Carrie (2013)

See the Movie

     With almost a complete absence of original films, who knows what’s going on with the latest remake/reboot/redo/sequel/prequel/mashup in theaters right now. What to call them? How to judge them? Sit back and enjoy them? Sure, that’s easy enough, but most of them are lame. Horror flick Carrie hits theaters this month and before I get into how it compares to the book, let’s consider what to call it. Back when Total Recall came out in 2012, everyone called it a remake because the Arnold Schwarzenegger version from 1990 is based on the same short story by Phillip K. Dick. It’s not a remake, it’s just another adaptation. The same is true with Carrie. It isn’t a remake, it’s simply based on the same book. And just like the new Total Recall, the new Carrie is useless, boring; total trash.

     I mean, it’s got good things going for it. Chloe Grace Moretz (Carrie) is a great young actress. She’s becoming quite the star. She does a decent enough job, but Sissy Spacek gave a much better performance. Julianne Moore (Margaret White) is an Academy Award winning actress, she can blow you away! But it seems a bit redundant to have an Oscar winner try to fill a role that was already nominated for an Oscar. In terms of film rewards, you literally can’t get any better than that. It makes you wonder…why was this movie even made? Well, I know why…because the recent trend is that really bad horror films make a lot of money. Insidious Chapter 2, widely considered terrible in comparison to the original, broke box office records. No matter how bad modern horror films are, they make loads of money.

Buy the Book

     The one aspect of the new Carrie that earns it points is its attempt to be more like Stephen King’s classic novel. It’s a pretty weak attempt but it gives us more moments taken right from the book than the Brian De Palma’s 1976 version. We see Margaret White giving birth to Carrie after she initially assumes the baby is cancer. We get more backstory involving Carrie’s father. All of these things are fleshed-out in the book but merely mentioned in the movie. It’s nice that the filmmakers tried to incorporate more of the book into their movie, but it feels hollow next to the book.

     The movie also contains a few excellent gore-filled horror scenes. None of them appear in the novel, but they add to the viewing experience. The scene when Chris and Tommy pay their due by Carrie’s carnage is brutal but wonderfully executed; an excellent use of slow motion. You really feel Carrie’s rage when she urns their tricks against them.

     This movie is obviously worse than the book. Even on its own it’s just bad. This movie was essentially made for those young enough to not have heard of either the book or the 1976 movie. But then again, it’s rated R. No one under 17 can buy a movie ticket! I don’t know what the purpose of this movie is. Don’t go see it. Read the book instead.