Carrie-2013

Director Kimberly Peirce

Starring Chloe Grace Moretz

Scott’s Review #110

Reviewed July 15, 2014

Grade: C-

Carrie is a 2013 remake of the classic 1976 horror masterpiece of the same name directed by Brian De Palma and adapted from the Stephen King novel.

Comparing the two is difficult since the original is brilliant.

The remake of Carrie showed some potential in the first half as the setup developed, and it’s overall fairly entertaining.

Carrie White (Moretz) is a bullied outcast teenager with telekinetic powers. She can move things, usually when she’s angry.

Her mother, played by Julianne Moore, is a repressed Christian woman with issues about sex (among other things).

Following a cruel encounter in the locker room, one of the popular girls, feeling guilty, talks her boyfriend into taking Carrie to the prom.

Chloe Grace Moretz is okay as Carrie but hardly seems nerdy or homely enough to pull it off completely. She could easily have portrayed one of the popular girls.

Julianne Moore is too sympathetic to be believable as the crazy Mrs. White, so that doesn’t work either.

Finally, the actresses playing Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde) and Chris (Portia Doubleday) should be reversed. Chris is a despicable character, comfortable as the queen bee, but Doubleday plays her as awkward and insecure.

Meanwhile, Wilde feels better suited to play a vicious, bitchy character.

So, the casting has issues.

In the original, the audience feels Carrie’s rage and cheers her on in her revenge, but that doesn’t happen in this version. There wasn’t enough justification to warrant the revenge.

And since when did having telekinesis result in being able to fly?

Carrie circa 2013 is a pale imitation of the classic 1976 horror film, but I suppose not a complete dud either.