Thirty-seven years after Brian De Palma’s “Carrie” came out, Kimberly Peirce retells the story in her 2013 remake. Now both renditions are a click away with a Netflix account. Both movies tell the story written by Steven King about an awkward high school student who can’t cut a break from the bullies at school or her radically Christian mother.
The main way that Peirce modernized the original was by incorporating modern technology. I felt that the film made more of a statement about the current problems with adolescent bullying and how the increase in technology has contributed to this problem. For example, during the shower scene Peirce incorporated cell phones being used to videotape Carrie being harassed and later the video is uploaded to the Internet for everyone to see. Might sound familiar since this has been an ongoing problem in schools. The film seemed to incorporate a lesson to bullies. In the first film, Carrie shows no mercy. She kills nearly everyone, including the gym teacher who did nothing but try to help her. The only one who survives is Sue Snell, but she must continue her life haunted by the horrors she saw. In the new rendition, Carrie spares the ones who were kind to her and brutally kills those who humiliated her. The film seems to suggest that bullies will be punished, and do-gooders will be saved.
The second film also went into more detail about certain aspects that seemed vague in Palma’s rendition of Carrie. For example, Carrie’s mother gets a lot more screen time, which could be expected since Julian Moore is cast as Margaret White. Showing her self-harming throughout the movie showed just how psychologically damaged she really is. In one of the more disturbing scenes, during a conversation with Sue Snell’s mother Margaret, she proceeds to secretively stab herself in the leg without even a wince. Scenes like this were important character development moments for the remake.
Of course what remake wouldn’t add more gore and special effects. We have come a long way with in the past 30 years, so might as well put it to some good use. Special effects certainly helped Carrie’s telekinesis ability look real. Special effects let Peirce show Carrie learning how to use her powers, like raising her bed. And the mass murder scene at the high school was about twice as long as the first one. There also was a significant increase in gore and graphic deaths. For example, the boy who gets enclosed in the bleachers, the two girls who get trampled by the crowd, and the best gore scene of all was the death of mean girl, Chris Hargensen, which had been altered and improved from the first. The gore improved tremendously from the first, but nothing can beat the horrific look on Carrie’s face in the first. Eyes should not be allowed to bulge like that.
Although some changes really added to the film, a lot of the film was almost identical to the original. The shower scene in the second film has identical close up shots of Carrie’s body, minus the nudity and almost identical dialogue. Peirce could have at least come up with a new phrase used to torment Carrie instead of, “Carrie eats shit.” Maybe this seemed incredibly cruel in 1976, but it doesn’t seem as mean the second time around. Other very small changes were also made, instead of Carrie flinging a hose spraying water around prom she utilizes the wiring. Instead of Carrie liking Mr. Popularity, Tommy Ross’ poem, he likes her poem. Differences such as these just seemed pointless and made absolutely no difference.
The second film is an improvement from the first; aesthetically pleasing, better graphics, and more detailed. However, if you’ve seen one you’ve basically seen them both.