Carrie (2013)

Carrie (2013)

Carrie is a remake of a remake of a… well not exactly, but you get my point.  It is the most recent big screen adaptation in what I am sure will be a never ending cycle of remakes of the Stephen King horror classic.  Most movies based on King’s books fall horribly flat compared to the novel, but Carrie (the original and both remakes) are among the few films based on his work that didn’t fail miserably.  The only way I can make this review unbiased is to avoid comparing it to either of its predecessors.  I will say, however, that this movie is almost a shot for shot remake of the original, but with debatably better effects and a modern twist, but I will get to that later.

The Plot

Carrie (played by the adorable Chloe-Grace Moretz) is a shy girl who with the help of a raving, psychotically religious mother (Julianne Moore), is socially retarded.   Unfortunately for Carrie, she is the product of rape and her mother is incapable of getting over and forever holds against her.  Various scenes of Margaret wandering around the house toting sharp objects and hitting herself confirm she is nuts.  Because of her distrust of men, Margaret White is extremely protective and over bearing when it comes to Carrie.  She kept her daughter out of public school until someone had to step in for the sake of Carries education.  She also locks Carrie under the stairs, Harry potter style, to pray for forgiveness.  (Oddly enough, this isn’t the last HP comparison in this review).

Carrie, who is understandably shy and quiet at school, makes an easy target for the cuntiest group of females ever gathered, except perhaps the Mean Girls.  One day after gym, in a highly sexualised shower scene, the 16 year old Carrie discovers blood dripping down her legs.  She has absolutely no idea what is happening, and jumps to the conclusion that she is dying.  Admittedly, if I didn’t know what a period was and I was bleeding from the gash I’d freak the fuck out too.

Manages to be horrifying without anything horrible happening

Led by the supercunt Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday) these predatory bitches torture Carrie by throwing tampons, yelling, laughing and even filming her episode.  One girl, Sue Snell (Gabriella Wylde) is sympathetic to Carrie but doesn’t intervene, classic diffusion of responsibility.  It becomes immediately obvious that there is more to Carrie than mere appearances when she starts to scream, moving tampons around and flickering lights with her mind.  Ten minutes in and we already know Carrie is a telepath…   

As if the event itself wasn’t traumatic enough already, Chris posts the video online so everyone can relive the hilarity again and again.  People actually laugh and think the video is funny, are you kidding me?  The video draws attention from the staff of the school and Chris is banned from Prom.  This blow is the last straw and Chris decides to take it out on Carrie, the bitch who took it all away from her.

Rational thinking, should spend more time learning at school, less time fucking

Carrie, between experimenting with her powers and eating lunch alone, is asked to prom by the ultra popular Tommy, Sue Snell’s boyfriend.  Carrie justifiably thinks that the girls are just trying to continue the torture.  She is unaware that Sue feels horrible about hurting Carrie, and convinced Tommy to take her to the prom instead, hoping to make up for her actions.  After much pursuing from Tommy, Carrie finally agrees to go to prom.  What Sue and Tommy are trying to do is very generous and kind, but it unfortunately goes horribly wrong.   Once Chris finds out that even Carrie gets to go to prom, the ultimate prank is devised to make sure Carrie will be humiliated beyond recovery.  Seriously Chris is a sick fuck.

Carrie sets about getting ready for prom, purchasing some fabric and beginning to sew her own dress.  Margaret tries to dash Carries hopes of going to prom, claiming everyone is trying to trick her and laugh at her, and that men are pigs.  Carrie already pissed that her mom skipped the theory of menstruation in her home schooling, decides she isn’t going to back down and telepathically lifts her mother up into the air, showing she can’t be controlled anymore.  This unfortunately confirms Margaret’s ever present suspicion that she birthed the anti-Christ, loosing that last screw that held her sanity together.  Before leaving for prom, Carrie makes sure to lock her mother in the closet under the stairs filled with religious paraphernalia.  Tommy and the suddenly beautiful Carrie arrive at prom and have the time of their lives.  After being named King and Queen of prom the two proceed to have the best night ever and nothing goes wrong…. Well not exactly.

My Take

I really like Chloe-Grace Moretz as an actress.  It’s incredible she’s done so much and is only 16.  She is very talented and can play all sorts of characters.  Her transformation in this movie was very noticeable.  In the first half she looked awfully young and awkward compared to the other girls at school.  Later in the film when Carrie starts to come out of her shell, she grows more traditionally beautiful.  Is it creepy that I find her fascinating?  Probably a bit, but I’m ok with that cus I know I’m not the only one.  That being said, she may have been a bit miscast as Carrie.  Carrie is supposed to be homely and weird, and even if Chloe’s Carrie was a bit strange at times, I feel like she would have no problem fitting in because she is so good looking, and actually pretty normal on the inside.  Her peers would look past her weird mom in an instant, and Carrie would quickly become one of the most popular girls in school.  Basically she is too charming to play much of a social outcast.

Julianne Moore did an incredible job portraying Margaret.  She was very believable as the dishevelled, psychotic bible banger, who perverts the books meanings to suit her own beliefs.  She uses the bible and the Lord’s words as a kind of protective cover to insulate her guilt for having pre marital sex, even if it was rape.  She wants to protect her daughter from what happened to her at all costs, even if that means sentencing her to an isolated life with just her mommy.  She is also extremely unstable and unpredictable, wandering around the house with knives and such.  She makes an extremely unlikable character that is hard to sympathise with, even if from her perspective she is right about Carrie.  It’s nothing a little love and compassion wouldn’t fix.   

I love you.... as long as you're a virgin

In my opinion, handmade special effects can still be as effective, and in some cases more effective than CGI.  I felt that this movie went a little over the top with all of the CG, and would have done well to stick to more traditional effects.  Carrie practices her powers, levitating and moving things, but the CG makes it look cartoony and disconnected.  I was having wingardium leviosa flashbacks from Harry Potter when Carrie was making her books fly around her room.

Its LevioSAA

 I didn’t like the fact that she practiced controlling her powers either.  The finale would have been so much more effective if she had no idea how to control her powers, and they were acting on rage alone.

I really liked the slow build up to Prom though.  The character development was pretty good, and certain characters did manage to draw emotional responses from me.  I really did feel bad for Carrie, which I guess is the point of the film.  Even though she ends up as a notorious mass murderer, she still manages to glean empathy from me, which I believe to be an effective mind fuck.

The Verdict 

A good, albeit, unnecessary remake of a classic horror movie.  It will always have trouble living up to the original, as is tradition.  As a standalone movie I give it props.  It manages to capture everything that was good about the original, while changing enough to keep it modern.  I’m sure younger horror fans will appreciate this film for what it is, and the older horror buffs will scoff at it.  I’m usually a proponent of moving on, and I do believe that modern horror movies can hold their own against old classics.  This remake is worthy of the title Carrie, thus I give it…

7.4/10