Tuesday 21 January 2014

'Carrie' Review (with a few spoiler alerts, and GIFS!)












Hello again my readers! I know, you probably can't believe your eyes right now. Yes, I indeed have watched the 2013 remake of 'Carrie', and yes, I'm still alive. Was I planning to ever go near it? No. Am I glad I did? Well, I guess you'll just have to read on and see.












Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of horror. Not because I find it uninteresting or tedious, simply because knowing me, I don't think I can handle it. So, I even surprised myself when I decided to download it and give it a go. I mean of course it wasn't that simple. I legitimately read the parent's guide to determine whether or not I could handle it, how lame is that? Turns out, even the parents said that it was suitable for anyone 14 and over, so I sucked it up and watched it.










In hindsight, I actually don't even know what I was worried about. TBH time, it's not actually that scary. No one even dies until the last 20 minutes of the film. However, don't think this is me complaining, this is me rejoicing. If it were majorly scary, I'd be giving it a terrible review. Actually, I probably wouldn't be giving it a review at all because I'd be traumatised for life. I mean sure, some of this kind of stuff was thrown in at the end:









Yeah some scenes are pretty intense, and there's quite a bit of violence towards the end, but is it actually scary? Not at all.

If you haven't read the book by Stephen King or seen the 1976 Brian De Palma movie, 'Carrie' is the tale of an awkward, outcast teenage girl named Carrie White (Chloƫ Grace Moretz), who is forced to undergo abuse from her heavily religious mother (Julianne Moore) and extreme bullying from her classmates.









After a particularly severe case of bullying that was filmed and uploaded to the internet, the main culprits are threatened with having their prom privileges revoked by sympathetic P.E teacher Miss Desjardin (Judy Greer). The leader of the pack, Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday) attempts to fight against this ruling, however this backfires, and ensures her absence from the dance. Enter Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde), a guilt-ridden girl entangled in the group of bullies. She seems to make up for Chris's lake of a conscience by selflessly insisting that her boyfriend, Tommy Ross (Ansel Elgort), ask Carrie to the prom instead of her. After many attempts, Carrie reluctantly accepts his invitation. Expectedly, Margaret (Carrie's mother) doesn't take the news well. She isn't really given an option however, as Carrie suddenly whips out her telekinetic powers that she's been developing throughout the movie and doesn't really give her mother a chance to say no.












When Chris discovers that the girl she blindly hates is going to prom with Tommy Ross, she takes matters into her own hands and recruits her boyfriend, Billy Nolan (Alex Russell) in her revenge plan against Carrie White.

I'm going to stop there, as to avoid revealing the ending (despite the fact I think everyone in the world knows what comes next). If you don't know what happens however, I'll give you a hint, it sort of looks like this:
















And involves a whole lot of this:











Although I wasn't expecting it, I seriously enjoyed this movie. However, it seems that almost every single person who reviewed this movie other than me has said that it in no way lives up to the original. It's not like I've seen the original or anything so I guess I can't really judge, but those people need to stop being so critical (and that's coming from me). This movie isn't supposed to mimic the original or try and do a better job, it's just trying to make the story accessible and relatable to a younger, more modern, audience. Plus, I saw the trailer for the original, and that was seriously the lamest thing I've ever seen in my life. Also, note to the 70's cast, try not overacting for once, that might be good. And yes, I know I just criticised the acting of two Oscar nominees, and I'm sticking by that.










Anyway, back on track, I thought this movie was really awesome. It was more of a tragic teen drama than a horror movie (which again, is a good thing), but the acting was amazing and the fact that pretty much everyone died didn't bother me in the slightest. By the end of it, I guarantee you you'll be feeling the same way.











Also, just know that if you decide to download it (like I did), you probably won't know which ending you're gonna get. When I watched it, it ended with Sue putting a flower on Carrie and Margaret's grave, before cutting to her in a hospital starting to give birth to some sort of demon child. However, it turns out that this was only a dream, as we see a still pregnant Sue wake up screaming. Apparently, this is not the actual ending. When I read the entire plot online, it turns out that the intended ending involves Sue once again placing the flower on the grave, before the headstone cracks and Carrie's scream is heard. After some extensive researching, apparently there were 6 alternate endings filmed, so you'll either get one of the two I mentioned, or another one of the remaining 4 will be thrown into the mix. Or of course you can be totally legal and buy it on DVD when it comes out. No matter what ending you get, I highly suggest you give 'Carrie' a go.










That's the end of my review. I hope you enjoyed it, and possibly took on board some of my most likely incorrect opinions. If you decide against watching the movie, original or remake, keep in mind, there's always 'Carrie- The Musical'. Also, let's just take a moment to celebrate my diversity. One moment I'm reviewing 'Frozen', the next, I'm reviewing 'Carrie'. Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx

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