And I mean that more in a heartless way than "rad" or some shit.

The opening credits sequence of Carrie has also always made me uncomfortable.

I don't know all that much about De Palma's upbringing, but I imagine there were some fucked-up happenings that he was able to exorcise when given the freedom and power of a director's chair, espececially during the 70's and 80's. At worst he's a degenerate, and at best he's simply jaded. (I would hate to get stuck on a plane between him and Paul Schrader.)

All that being said, he's made one or two movies that are watchable from end to end, and a couple others where I can at least appreciate some of the skill that went to make them. That's more than I credit someone like Marc Forster, for example.