I Watch Films: Carrie (2013)
Carrie (2013)
A remake of Carrie (1976); Carrie White is unpopular and bullied at school, berated by her Christian mother at home for sin. She menstruates in the shower at school, not understanding she begs the other girls for help and they mock her, in this case one of them, Chris, films it and puts it on the internet. Chris refuses to accept the punishment for this event and is barred from prom. She and her boyfriend plot revenge.
Weird things happen around Carrie, things break. Her mother insists that her menstruating is due to sin. One of the girls, Sue, feeling sorry for Carrie, gets her boyfriend Tommy to ask Carrie to prom. They go, despite her mother’s attempts to stop her. Chris and her cronies pour pigs blood on her on stage, play the video, and Carrie’s telekinetic powers go berserk.
Updating the film into the cyber-bullying age barely alters the plot or characters, which does offer the question, what does this version do that the previous one didn’t? There’s some explication of Margaret White’s backstory, and why she turned to her faith, believing so strongly in sin. And the end section, as Carrie’s powers rampage, has more extraordinary and frankly gruesome effects. I can’t say that these make for a better film.
Watch This: Classic horror updated for the 21st
century
Don’t Watch This: You’ve watched one Carrie, you’ve watched
them all
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