Saturday, 25 August 2012

Mini Carrie Review + Images of 2013 remake

Widely regarded as a horror classic the 1976 adaptation of Stephen Kings novel 'Carrie' earnt criticlal acclaim as well as a well deserved Oscar nomination for the outstanding Sissy Spacek. Unfortunately however 'Carrie' is the newest victim in Hollywood's remake book's, where Hollywood take there most coverted of classics and remake them for the 'modern audience' (a small minorety of people who seem incapable of sitting through a film without good CGI).

 Although this constant flow of remake's/reboot's is deeply frustrating and disheartening, I can do nothing to stop them, so I'm just going to have to grit my teeth, as I see a classic film being destroyed in 'glorious' 3-D.  Having watched Carrie recently, I can safely say that I really enjoyed it, I wouldn't quite describe it as a horror classic, however it certainly has touches of pure genius. The build-up is perfect, as we follow Carrie throughout her day, constantly being mocked by others around her, unaware of the power that she posses. Her mother (Piper Laurie) a christian radical, obsessed with keeping Carrie away from sin, provides an extremely uncomfortable performance, driving the story along, allowing Carrie to transform her persona and ultimately cause the destruction. The tension builds to a terrific level however, this tension doesn't translate into a sufficient length of sustainable coherent horror. Instead it just disappointingly fizzles out.  The film's main 'saving grace' is Sissy Spacek who not only looks visually terrifying, but also provides a convincing case  as the peculiar, oblivious girl Carrie. Something that Chloe Grace-Moretz will find hard to achieve.

 Don't get me wrong, I think Chloe Grace-Moretz is a fantastic actress especially considering her young age. Her performance in 2010's 'Kick-ass' was unpresidented for a child of her age, shouting profanities and decapitating drug dealers, with immense style and emotion it was difficult to comprehend that she was only 11. Here however, I think she is totally miscast and slightly 'out of her depth'.

 Take the recent image that was released of her in the role, remaking the pose that defines the original. Sinister? Not really. In comparison to  the exceptional Sissy Spacek, Chloe Grace-Moretz looks simply too young in this role, and therefore coincidently makes her character quite unbelieveable. Facial feature's still remain fairly child-like as apose to Spacek's adolescent figure, her physical height causing daunting intimidation, and her slim prominent facial features creating an unfamiler sense of discomfort that simply isn't achieved with Grace-Moretz.

The actress attempting to recreate the frighteningly dominating performance of Piper Laurie, falls to the responsibility of the highly regarded Juilianne Moore. While I have no doubt that she'll produce a satisfying performance, I do believe that without that mother figure poignantly performing, the fear that Carrie has of her mother won't be as realistic and sinister as it should be. Despite the lack of a dense wilderness of curly hair, Moore very much looks the part, displaying the innocent robes of Margaret White.

 Although I'm dreading this 2013 release, the original can be improved upon. While it may not be in the department of acting, there are certainly some story potholes that can be 'turfed over' in this remake. Chloe Grace-Moretz is a good enough actress to pull off the performance, however I highly doubt she could top the orginal Spacek performance. As long as the films important main ideas remain prominent, this film should be be satisfying enough not to be disappointing, after all they are following a tried and tested story. Just please don't display it in 3-D!

Calum Russell





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