Review of Carrie (2013) by Mixersan — 21 Oct 2013

Squandered potential....I was really excited to see this movie. The book Carrie was probably one of the top three novels I've ever read. I absolutely loved it. As a man, I'd never sympathized with a female character like I did poor Carrie White, and really felt like I was feeling what she was feeling. You felt so sorry and miserable for her from beginning to end and you just wanted her to be happy. Of course it doesn't end up that way, and the terrifying finale is both thrilling and tragic at the same time.

Unfortunately, director K. Pierce decided to almost dogmatically follow the script from Brian DePalma's 1970's film. The 1970's movie was great, but it was great in its own unique way, and the way it played out was quite different from the book, but effective nonetheless. Sissy Spacek's unearthly and creepy performance was what made THAT movie great. Her transformation from strange-looking weirdo, to nice-looking girl at the prom was drastic, and then in the finale with the blood all over her she went completely demonic. It was scary and although the ending to the 1970's movie wasn't nearly as memorable as the book, Spacek's performance certainly was and made up for it.

What Kimberly Pierce seems to have missed, however, is that Chloe Moretz is not Sissy Spacek. Chloe Moretz is fantastic and likely a far superior acting talent, but she's a natural beauty and no amount of talent was going to allow her to be as plain/weird-looking, nor as terrifying and otherworldly (post climax) as Spacek. Had Kimberly Pierce clued into this at some point, Chloe might have have been allowed to give us a new and possibly even better portrayal of the titular character. Instead, Pierce clumsily tries to force Chloe Moretz to play Sissy Spacek and Brian DePalma's Carrie, instead of Stephen King's or her own version of the character.

This was an alright movie, and I certainly enjoyed it, but I can't help but scratch my head at how ineptly it was written and produced. Pierce had an opportunity to take one of the best thriller novels of the century and make it her own on screen with a bigger budget, better technology and top-notch acting talent. She elected instead to attempt a slavish copy of the low-budget 1976 version, and the results are predictably disappointing. It's really a shame.