In 1980, Carey portrayed George Arthur in the movie The Long Riders, a film about the exploits of Jesse James. In 1985, Carey played the aging biker Red in the movie Mask. In 1987, Carey was a featured actor in the film, The Whales of August, with Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price, and Ann Sothern. In this film, Carey portrayed a good-natured and noisy handyman and delivered his lines in a perfect Maine accent. In 1990, Carey appeared in the film Back to the Future Part III in a saloon scene set in 1885. In 1993, he made a cameo in the film Tombstone as Marshal Fred White.