There are two kinds of remakes; those that update a flawed or dated original in a fresh way and those that pointlessly redo a great classic and add nothing new to the conversation in a cynical attempt to cash-in. Unfortunately Carrie, the latest film from director Kimberley Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry), falls more into the latter category.
This glossy modern update of the Stephen King story/Brian De Palma film tells of Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz), a put-upon and shy teenager sheltered by her over-bearing, religious fanatic mother (Julianne Moore) who is ridiculed at school for not fitting in with everyone else. After a cruel incident in the school showers, Carrie starts to notice she has strange telekinetic abilities which become increasingly more powerful as time goes on, leading up to her high school prom.
It’s not that Carrie is a particularly bad film per se, as a modern horror it ticks a lot of the boxes expected of it, but it just feels frustratingly inert and pointless in the face of what’s come before. It’s hard to watch it and not think of the seminal 1976, especially since it point blank recreates many of the iconic scenes that immediately spring to mind; the shower ridiculing, Carrie’s mother locking her in her prayer cupboard and, of course, the big chaotic showdown at the fateful prom. It’s all in there but feels at once a copycat and a pale imitation.
There’s also a casting problem going on when it comes to the lead role. Moretz isn’t bad in the role but she feels awfully miscast. She just doesn’t look convincing as a girl who would be a social outcast at her school. Sissy Spacek, who famously and brilliant played Carrie in the original film, had an other-worldly quality and a frailty to her that made you completely buy into her situation. The same sadly can’t be said of Moretz; she’s clearly a talented young actress, as shown in the likes of Hugo and the Kick-Ass franchise, but she’s simply not right for the role.
However, it must be said that Julianne Moore is excellent and perfectly cast as Carrie’s over-protective and obsessive mother, giving the film much of its dramatic weight. She’s clearly having a lot of fun chewing the scenery as she spouts rambling religious justifications for her actions. The film comes to life out of its moroseness whenever she’s on-screen.
Its attempts at making this a 21st century tale of small town horror amounts to nothing more than having the bullies at school record what they’ve done on their phone and upload it to YouTube. In this there’s a hint at something interesting but it weirdly drops that aspect pretty much as soon as it’s brought up and never does anything with it again. As a result it feels slightly old fashioned, almost as if this is what the parents of a teenager think is what is current but have no real grasp of what makes that feel real.
The film’s biggest flaw, however, is that it never feels menacing or tense in the run up to the inevitable big finale. Instead of slowly building tension scene-by-scene, making us dread what’s to come, it merely feels like it’s going through the motions until it can unleash all it has to offer in that big, most famous of scenes. Even that would be forgiveable if that scene was particularly memorable but the trouble is it doesn’t last long enough and the over-reliance on CGI dilutes its effect.
As a retelling of the classic story, Carrie merely seeks to remind you how well it was adapted in the first place or, indeed, the power of King’s original novel. As a modern horror for teenagers (or even as a horror-tinged teenage drama) who may not be familiar with the original it functions fine but is spectacularly ordinary. As unnecessary remakes go there’s far worse out there but it’s unnecessary nonetheless. Dare I say just watch the original?
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