"Carrie" (1976 vs 2013)

Ok...I think Stephen King’s creation is a very unique and grounded tale, certainly a classic, but as a horror...I’m not quite sure. Here we have Carrie White, a socially awkward girl, shunned by her peers in school, only to go home to her fanatically religious mother who (albeit unwittingly) abuses her. As the story progresses she realises she has the power of telekinesis. The thing about it is that we already know something horrific happened on their prom night, which has become legendary, so the mystery of the story is to find out how and why.

Some of the situations Stephen King puts this poor girl through are, frankly, barbaric and just show how cruel some people can be. Carrie has never actually done anything to them to deserve the horribleness they have shown her...at least, until the prom night. I think the media have blown it way up as this big scary horror story of this girl terrorising people, but personally I’ve never found either the original movie or the remake scary or the book for that matter. Carrie is just a lonely girl who would love some friends, but having lived with a mother as eccentric as hers, she hasn’t been taught the social skills and has developed such low self esteem, she doesn’t know how to approach people...resulting in them coming to the conclusion that she’s “weird” and therefore avoiding her or looking down at her...making the predicament worse. It’s a sad story, I think, and people seem to forget this aspect, instead only focusing on the “horror” of what happened and blowing this out of proportion. Had I started watching it under this pretence I don’t think I would have been so disappointed because as I say, I’ve never found it scary.

  

I recently watched the remake of this movie and I have to admit, while I was apprehensive, I do think I prefer it to the original. I felt that the pace worked better than the original, and it delved into each character far more – particularly the mother. We get a far greater understanding of her background and possibly how she came to be, well, the way she is, which is important obviously for those who haven’t read the book! I think this is possibly down to the casting. Julianne Moore plays Margaret hauntingly. Carrie’s mother was one character in the 1976 version which annoyed me more than anything else. While Piper Laurie is a brilliant actress, I have to say I just found Carrie’s mother irritating to watch, which I don’t think was quite the intended reaction. I didn’t find this as much with Julianne Moore...but I found Margaret White’s character is just irritating in general.

I guess it’s hard to compare the casting in both versions though because I suppose they’re both good in their own right. They’re set in completely different eras, really. The 2013 version introduces a far more modern “Carrie” that includes mobile phones, computers and social networks...which the 1976 version obviously wouldn’t have. I think Sissy Spacek’s portrayal of the awkwardly lonely school girl is very brilliant. It’s the expression in her eyes, displaying both fear and vulnerability which are both key to Carrie’s character. But I also think Chloe Moretz’s portrayal is perfect too.  There’s a certain innocence brought out by both actresses.

I like the scene in the classroom when Carrie is reading out the poem in the 2013 version. Carrie is so shy, so self-conscious and nervous. Yet even though this is evident, everyone is laughing at her, even the teacher gives a little smirk when she’s done. That is, all but Tommy Ross and Sue Snell, who are genuinely listening to what she’s saying and trying to understand her choice of poem, resulting in Tommy even standing up for her. Because, it’s one thing for Carrie to be bullied by her peers, but to have the teacher effectively join in with their jeering, that’s rotten, which makes it a more notable scene.  

Actually, I preferred Ansel Elgort’s portrayal of Tommy Ross, as opposed to William Katt’s...which I think is mainly down to the dialogue. The scene in which he asks Carrie to the prom and the scene when they’re actually at the prom in the 2013 version are played out better...in my opinion. Similar to Margaret White, we get more of a sense of his character, but also he’s portrayed as a nicer person and more understanding of Carrie.

 

 I also preferred Judy Greer’s portrayal as the PE teacher who looks out for Carrie, to Betty Buckley’s. There was a slightly nicer relationship between her and Chloe Moretz; she seemed that bit more understanding of Carrie, looked out for her more, if that’s possible. But again, I think this is down to the dialogue more than anything. During the tampon throwing scene we see Sue stop throwing them at Carrie in the 2013 version, whereas she’s basically portrayed as the ring leader in the 1976 version. While I like Amy Irving’s portrayal of Sue, I prefer the character in the 2013 version. I was interested to realise this was actually John Travolta’s first movie. He doesn’t have a terribly big role, but it’s interesting to see how he started off and how far he’s come since.

However, during the prom night, once the bucket of pig’s blood falls on Carrie’s head, the original is definitely better from there on out.

The moment the pigs blood falls on Carrie in the prom scene, Sissy Spacek’s expression is harrowing: shock, humiliation, shame, hurt, fright – it’s all there and so much more powerful. Sissy Spacek’s acting is just perfect. I like the editing in this scene as they play the voice of the mother telling her “they’re all going to laugh at you” over and over, as well as showing the tunnelled vision as she remembers all the nasty and insensitive things people have done to her. She’s hurting so much because she realises she was naive to trust any of them, even after what had seemed like such a perfect evening. In a way, this can almost understand more how such pent up emotions could have affected her enough to bring her to do what happens next. You don’t have that to such an extreme in the 2013 version. I actually think Chloe Moretz may have acted a bit too much during this scene, if that is possible. Sissy did everything with her eyes and it was much more ominous, while Chloe moved her hands and it just didn’t look quite as natural, or too deliberate. The character loses her innocence and the point of the scene is lost. The only thing I suppose is that a scene follows in which she shows remorse for what she did which I liked, as this doesn’t exactly happen in the original. I think, given the background of the character, it’s important that she does show some kind of remorse because it brings home the fact she was just a lonely girl in need of a friend. (though, ha-ha, that doesn’t excuse what she did!) The lighting in the 1976 version is so much more ominous and gives it a far more chaotic feel. I like how they showed both Carrie’s gradual reaction at the same time as the chaos beginning to unfold. Both aspects added much to the tension.

The way they filmed the final scene in the 1976 version is quite interesting. Sue (one of the survivors from the “legendary” night) moves with a very eerie walk towards the site where Carrie’s house used to be, and they achieved this by filming her walking backwards and then rewinding it for the film so that she would walk forwards. It’s very effective had they thought of the traffic! If you look closely you’ll see a car passing in the distance but driving backwards... However, the lighting and the white dress she’s wearing adds to the eeriness too. The music is sort of sad, but it works well.

Hmm...I think I would say both films are worth a watch. – Just don’t go in expecting to be scared because this was my frame of mind and I didn’t think much of the 1976 version the first time I watched it. I was prepared not to expect it sitting down to the 2013 version. But if you can appreciate the story then I think both would be worth a watch.

BOTH TRAILERS - 1976 vs 2013: