Did I ever tell you guys of my enduring love for Stephen King novels? I mean, I don't really like the endings to most of his books, but the stories are at least enjoyable. The first one I ever read was Christine, when I was 7 years old. I loved the ending to that one. Then the Stand. In fact, I think I read most if not all of Stephen King's novels. They made some decent movies out of them, too. Not great ones, generally, but decent. I loved the Sleepwalkers movie! But that's not what I am reviewing tonight.
Carrie (2013) is the remake of the 1976 movie with Sissy Spacek playing the titular role. This movie plays out pretty much like the first one. Carrie and her mom (a bit of a religious nut) live alone, and Carrie doesn't know a lot of things about life in general. One day a rather unfortunate event marks Carrie's entry into womanhood, and her school-mates make fun of her. Carrie doesn't like that. Burying her rage seems to bring forth the power of Telekinesis, the ability to move things with her mind. Some of her school mates, punished for their wicked wicked ways on Carrie's behalf, seek revenge on Carrie herself. Which, as you can imagine, is probably a bad idea. Then, everyone goes to the prom! Where all hell breaks loose. Yep. You knew it would.
I reviewed this movie some years ago, but I think I was a bit harsh on it the first time around. In the first movie, it really seemed obvious that Carrie's powers were telekinesis, but in this movie, I think I am beginning to wonder. Maybe this Carrie's powers are actually satannic or witchy in origin. She seems to wave her arms around a lot to focus her powers, unlike Sissy Spacek, who seemed almost entirely mental about it. It's entirely possible Chloe-Carrie's abilities were granted by dark powers in response to her mother's cruel and domineering religious bent. I mean, there's no Ouija board or anything, but aside from that, how many other horrific ghost-revenge stories does this mirror? A lot of them, no doubt.
Chloe Grace Moretz plays Carrie this time around, and honestly, she's too pretty to be Carrie. Carrie is supposed to be unpopular, and I never knew any really pretty girls to be unpopular. Chloe outshines pretty much all of her co-stars in this one in the looks department, so it's kind of a stretch for me to think of her as some unpopular wallflower. Julianne Moore is phenomenal as the crazed psychotic religious-nut mom, probably even doing a better job than the mom in the first movie, though it's a close call. There's no one in the rest of the cast who really stands out as exceptional, though a few of them were recognizable from other roles. Effects were pretty standard (and bloody) for this type of movie.
I caught this one on AMC's fear fest, so it's likely they will show it again at some point. Not sure where else it's up for grabs, but if you like Stephen King and absolutely must see all the incarnations of his film adaptations, then you can probably catch it there. Honestly, if you have the choice, I would recommend the first (1976) one. It's slightly better acted, has John Travolta in it, and I honestly think it had a better flow to it? I don't know, maybe I just don't like remakes that much. Still, the 2013 movie version isn't horrible, and if you can't get Carrie any other way, it's worth at least a watch.
In other news, there is no other news tonight. My chronic spinal pain is acting up, I missed my nap, and I want to game a little bit before bed. So I will bid you all a fond adeiu, and go take care of myself. Oh yeah, papa-bear needs some me time! See you peeps tomorrow, hopefully.
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