I’ve always been a fan of horror movies, even as a young girl.
I was 8 years old when the film Carrie was released in theaters. My mom would never let me see it. I had to wait until I was older and the film appeared on TV before I could see it. I liked it. Especially the ending.
Carrie was recently remade. Some movies I feel should never be remade because a remake would never match the original. Carrie is one of those films. Since I love horror movies I was curious to see how good the “new” Carrie was.
Chloe Grace Moretz stars as Carrie White, a young, timid girl who has lived a very sheltered life with her crazy mother. Carrie had been homeschooler until her mother was forced to enroll her in public school.
Carrie had a difficult time fitting in. She had no friends and the other kids made fun of her calling her “Crazy Carrie”.
Carrie’s mom, Margaret White (Julianne Moore), is a very religious person who is clearly “off her rocker”. Even if you never saw the original Carrie you’ll see that Margaret White is “not right in the head” in the opening sequence.
Carrie’s mom never taught her the facts of life. In fact, Margaret referred to women’s breasts as “dirty pillows” which made Carrie think they were “dirty” too.
One day after gym class when Carrie is taking a shower she discovers that she is bleeding. She freaks out and begs the other girls in the locker room to help her. Carrie is unaware the she had her first period. Her mother never taught her about the changes her body would go through. Carrie thought she was dying.
Carrie’s classmates found this incident to be amusing and instead of showing Carrie any compassion they taunted her and threw tampons and pads at her. Thankfully her gym teacher, Ms. Desjardin (Judy Greer), arrives in time to stop the girls.
Ms. Desjardin tries to explain what is happening to her body, but Carrie is too freaked out to comprehend.
Margaret White shows up at school to take Carries home. When Carrie questions her mom about what is going on with her body her mother forces her into a closet to pray for forgiveness.
As a result of teasing Carrie, several of the girls from the gym class are forced to do some strenuous exercising. One of the girls, Chris, happened to take the entire incident and upload it to YouTube.
Chis revolts against Ms. Desjardin’s punishment. As a result Chris is not allowed to attend prom.
One of the other girls who initially made fun of Carrie, Sue, feels really bad about what she did. In effort to make up for it Sue asks her boyfriend Tommy to take Carrie to the prom in her place.
Carrie doesn’t trust Tommy at first but he finally wins her over and he takes her to the prom. Carrie’s mom tries to stop her but Carrie locks her mom up in order to go to the prom.
Initially at the prom Carrie is not trusting over the other kids, or Tommy. It takes a while but she eventually warms up to the idea of being at prom and has a wonderful time.
Unbeknown to anyone, Chris and her boyfriend have something planned for Carrie. They arrange for her to win prom queen so that they can humiliate Carrie in a horrific way.
What does Chris to do Carrie? How does Carrie react to the evil thing that is done to her? I won’t give away all the details in case you are not familiar with the story, but I will say that Carrie has the ultimate revenge for her tormentors. You’ll have to pick up a copy of Carrie, available today where ever movies are sold, to find out what happens.
I honestly started watching this movie a big jaded. I didn’t think it could stand up to the original. I was pleasantly surprised that the movie was really good. Dare I say that I liked it more than the original? The special effects in the remake were great. The special effects in the original movie can’t even compare.
Chloe Grace Moretz did an excellent job portraying Carrie. Chloe is no stranger to playing a creepy girl (Let Me In, Dark Shadows). I think she’s rapidly becoming Hollywood’s “It Girl”. When I think about the other young actresses that could have played the role of Carrie I don’t think anyone could have pulled it off better than Chloe.
Julianne Moore wins my award for craziest person. She was REALLY convincing as Margaret White. Julianne had “crazy” written all over her face. She’s such a beautiful woman, but in the film Carrie she had a real “helter skelter” look about her.
There are plenty of bonus features including an alternate ending and deleted/extended scenes and features about Telekinesis (which Carrie has in the film). Be sure the watch the featurette in the coffee shop. 🙂
Here is the film’s trailer for your entertainment. This is the theatrical trailer. The film is no longer in theaters.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Yona says
Ahhhhhhh – I would love to see this movie! I see all the Carrie remakes.
sandy weinstein says
i have never seen any of these movies, dont like scary movies….gives me nightmares
Linda Szymoniak says
I love the original version of “Carrie” and like you, am hesitant about giving remakes a chance. Most just don’t hold a candle to the original (or at least don’t fit the mold of what I have in my mind with regard to the original version and the actors in it). I will admit, I’ve been disappointed by too many remakes, so I’ve put off watching this one. You have my curiosity piqued and now I’m going to have to give this version a chance.