Brian De Palma returns to the mind-blowing potential of telekinesis in the follow-up to his 1976 horror hit Carrie . While vacationing with his psychic son Robin ( Andrew Stevens ) and close associate Childress ( John Cassavetes ), government agent Peter Sandza ( Kirk Douglas ) survives a terrorist attack, only to discover that it was staged by Childress so he could kidnap Robin for his own nefarious purposes. With the assistance of another psychic ( William Finley ) and Hester ( Carrie Snodgress ), an employee at the Paragon Institute for Psychic Research, Peter discovers a telekinetic Chicago high school girl named Gillian ( Amy Irving ), who may be able to help him find Robin. Even though they have never met, Gillian can see Robin's memories and experiences telepathically, and she knows that he is in trouble. But Childress knows all about Gillian too, and he is not about to let Peter's paternal quest get in the way of his plans for harnessing their psychic power. — Lucia Bozzola