If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That is the motto that should be applied to many film and television remakes, reboots, and sequels. Despite staying true to the original Stephen King story, the newest remake of Carrie should have abided by that motto as well.
With the 1976 version of Carrie being lauded as a seminal horror classic, it is tough to live up to a film that garnered not one but two Academy Award nominations for stars Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie, as Carrie White and her mother, respectively. This new 2013 version is the third movie based on King’s 1974 thriller, though there was a sequel in 1999 called Carrie 2: The Rage. There has also been a Broadway musical based on the story.
Guess I'll check this Carrie movie out tonight or some. After I tear me up some lobster tails and lamb. Lol #myboringlife
— CHILI PALMER (@C_Howard68) October 18, 2013
The basic story remains the same: Carrie White (this time played by Chloë Grace Moretz) is an awkward, unpopular senior in high school. The trouble begins after an incident in the girls’ locker room, where Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday) leads the rest of the popular girls in tormenting Carrie all while Chris tapes it on her phone and later posts it on social media. The gym teacher, Miss Dejardins (played by veteran actress Judy Greer) saves Carrie and the first hints of Carrie’s telekinesis are seen as a light bulb explodes over the shower. Carrie is then visibly shaken when the principal informs her he must call her mother, Margaret (played by four time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore). When they get home, super-religious Margaret locks Carrie in the closet to pray for forgiveness and, in her panic to be let out, Carrie cracks the door, surprising both mother and daughter.
When receiving their punishment (suicide sprint runs for a week), Chris objects and gets suspended from school, including the prom, while Sue Snell (played by Gabriella Wilde) experiences regrets and sets out to make things right with Carrie by telling her boyfriend Tommy (Ansel Elgort) to take Carrie to the prom. Meanwhile, Chris and her boyfriend Billy (Alex Russell) plot to get back at Carrie by killing a pig and getting its blood in a bucket and hoisting it up over the prom king and queen thrones.
In the 1976 #Carrie movie, Sissy Spacek was 26 yrs old, other "high school" actors were 23, 25, 24, 26, 26, 21 and 25. Chloe Moretz is 16.
— Ron Clements (@Ron_Clements) October 1, 2013
The rest of the movie is, as the tagline says, all about remembering Carrie after what she does to get back at all of the classmates that tortured her, as well as her abusive mother. The few people that were nice to her, Miss Dejardins and Sue, are spared from the destruction, while Carrie’s rage takes herself out as well.
The movie highlights the extreme lengths some high school bullies go to in today’s society. Nearly everyone has a camera phone and they want to be the next viral video everyone is posting on Facebook. It is unfortunate that our headlines are filled with the consequences of bullying every day, though rarely does it result in the total destruction depicted in Carrie.
The stand out performance in this film is undoubtedly Julianne Moore. Her portrayal of crazy, religious zealot Margaret is unnerving, and one of the truly terrifying parts of the film. It is made all the more terrifying by the fact that it is not supernatural. Margaret’s self-harm as a manner to control Carrie’s behavior is also very eerie. The performance was the highlight of this otherwise less than stellar film.
Though Moretz is a talented actress, her facial contortions when Carrie is doing things with her telekinetic powers are somewhat cheesy and over-the-top. Her performance as the downtrodden, unpopular, awkward girl is spot on and well done. It is unfortunate that the talent, whether by her own performance or under the direction of Kimberley Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry), does not translate to Carrie’s climactic end. The performances of Wilde and Elgort as the good popular kids are a little bit too earnest, though many young girls are sure to have a crush on Elgort by the end of the film.
They obviously made a new "Carrie" movie because the anti-bullying PSA's weren't getting the job done.
— Austen Lane (@A_Train_92) September 23, 2013
Overall, the film has been updated to reflect the times, but doesn’t hold a candle to the original cinematic representation. Rent the Spacek version this Halloween if you have the urge to watch the story of Carrie White.
Carrie is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Screen Gems, and Misher Films production and is rated R for bloody violence, disturbing images, language and some sexual content. The running time is 100 minutes.
