Movie Breakdown: Carrie

People are doing traditional-style reviews all over the web, so we decided to try something different.  In each “breakdown” we’ll take a look at what a film’s marketing lead us to believe, how the movie actually played, and then what we learned from it all.  Read on!

The Impression:

Stephen King’s Carrie gets a do-over.  As usual, the world is indifferent to the idea of yet another remake of a horror classic.

The Reality:

Most of you are going to do one of two things when you watch Carrie.  Either you’ll nitpick every detail that doesn’t match up with the original, or you’ll just sit back and let the film play out.  Surprisingly, your reaction will probably be the same no matter which side you’re on.

Carrie is a mostly solid movie with a handful of entertaining moments.  Overall I thought it did a nice job of updating Brian De Palma’s 1976 version, but it was difficult to not be disappointed with how it didn’t bother attempting anything spectacular with the source material.  It simply exists as a modern version of the story.  Surely a remake should deliver more, right?  Otherwise what’s the point?

The Lesson:

The next Carrie remake is probably going to be great.