This Halloween it’s time to make a change. Don’t waste your time watching a tasteless flick about the senseless group of stereotypical teens who get picked off one by one and dramatically slaughtered by a masked serial killer. Unless paranormal movies can come up with a new storyline to follow, you’re just wasting your time and money. The house isn’t possessed, you are. Yeah, we get it. Instead, if you should head to theaters this Halloween season, I recommend you catch the remake of the classic horror film Carrie.
Carrie, the newest remake of the 1976 horror flick, is based on the 1976 novel by Stephen King. This new version gives the story new life while still staying true to the original film and novel. Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) plays Carrie White, a timid high school senior who falls victim to both her insane mother and a nasty group of girls at school. As a coping mechanism, Carrie begins to develop telekinetic powers and is able to control and move things with her mind.
The creators of the Carrie remake take advantage of the times in displaying the development of Carrie’s telekinesis, while the limited cinematic technology of 1976 ultimately made the original fall short of expectations.
However, the remake has a tendency take it a bit too far, with Moretz using witch-like hand gestures in an unnecessary attempt to aid the special effects. At one point there’s an action that gets played back multiple times for dramatization, but the repeated playback comes off as cheesy. Besides these small details, the advanced special effects are utilized really well in the action scenes, allowing them to be much bloodier, detailed and exciting than ever before.
In regard to the storyline, the new Carrie does an excellent job of staying true to the 1976 film and even adds in additional elements from the novel. Since this remake has a modern day twist, cell phones and social media are incorporated into the plot, but are only there to aid the story and are thankfully not an overwhelming part of the film.
Julianne Moore’s performance as Carrie’s crazy, overly religious mother is stunning and possibly even better than that of Piper Laurie in the 1976 original film. Portia Doubleday does a fantastic job as Carrie’s tormentor, Chris Hargenson, and makes you hate her to the core. The makeup and costume design for both characters is incredible and gives so much depth to their characters.
Although Alex Russell, who plays Carrie’s crush, isn’t quite as dreamy as William Katt was as the original, he plays it off with a lot more charm and character development. The writers of the most recent Carrie added a nice touch to the film by reusing some of the lines from the 1976 script as a nod to the original. The film does, however, fail to incorporate the theme of teenage sexuality which contributed to the darkness of the original, making it seem a bit shallow.
One thing that made the original Carrie so great was its terrifically terrifying ending. The new version does not attempt to recreate this, but, instead, sums everything up a bit too plainly. There is also a detail taken from the book that had been left out in the 1976 movie but is completely altered in this version, possibly as a means for a sequel.
Carrie is worth seeing even if you haven’t seen or aren’t a fan of the 1976 version. Despite some of Carrie’s shortcomings, it’s still a classic horror tale that trumps any gimmicky killing spree or overblown paranormal activity.
Critic’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Selene SanFelice can be reached at selene.sanfelice@spartans.ut.edu