Carrie, the updated re-make of a horror classic about a supernatural high school misfit starring Chloë Grace Moretz is reviewed by Kidzworld.
By: Lynn Barker
We’ve all been bullied at some point. You might relate to high schooler Carrie. She doesn’t quite fit in at school. She’s ultra shy, dresses shabbily, has a super strict, even wacko mom and is over-the-moon when a popular guy asks her to prom. Oh, and she can move stuff with her mind. Hell hath no fury like a bullied prom date scorned!
(WARNING: This film is rated “R” for bloody violence, disturbing images, language and some sexual content. However, the movie almost got a PG-13 rating).
The Baby
Young Margaret White (Julianne Moore) has a baby alone and is so clueless that she thinks all the blood means she’s dying. She seems to resent the baby but keeps it.
Mom (Julianne Moore) sees Carrie in her bloody dress
Bullied and Outcast
Years later, in a quiet Maine suburb, super conservative and religious Margaret is raising her teen daughter Carrie (Chloë Grace Moretz) to be a carbon copy of herself; shy, resentful of her peers and, when Carrie slips up at all, she is locked in a closet to pray. At school, Carrie skulks around looking at the floor. She starts noticing that she can make objects move with her mind and begins researching mental powers.
Mom tells Carrie to pray
Am I Dying?
When Carrie gets her first period in the gym shower she thinks she is dying or bleeding out. Seems mom never even told her about having a period! Mean girl Chris Hargenson (Portia Doubleday) and her homies tease Carrie, laugh at her, throw tampons at her and of course video the whole thing and post it! Gym teacher Miss Desjardin (Judy Greer) is sympathetic to Carrie and tells Chris and her crew that they are banned from prom for their actions.
Carrie freaked out in the shower
A Friend?
Popular girl Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde) feels sorry for participating in teasing Carrie and convinces her hot jock boyfriend Tommy Ross (Ansel Elgort) to ask Carrie to prom to make up for it. Carrie is stoked, makes her own dress and dolls up, defying her mother who thinks becoming a woman is somehow “dirty”.
Chris and other mean girls video Carrie's humiliation
At the Prom from Hell
To get even for being banned from prom, Chis and her boyfriend rig up a bucket of pig’s blood and also fix the voting for Prom King and Queen so Carrie and Tommy will win. Sue and Tommy know nothing about this. Carrie wins, gets her flowers and is beaming when blood drenches her pretty pink dress. With her power out of control, Carrie goes ballistic on her tormentors and pretty much everyone else in the gym for prom. When Chris and her boyfriend try to run down a blood-drenched Carrie later in the street, she flips their car… and more!
Carrie in the street still getting even
The Aftermath
Going home, Carrie’s mom sees her and is vindicated.. yep, they laughed at you didn’t they? It was all a joke wasn’t it? Carrie washes off the blood but mom won’t stop harassing her, calling her a witch and more. Will Carrie use her powers on mom? Will even Sue survive Carrie’s vengeance?
Carrie moves something with her mind
Wrapping Up
Okay, my problem is that the original Carrie film is one of my favorites. I know every scene so it is hard for me to not “go there” in this review. Therefore, since director Kimberly Peirce copies a great deal of that Brian de Palma 1976 movie, it’s hard not to compare. If you do, this version of Carrie ends up fading in comparison. Sure there are a few new twists and certainly a needed updating involving viral video and cellphones but much is the same as in the earlier movie AND the novel by Stephen King.
Carrie is a joke in the halls
Although Chloë Grace Moretz does a fine job as Carrie, she is far less successful in portraying a terrified, shy-to-the-core teen girl as the young Sissy Spacek was. Carrie’s mom, as played by Julianne Moore, is far more softspoken and injured than was the feisty and in-your-face version that won Piper Laurie a best supporting actress nomination for her chilling portrayal.
Chloe on set going to shoot the prom scene
Will you enjoy the film if you know nothing about the original film and the book? I’d say yes. It’s still the ultimate “get even with bullies” movie and the supernatural havoc Carrie unleashes at the prom and after is updated and intensified for today’s audiences. There is also more interaction between Carrie and her mom that might give you more insight into their warped relationship. But, that impressive original film is there and stamped into my brain so I have to go 3 stars.
Carrie Movie Rating: 
Carrie Poster
