CARRIE (2013) – The Review

For nearly 40 years Stephen King has been providing Hollywood the  literary inspirations for dozens of cinematic fright flicks, along with a few dramas. This relationship all begin with the first hit movie adaptation of his first tome, CARRIE way back in 1976. Since then film makers have done their own interpretations of King’s novels and short stories. Other writers have even done sequels to the flicks. This happened with Carrie in 1999 with THE RAGE:CARRIE 2. There have been television remakes of the hit motion pictures such as with THE SHINING, and , yup, CARRIE, again in 2002. Well now Tinseltown has decided that the multiplexes need yet another version of the story of the girl with hidden talents. Director Kimberly Peirce follows in the foots of Brian DePalma and brings us a new take (version 2.0?) on CARRIE. Can she improve on that source of  70’s nightmares, or is it needless rehash trading in the rep of a classic?

In case you’ve not caught up on the story via cable or home video, this is the story of sheltered, mousey high school misfit Carrie White (Chloe’ Grace Moretz). One fateful day, in the girl’s shower room after gym class, she’s horrified by, well, the first signs of adult womanhood. Seems that Momma White never gave her the heads up on Aunt Flo’s arrival. Her classmates are not so compassionate to her plight who verbally taunt her and pelt her with sanitary napkins until PE teacher Ms Desjardin (Judy Greer) interrupts the sad scene. Said mother, the fanatical Margaret White (Julianne Moore) takes Carrie home from school and berates her with Bible verses before locking her in her tiny “prayer” closet. Ms. D punishes Carrie’s tormentors with detention combined with a grueling workout. The main instigator, cruel Chris (Portia Doubleday) refuses and is suspended and banned from the upcoming Senior prom dance. But her friend Sue (Gabriella Wilde) has an opposing reaction: she has empathy for Carrie. So much so that she convinces her beau, popular jock Tommy (Ansel Elgort) to take Carrie to the prom instead. Meanwhile young Ms. White realizes she has another trait that sets her apart from the other kids. She can move things with her mind, a condition known as telekinesis. When Chris hears of Carrie’s date with Tommy she vows revenge and begins a chain of events culminating in a night of horror and destruction. And you thought your big school dance was deadly!

This new telling features several talented actors who unfortunately don’t add that much of a different spin on the characters still burned into our minds from the original. Moretz, so riveting as Hit Girl in the KICK ASS series and the immortal vampire lass in LET ME IN, seems too mannered in her desire to make Carrie a social outcast. Her powerful screen charisma is buried under twitchy ticks, jittery glances, and an unnatural, distracting hair color choice (like a tangerine plasma). During the initial prom scenes, we don’t really see Carrie burst out of her shell and blossom. She’s just a tad less distracted. When Carrie does display her dark powers Moretz reverts to stiff robotic poses closer to a hackneyed Vegas casino lounge magician going through the motions for the 2 AM crowd. As the religious zealot matriarch, Moore too shifts her gaze away from non-family members while mumbling insults and scripture quotes under her breath. Back on her home turf she becomes a shrieking harpy saving her energy to toss her “demon seed” across the tiny house. The hair pulling and pinching  from the first film is now full-blown self assault with Moore banging her head against the walls and secretly piercing her flesh, a “cutter”. Despite these new flourishes, the usually engaging Moore doesn’t make Margaret more than a cartoonish parody of twisted parenthood, and the painful, screeching birthing opening scene adds nothing. As the other adult woman in Carrie’s life, Greer as the PE teacher is not intimating enough as she dishes out punishment to Carrie’s tormentors. She’s more annoyed than angry. it’s surprising that only one girl rebels. Later she’s more of a supportive older sister to Carrie at the dance, rather than a nurturing mother figure that the lonely girl needs. Greer’s a gifted comic actress who lacks some of the gravitas for this role. Doubleday is an amped up version of bad girl evil like a demonic Plastique from MEAN GIRLS as the conniving Chris. It’s tough to fathom how this seething ball of anger has any followers or friends. Wilde attempts to be the polar opposite, but often comes off as a too altruistic martyr. She’s a too saintly Betty to Doubleday’s wild-eyed Veronica. The fellas don’t fare much better. Elgort’s Tommy seems impossibly understanding as he agrees to Sue’s plans, but he does have one of the film’s few laughs as he compares himself to a current sports star. Alex Russell as Chris’s punked-out beau Billy is at the other end of the spectrum. While John Travolta was a dim-witted clod being lead by the nose, Russell is a take charge thugs who has almost as much contempt for Carrie as his paramour.

Peirce has ramped up all the action and incidents for the 2013 Carrie model, cranking the dial from 6 to 11. The original direction seems more reserved than the garish remake (and who would think that the flashy DePalma could ever be thought of as subtle). The levitating effects are so much more slick and flashy that they seem straight of several recent comics-based blockbusters. As Carrie floats (yeah, uh,uh) out of the gym we almost expect her to meet up with the trio from CHRONICLE, or bump into Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen trying to recruit her. After much of the overkill, I was stunned that the big prom was not the hellish apocalypse from 1976. It’s not a similar grand spectacle of chaos, perhaps because  of the far too many real life school massacres that have made headlines in the last couple of decades. It’s actually toned down! Pierce has tried to make the story fresh with nods to cell phone videos, social media, and cyber bullying, but it doesn’t add to the story structure. Nor do some odd plot additions. Why was a character added to a big climatic scene? What about her medical condition? And what about Carrie getting a paper cut from the prom ballot? A premonition perhaps? And while the original ended  with entire theatres leaping in fright, this conclusion just thuds to a halt. Beside showing off some CGI stunts and gruesome prosthetic makeups, this re-tooling (or is it re-imagining) brings nothing new to the tale. CARRIE is the epitome of the unnecessary remake. When I’ve got a taste for terror, well, I’ll pop in my disc and visit with the still astounding Ms. Spacek.

2 Out of 5