Hi, Bryan Here….

‘Carrie‘ was Stephen King’s first novel that was published to the masses, and it made him a writing sensation. Little did we knew back in the 70s that this mastermind would create some of the most horrific settings and characters known to man. Not to mention some of the best non-horror books around. In dealing with remakes, it’s difficult not to compare to the original, as we have the same story arc and characters. In this case with Kimberly Peirce’s take on King’s novel, nothing seems to be too different than the original other than that we are in present day with mobile phones and computers and a few very minor details. Julianne Moore and Chloe Grace Moretz turn in great performances and give this reboot a bit of flair, but the overall pace and execution of some of the key scenes felt vague and lazy. Being the Halloween season and this being a horror film, I expect decent returns for this weekend only.

The best parts of the film are when Moretz and Moore are on screen together. Their mother/daughter relationship is terrifying and creepy. While Carrie begs her psychotic mother to act normal and let her experience regular relationships and interactions, Moore is verbally abusive and is not above locking Carrie in a small closet to read the entire bible at the drop of a hat. Not to mention that Margaret has nothing but negative and horrible things to say to her daughter. And Moore pulls this wreck of a woman off perfectly and is very haunting.  Moretz has a lot to play with here as she gets to toy with being a regular teenage girl, going to prom, but also unleashing her dark side where she can kill people at the flick of a finger. Some of the key scenes here feel anti-climactic and go by too fast. At times it feels a bit lazy as well and rushed. I expected a grand and epic scene with the iconic pig’s blood spill, but I felt unsatisfied as it rushed us off to the next part of the story. The effects are solid and they seemed to use a bit of practical blood for the effects rather than the silly looking CG blood, which was a nice touch. The villains here are over-the-top evil and we only want to see Carrie get her sweet revenge unharmed. This isn’t the worst remake, but it isn’t stellar either. There is room for a sequel too, but I doubt we will get to that point.

2.5/5 STARS

-Bryan Kluger