Carrie (2013) - Lisa's Review

I chose this movie to watch for Shocktober as it was one I hadn't seen as yet and as it was a remake of a favourite of mine, I thought I'd give it a go.

Growing up, I watched A LOT of horror movies.  My dad was a big Stephen King fan, so we had a lot of VHS copies of his movies.  Before school (secondary school), I would pass half an hour or so watching bits of the movies, until I had been through the collection time and time again.  Being of a certain age, Carrie really resonated with me and still today remains amongst my favourites.  So what of the remake?

I'm not going to talk about a premise, as if you haven't see the 1976 version of Carrie, what the hell are you doing reading a blog dedicated to horror movies?  Instead I'll discuss my feelings about this movie, which I'm afraid means inevitably I'll be comparing it to the original movie.

For the first 20 minutes or so, I was pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail with the scenes and how they replicated the original movie.  Even subtle hand gestures and specific strong sections of dialogue are kept identical.  Something I noticed early on though, was that Chloe Grace Moretz just wasn't going to portray the complex character of Carrie with enough depth.  The sweetness and frightening innocence is lost and replaced by a misfit that's a bit shy.
As I watched, I couldn't help but see the original actors in my minds eye and feel disappointed by the unconvincing replacements in front of me.   I know it isn't going to be a carbon copy of the 1976 version, but having seen the original and knowing it in such intricate detail, I was made all the more aware how powerful the performances of the same character were back then and how sadly lacking this one was.  That said, Julianne Moore was excellent playing Carries mother - the religious nutter who won't let her daughter live her life, see's any show of skin as slutty and the start of Carries period (which we know is something Carrie doesn't even know about) as sinful.  A scene was added to the start of this movie in which Carries mum has just given birth to her.  I found this very powerful and perfectly illustrates the character of Carries mother.

Unfortunately Julianne Moore can't carry the movie all by herself, so I found myself in a perpetual state of disappointment and exasperation throughout.  Emotions and intentions that were so expertly conveyed in the original were sadly lacking here.  Little nuances were completely non existant.

Finally something which peeved me most about the movie was the removal of a concentration on relationships and the complexities of Carrie and her mother.  Instead our attention is directed towards Carries telekinesis.  This is something that we see in the original movie, but not something which is the main concentration. However in this movie we have Carrie harnessing her power with total confidence and pleasure in her abilities (completely wrong for Carrie).  She lifts objects in a room to float.  When that is not enough, we raise all the furniture.  Carrie even lifts her mother with her mind and throws her into the understairs cupboard!!!  This all culminates in the end of year prom.  In the new movie it is completely laughable!  Again the powerful scenes are removed and replaced with special effects.  Gone are Carries wide terrifying eyes as she destroys everything around her and instead we have a pointed finger which causes special effect after special effect.  I honestly was laughing at the scene (which I certainly should not have been).

Something this movie made clear to me, is how perfect the original version was.  You really shouldn't mess with perfection.  Some things I didn't mind, like the introduction of modern technologies to bring the movie up to date.  These guys however have completely changed the mood of the movie for me.  Also I now realise how strong the original soundtrack was and how much I missed it.  In my head I could feel it kicking in but alas no.  The soundtrack really does complement the movie perfectly.  In this new version though... No.  I have compared the movie with its predecessor a lot, but I can honestly say if I judged this movie on its own merit entirely, I would feel the same way.  The over concentration on Carries telekinesis and how her power is illustrated is ridiculous!  All I have left to say is "Where did the magic go?" Avoid.