A 17-year-old girl taunted and tormented by her peers possesses the ability to make terrible things happen with her thoughts. A cruel prank turned a magical night at the prom into a literal bloodbath. This is the story of “Carrie.”
The movie “Carrie” was originally released in 1976 based off the novel by Stephen King. A remake of the movie was released on Oct. 18 starring Julianne Moore as Carrie’s religious mother, while Carrie herself is played by Chloë Grace Moretz (“Kick Ass”).
The film is about a girl who is teased throughout her life by classmates because of how her religious fanatic mother raised her. The girls in Carrie’s gym class start teasing her while she is in the shower. Afterward, Sue Snell, one of the girls from her class, feels guilty and decides to ask her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom.
It is at the prom where Christine “Chris” Hargenson, a popular girl who isn’t allowed to go to prom because of teasing Carrie, decides to play a prank on Carrie. Carrie wins prom queen in a rigged election and when she takes the stage, a bucket of pig’s blood is dumped on her head. The other students didn’t know that Carrie had telekinesis, the power to move things with her mind, and she takes out her revenge on and rage on everyone in the room.
The remake was the same as the original, word for word. Many of the same camera angles and shots were used in both films as well, so it stayed true to the original vision for the film. A scene depicting Carrie’s birth was added to the beginning of the new movie, showing that Carrie’s mother had considered killing her in fear that she was evil. Technology like the Internet and texting is used by Carrie’s classmates to bully her, which is a modern addition to the original. Also, Carrie finds out about her powers much earlier in the remake and takes the time to practice with them – this was not present in the original.
The new “Carrie” does stay close to the original as far as script and filming but I found it was lacking in other areas. While the original movie used shrieking, over-the-top music popular in the
’70s and ’80s horror films, the new one failed to recapture this experience.
The original actresses who played Carrie and her mother, Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie, did a very good job of characterization and giving you a sense of how creepy and strange the characters truly were. The new actresses didn’t quite evoke the same energy and Carrie was less creepy and more shy and awkward. The new Carrie wasn’t nearly as clueless and pathetic as the original, and the feeling of how creepy and different she was meant to be was lost.
The new film did exceed my expectations when it came to the end though. After the prank is played on Carrie she basically slaughters everyone in the room. This scene added more blood and gore than the original had and they made each death more personal and gruesome. Carrie takes her revenge out on everyone around her with no second thoughts and it was truly terrifying to see what she was capable of. Not even Carrie’s date or a teacher who had been trying to help her were safe from the horror she was bringing upon the room.
All in all, it’s a classic Halloween horror film that delivers the storyline and emotions well. I would recommend watching the original before seeing the remake in theaters to compare the two.
I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars.
