10-line minimum. The whole point of my comment was to let people know the movie is available on hulu...that is all :)

I saw this movie several times on television while growing up. I can still remember this movie quiet vividly. Lee Grant does a great job portraying a mother who plays favorites with her kids. A young Helen Hunt plays her favorite daughther. The jealously between the two daughters has horrifying results as "Susan" wraps herself in the occult to get even.

For this movie to be a made for television movie, it was definitely one of those you can't forget. I saw this movie when I was around 10 or 11 and here I am now 33 and have been searching for years to purchase it. I can remember every detail about this movie. The girl on this movie make CARRIE look like a goodie two shoes. (Smile) This is definitely one to add to the horror collection.