Carrie (2013) Film Review

Based on the Stephen King novel, Carrie (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a girl only recently taken from being home schooled by her mother (Julianne Moore) and put into school where she is relentlessly bullied, but with her newly found powers, she is able to extract bloody revenge.

The book Carrie was fabulous, the first film was wonderful, even the stage musical was pretty interesting, so why make a new one? I had heard that this was pretty average, but I quite liked it. The addition of some internet posting and the like was cool, Julianne Moore was amazing as usual, and I also love Chloe Grace Moretz, but essentially, it captured the awful bullying really well, and the explosions at the end were heaps of fun. Still, I’d probably go the old one over the new, but hey. Still worth watching.

 

Carrie (1976) Film Review

For the book review of Carrie by Stephen King, click here.

Another horror classic that me, being a total wuss, has avoided until this day. And another that, thanks to advances in technology and special effects, I found laughable rather than freaky. Although when Sissy Spacek has blood over her face and does those freaky eyes… I’ll probably have nightmares of that.

Carrie is a girl raised by a crazy religious nut who gets her first period in the showers during a strange and romantically film sequence. Not knowing what it is, she thinks she is dying. The other girls in her class throw sanitary pads and tampons at her, and are punished. One in particular, Chris, who refuses to complete the detention, is not allowed to go to prom and plans revenge, unaware that Carrie possesses telekinetic powers and will destroy them all.

It was possibly budget constraints that contained Carrie’s wave of destruction to the school dance rather than destroying the whole town. The concept of the book was true in the film, but the film didn’t work as well on several levels. First was the soundtrack that was, at times, completely appalling. I can forgive the special effects as they were limited by technology at the time, but to have the opening sequence in the showers like some soft porn/cheesy romance was awful. It’s worth watching for a laugh, but don’t expect to get freaked out. Now, if I can bring myself to watch the recent remake, perhaps I may freak out.

Carrie was nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Sissy Spacek) and Best Actress in a Leading Role (Piper Laurie).