I've never really bought "Carrie" as a horror movie; the story of Carrie White has always seemed to me far more tragic than horrific. Obviously there are the elements of horror within the story such as massacre at prom, although some others might suggest this is more of a revenge fantasy by kids who wish to lash out on their school bullies. But Carrie White isn't your typical horror movie monster, we she becomes out of control, we want to help her not hurt her.
This new film version of "Carrie" borrows a lot from the original Brian DePalma film, but it fleshes out more of the sadness to the story that made Carrie so sympathetic in the first place. As remakes go, this one doesn't try to reinvent the wheel with the story, but it does try to offer a different perspective. It should be noted that this version was directed by a woman, Kimberly Pierce who is probably best known for having directed the film "Boys Don't Cry" which earned an Oscar for that film's star Hilary Swank. Pierce doesn't go for the grandiose approach so much as DePalma did in the original, instead she draws on a more character driven story measured on nuance.
In this version we start off with a bit of an origin story, at least when it comes to the relationship with Carrie's unstable mother (played here with mixed melancholy and madness by Julianne Moore). The opening scene shows Moore alone in her bed thinking she is dying but realizing she has given birth to Carrie. For a moment it's as if she's going to kill the new born infant, but seeing it as a test from God she decides to spare her life.
Carrie then grows up and attends high school, and it's here the movie goes through a lot of the same beats as the original; we see Carrie having her period not knowing what's going on while all girls in the locker room taunt her and throwing tampons at her telling her to "plug it up". The film actually goes extra cruel with Carrie by having the main bad girl Chris (Portia Doubleday) film the situation on her Iphone and post it on Youtube. The girls are reprimanded by the gym teacher Ms. Desjardin (Judy Greer who is always pleasant to see), and Chris misses out on the prom which prompts her and her criminal boyfriend to get their revenge. Meanwhile another girl who made fun of Carrie Sun (Gabriella Wilde) feels bad for what she did and wants to make amends by getting her boyfriend to go to the prom with Carrie, which of of course won't end well for anyone.
At times there are too many scenes in the movie that evoke the original too closely, which is when it falters, whether it's meant as an homage or not, there's too much of a deja vu feeling to it. However, where the film does succeed is with its different stance on how they treat their main characters. Carrie is depicted by Chloe Grace Mortez, a very expressive child actor who isn't afraid to tap in with her dark side as she did so well in that other horror remake she was in "Let Me In". Mortez plays Carrie with a sort of insecurity and mousiness, and when she realizes her new found power of telepathy there's more of a sense of curiosity that she doesn't see so much as scary but more empowering.
As Carrie's religion obsessed mother Julianne Moore creates a chilling creation by making her feel more real. In the original, Piper Laurie played the part with a comedic flare that fit in with the operatic tone of that film, but Moore is damaging and self hating, constantly hurting herself and not being able to get over the fact that Carrie feels like more of a curse than a blessing.
Unlike the original version, the grand prom night finale differs slightly, it's not quite the bloodbath depicted in DePalma's rampage, and it feels like theirs less of a body count, watch the people who do survive and why they are spared, almost as if to say Carrie's soul wasn't lost completely, she is even given one last bit of redemption in the end, something I think would be unthinkable by DePalma's standards. Some might say that this little bit of humanity Carrie holds onto in the end would make this less of a horror film, but as I said I never really saw it as one. Carrie White feels like one of those kids who never had the chance to be normal, she was thought on her whole entire life as a joke, or a curse either by her mother or the kids at school. If there's a silver lining to the story of Carrie White, it's that you don't think of her as a monster, you may be like Sue or Ms Desjardin who wanted to help her but in the end it just wasn't enough, poor Carrie White.
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