Director: Kimberly Peirce
Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Gabriella Wilde, Portia Doubleday
Running Time: 100 minutes
Certificate: 15
Blu-ray Extras: Feature Film With Alternate Ending, “Bringing Back Carrie” Featurette, Deleted/Extended Scenes with Commentary by Director Kimberly Peirce, Commentary by Director Kimberly Peirce, The Power of Telekinesis, Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise, Theatrical Trailer
There hasn’t been a more ambitious retelling of a classic horror story since the absolute disaster that was the Nicolas Cage rejig of THE WICKER MAN back in 2006. Like that movie, which was brought to the screen by Neil LaBute, CARRIE is helmed by a respected filmmaker in the form of BOYS DON’T CRY’s Kimberley Peirce, who returns to direct for the first time since 2008’s lukewarm war drama STOP LOSS.
CARRIE is a modern-day version of the classic Stephen King novel which has been turned into a film very successfully in the past; the 1977 adaptation by celebrated director Brian De Palma, and then again in 2002 as a far less well-received TV movie written by Brian Fuller, who has seen huge success since with Pushing Daisies and more recently Hannibal. Here, Chloë Grace Moretz assumes the role of the title character, the tortured and tormented Carrie White, a 15-year-old with strange telekinetic powers, and is the first teenage actress to play the character after previous incarnations Sissy Spacek and Angela Bettis were well into their twenties at the time of filming.
It is very difficult to watch this without thinking of the greatness of De Palma’s film and the brave, breakout performance delivered by Spacek, but, judging the film on its own merits rather than to the flawless effort De Palma delivered in the late seventies, this is not actually a bad little horror film. Yet, you can’t help but feel that it suffers from some of the limitations of what it can show on-screen, whether that be for the rating set by the studio, or the age of its central cast member. That said, there are some really cringe-worthy moments (mostly involving Julianne Moore’s self-harming Margaret White) rather than the big gory horror set pieces that we might expect. However, there is a particularly gruesome scene towards the end of the film involving a car windscreen that will have you turning away from the screen and gripping the side of your seat as it plays out before you.
Like LaBute’s version of THE WICKER MAN before it, it’s hard not to expect something with a little more depth and substance from such a celebrated filmmaker. The 2013 CARRIE is on a par with the quality of the recent slew of films that Michael Bay’s Platinum Dune have churned out, save that awful NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET remake from a couple of years ago. It’s generic, disposable fun and nowhere near as bad as you may have expected, but it’s way off the standards set by the excellent 1977 version.
[usr=3] CARRIE is out now on DVD and Blu-ray. You can pick up a copy here and have a read of our exclusive interview with director Kimberly Peirce.
Jordan
Apr 3, 2014 at 3:15 am
Having read the original screenplay by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, I can safely say that the original script didn’t follow the same structure as the 1976 film. Yes, there were a few homages here and there, but it was a whole new take on the story. On his official Facebook page, Roberto said that the screenplay kept changing and that Kimberly wanted to follow Lawrence D. Cohen’s screenplay. In a recent interview, Kimberly Peirce revealed that she re-wrote the script, but still kept a lot of elements from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s screenplay.
I think the shooting script was more of a mixture of Lawrence D. Cohen’s screenplay and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s screenplay. Before the film was delayed, there was a lot of positive feedback from those who attended the first test screenings in December 2012. A number of people confirmed that the original cut was longer and a lot different than the theatrical cut. I remember watching a video on YouTube where two guys reviewed the film (without giving away spoilers) based on what they saw at the test screenings. They confirmed that the film was a lot different to Brian De Palma’s film and was more closer to the Stephen King novel.
I personally believe that the studios interfered with the editing of the film. The theatrical cut wasn’t what Kimberly Peirce wanted to release in theatres. It’s like they re-cut the film, dumbed it down and gave us a remake of Brian De Palma’s 1976 film. Watching it, I knew it wasn’t Kimberly’s voice in the movie — it was the studio. It genuinely is a heart-breaker to know that something must have happened during the editing process. A story as loved as “Carrie” should be given the version that it truly deserves.
Based on fan speculation, test audience feedback, and certain confirmed details concerning the film — the deleted and/or extended scenes include:
-The original opening was a flashback of Carrie as a little girl spying through a fence on a female neighbor who is sunbathing. The young woman notices Carrie and starts to make conversation with her. Carrie tells her that she can see her “dirty pillows” and the neighbor explains to her that it is normal for women to develop breasts when they get older. That’s when Margaret White appears and snatches up Carrie, screaming and yelling at the neighbor. She calls the young lady a whore, telling her to stay away from her child, and Carrie gets upset and begins to cry. Suddenly, it starts hailing. Pellets of ice come down on top of Carrie’s home while Margaret runs into the house trying to console her daughter. The neighbor just stares in disbelief as the hail rains down on the White residence, and only the White residence.
-The White Commission [The film had integrated several courtroom scenes with witnesses giving testimonies of their experiences with Carrie White leading to the prom incident, essentially structuring the film as a series of flashbacks and recollections. The neighbor from the alternate opening scene is shown at first, now an adult woman, recounting her experience. There is also a scene featuring a TK Specialist discussing telekinesis and saying something to the effect of Carrie being one of many people who may be born with this genetic anomaly. It’s been said that the White Commission scenes revealed too many prom survivors which the filmmaker’s felt spoiled the climax]
-There was ‘found footage’ that played a role in the film. That’s why you see Freddy ‘Beak’ Holt carrying his camera around and filming everything.
-There was more scenes detailing more in depth character development.
-There was more scenes involving school life, social media and bullying.
-“Wipe that smile off your face.” – Chris to Carrie at the pool.
-Chris and Tina kiss [Extended]
-Scenes involving Facebook, the e-mail sent from Chris to Donna Kellogg. “So I’m out of prom and my [censored] father says he won’t give them what they deserve.”
-Billy’s wild ride [The “blowjob scene” – similar to the 1976 version]
-An interaction between Chris and Carrie outside the dress shop.
-The confrontation between Sue and the mean girls
-Carrie levitates Margaret [Extended]
-Drive to the pig farm [Extended]
-After Tommy leaves the table to get some drinks, Carrie and Miss Desjardin have a friendly and meaningful conversation.
-Carrie and Tommy kiss.
-Billy kisses Chris.
-Margaret claws her way out of the closet and goes over to the sink where she retrieves a butcher knife and cuts herself and utters: “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.”
-Sue tries to call Tommy from outside the school to warn him that something bad is about to happen. He rejects the call.
-The prom scene as a whole, which was said to be longer and more violent than the theatrical version.
-Tina on fire [Extended]
-A scene or shot which reveals George’s and Erika’s fate.
-There were some really creepy stuff that was unfortunately cut during post-production, like some “dancing” dead students. Our source is not completely certain about this detail or its placement within the film. But it was either in a deleted scene where Carrie snaps the limbs of prom-goers or during the electrocution scene which was supposed to be more graphic and longer. In the novel, it was described as a “crazy puppet dance”.
-The scene of Carrie levitating outside of the burning school was actually re-shot. In the original version of that scene, Carrie was standing in the centre of the lawn, waiting for the remaining students to come out of the burning school before telekinetically picking them off one by one.
-After Carrie leaves the school, she begins to destroy part of the town by causing explosions, bringing down power lines as she follows Billy and Chris. You can see a few seconds of it from the aerial view. If you look behind Carrie, you can see that several cars are in flames.
-When Sue is outside the school with Miss Desjardin, she sees Tommy’s body being carried out on a stretcher. Miss Desjardin tells Sue that she’s sorry and Sue walks away with determination to find Carrie.
-Margaret’s original death scene – possibly similar to the book version which depicts a heart attack caused by Carrie’s power.
-The multiple endings
1) After Carrie saves Sue by pushing her out of the house, which collapses from the falling stones, there’s a bird’s eye view of the wreckage of what used to be Carrie’s home before we get a quick CGI zoom through a pit of debris, to a close-up of a now bloodied Carrie snapping her eyes open.
2) We see Sue making a final speech to the court where she says the line heard in the teaser trailer about Carrie being just a girl, not a monster. This is spoken over scenes of Sue and her family visiting the cemetery. Sue goes to Carrie’s grave, which shows the headstone tagged up and vandalized. She leaves her flowers and just walks away. Nothing scary, just a very sombre closing shot of the headstone.
3) After Carrie’s house is destroyed by the falling stones, the movie flashes forward to several months later. We see Sue in the hospital surrounded by doctors and nurses, ready to give birth. They’re trying to calm her down but Sue begins to struggle, saying she feels something is wrong. Suddenly, a very bloody hand (covered in afterbirth) erupts from between Sue’s legs, reaching up and gripping her arm. She screams in terror and we see that she is having a nightmare, being held down by her parents while the camera pans over to a wall where we are shown a large crucifix hanging in her room.
4) There was a “morning after voice over” by Sue Snell as we see the town coping with what happened.
5) We see the town the morning after Carrie’s attack filled with news crews, reporters, and cops talking about the whole thing. What’s bizarre about this scene is that Carrie’s destruction of the city is being described as “a conspiracy.” Apparently the town is “trying to cover up what really happened.”