Monday, 18 June 2018

Dollhouse Review and Meeting The Stars

Dollhouse Review
The show is not Joss Whedon’s best by any means but it is one the most underrated shows that was robbed to reach it’s full potential.

The Dollhouse is an illegal organisation that wipes people’s minds and temporarily reprograms for specific purposes – dream dates, sex, heists, assassinations. These people are known as ‘Actives’, people who are running from their own lives are now living in an underground luxurious home as blank slates until their next assignment. The series follows Echo, played by Eliza Dushku, an ‘Active’ formerly called Caroline and her journey to become self-aware.

It is fun watching Echo and fellow ‘Actives’ Victor, played by Enver Gjokaj, and Sierra, played by Dichen Lachman, go on various assignments as different characters. The first season mostly consists of standalone episodes, which contain subplots that build-up an overall arc that takes front and centre in the second season.

I’ve heard quite a few criticisms over Eliza Dushku’s performance, saying she’s not convincing enough at playing multiple personalities. While I agree she’s not as diverse as Enver Gjokaj or Dichen Lachman in these multiple roles, I feel that it works to her advantage. What she absolutely nails is Echo’s evolution throughout the show, a character who is a blank slate slowly becoming self-aware until she becomes a rebellion. Every personality she goes through leaves an impact, some big and some small, and Eliza is able to subtly show Echo’s slow growth as a character going from zero to hero.

Other main cast and characters include: Tahmoh Penikett as Paul Ballard, a police officer trying to expose the Dollhouse; Olivia Williams as Adelle DeWitt, a high ranking official of the Dollhouse; Fran Kranz as Topher Brink, a scientist who controls the memory wipe and implant technology; Henry Lennix as Boyd Langton, Echo’s handler for her assignments. What I love about the characters on the show is how morally complex they all are and play against type. Like the workers in the Dollhouse are technically the bad guy roles but they are presented as normal people we all enjoy following. Paul Ballard plays the role of the hero trying to rescue Caroline/Echo, but his methods aren’t always the best and the role of hero belongs to Echo herself. Even Echo we find isn’t always morally right, especially when we find out her original personality Caroline even though had good intentions wasn’t all that nice.


It’s unfortunate that this show did not get renewed for another season with all potential presented in individual episodes; ‘Haunted’ where she’s imprinted with a recently murdered rich woman and through Echo solves her own murder, which is an interesting way of dealing with life after death that could’ve been explored more; ‘The Attic’ which is Inception-like dealing with psychology which could’ve made a several episode arc and the two ‘Epitaph’ episodes could’ve taken up a whole season and would’ve taken the show to a whole new level. Still I’m thankful for what we’ve got and it is nice enough that Joss Whedon was given notice so that he end the show in the most satisfying way possible.

It’s worth seeing or giving a second chance, it’s a beautifully smart show that deals with themes of identity, slavery, free-will, exploitation, activism.



Meeting The Stars
I met Eliza Dushku in 2016 at a convention, Starfury Vampire Ball 7. It is mainly a convention celebrating ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ but it also tries to celebrate other vampire shows and Joss Whedon’s work. She was an absolute wonder, she has an incredibly laid-back personality and talks to people like how you meet someone at a pub. I remember when I had my photo-shoot with her I had a folder which I should’ve left with a steward. I didn’t want it in the photo, so I was unsure what to do with it. In a little dilemma and really excited that it was my turn with her I ended up just kneeling to put it down on the floor and nearly forgot to pick it back up. She just thought it was funny and has a really sweet laugh. 


I also got her sign to my Dollhouse boxset, which I will treasure. During a panel I asked her what her favourite episode was and she said ‘Haunted’ because it was a challenge because Joss made her do the episode with her hair tied back and her hair is her comfort zone, and jokingly called Joss a “bastard”. I also asked what her what was like to voice Catwoman in ‘Batman: Year One’, she said she loved getting in touch with her feline-side but in reality prefers dogs to cats saying “cats don’t like me.”




I also met Miracle Laurie who played Mellie at the convention, unfortunately I didn’t bring enough money for a photo-shoot with her. I hope to get one with her in the future as she was absolutely lovely and has a wicked sense of humour. I remember at one of the parties she joined in at the party dance songs and had a lot of energy. I did manage to get an autograph with her and that minute I got with her was really worth it. I asked her at the same panel with Eliza about her favourite episode and she said ‘Man On The Street’ for the “three flowers in a vase” scene.


Friday, 8 June 2018

The Halloween Sequels

In celebration of the Halloween 2018 trailer being released click here I thought I’d deliver my thoughts on the sequels. None of the sequels hold a candle to John Carpenter’s original classic. There are things to like in the follow-up series so they are worthy of checking out but they haven't aged well, the original is the one that has timeless quality that was never matched. I am looking forward to the new film in October 2018, it's a brand new sequel to the original that will omit all the other sequels - plus Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode, as well as original Michael Myers actor Nick Castle and while John Carpenter is executive producer. I’ll talk about the original 1978 Halloween in a separate review probably when the new film is released.

Halloween II (1981)
I like that it starts right where the original left off and continues events on the same night. Unfortunately the style change between the two is noticeable, the slow pace and suspense has been replaced with more gore and jump scares. The side characters take up a lot of screentime and they are all clearly just there to be killed off. The brother-sister twist seemed so unnecessary, Loomis is told this and it's not brought up again for the rest of the film, we don't even get to see Laurie's reaction. The latter sequels and even the remake series do make better use of the twist but this just feels like an afterthought, even John Carpenter admits he was drunk when he came up with the idea. Laurie is pretty wasted in this film, she just stays in a hospital bed for most of the film until the third act when she gets to shoot Michael. Loomis’ sacrifice at the end is pretty awesome.

Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982)
This is a very good as a stand-alone film but it doesn’t belong in the series. I get they wanted to make the series into an anthology series, but fans weren’t having it and wanted Michael back. I think if they hadn’t made Halloween II then this anthology idea might have worked out. It’s very creative and original and deserves to be looked at.

Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (1988)
It's ok but this film is really just a rehash of the first two films. Jamie Lee Curtis wanted to move away from horror films, so they killed Laurie off and the new target for Michael is Laurie’s daughter Jamie. Danielle Harris is very talented and Jamie is a likeable character to route for and being a child does help raise the stakes. Her foster sister Rachel is also a likeable character. Dr Loomis returns and appears to just have scarring on half his face and a limp after a major explosion, but it’s still Donald Pleasence and he’s still awesome. Michael’s mask looks ridiculous and very cartoonish. The ending is excellent with Jamie in the clown costume stabbing her foster mother being a major callback to the prologue to the original.

Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers (1989)
This undoes the excellent ending to Halloween 4, Jamie didn’t kill her foster mother just wounds her, she’s not become the new-Michael she's just temporarily insane due to a psychic connection to him. Michael has been unconscious the past year looked after by a hermit and gets a new mask, which is just as ridiculous. Rachel is wasted and is killed off early on and we have to follow this obnoxious character Tina that you just can’t wait to see die. We return to the Myers house that looks nothing like the original, which just goes to show they weren't even trying. It sets up a load of questions they had no intention of answering yet – What is that mark on Michael’s wrist? Who’s the man in black who released Michael at the end? What happens to Jamie at the end?

Halloween 6: The Curse Of Michael Myers (1995)
Gives terrible answers to the questions left in Halloween 5. Michael’s mark is from the cult of Thorn, who cursed him to kill his family, the man in black is Dr Wynn from the mental hospital. Jamie has been kidnapped by the cult, imprisoned for years until she’s old enough to carry Michael’s child- yes it's just as disgusting as it sounds. Apparently many of Donald Pleasance's scenes got cut down which is an insult as he died during post-production. Danielle Harris got treated poorly so did not reprise her role. The whole film is just a mess, the editing is terrible and the gore is ridiculous. On the plus side Paul Rudd plays Tommy Doyle, the boy Laurie babysat in the original. 

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
After Halloween 4, 5 and 6 the series got so ridiculous that they decide to omit them from continuity and go back to basics. Therefore no Jamie or cult of Thorne. The movie is very 90's and tries to follow the self-aware slasher trend after Scream. While this is one of the better sequels I don’t think it holds up well. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie and she is awesome, everything to do with her are the best parts. Laurie is sill traumatised 20 years after the event, she’s an alcoholic and a medication addict. She’s also a single mother to a teenage boy John and is headmistress at a private school. She’s been the victim all of her life but when Michael shows up again, after running she decides enough is enough and has a final showdown with Michael. The film also features then young talent Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Undoes Laurie's triumph in H20 in a ridiculous way, Laurie has killed the wrong person whom Michael switched clothes and mask with. Laurie has been in an institution and has another showdown with Michael and is killed 15 minutes in. According to Curtis, she was in this film as part of an agreement so that she could have Laurie kill Michael in H20 but she would have to retcon it in this. Then it becomes a reality show film set in the Myers house, which is not a bad concept for a slasher film but it belongs in the wrong film series. On the plus side, the production designers actually made the effort to make the Myers house look like the original, unlike 5 and even 6. Busta Rhymes is very annoying as the reality show producer, the new protagonist Sarah is 1-dimensional and boring and her friends are obnoxious.



I like Rob Zombie’s remake series, they’re no classics but I like that he makes them his own. I’ll probably review them at a later date as it’s own series and not part of this series.

Wednesday, 30 May 2018

Carrie Review

Carrie was Stephen King’s first book to be published in 1974 and remains one of his most popular pieces of work.  So much so that it received three film adaptations, in addition one of them received a sequel, there is a Broadway musical adaptation and has been referenced in several films and TV shows.

My personal favourite adaptation is the most recent, made in 2013 by director Kimberly Peirce starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. I’m sure a lot will disagree, after all the first adaptation made in 1974 by Brian De Palma is considered a classic and cultural icon, also being a rare horror film to receive Academy Award nominations. The 2002 adaptation also has a few fans as well, as it is considered ‘more faithful’ to the book. In this review I’ll be looking into the three film adaptations and how they represent the book. I will be explaining why I feel the 2013 adaptation better represents the book and why I feel it’s a great film in it’s own right.

This is a spoiler-heavy review on all them, here’s a summary of the story for all of them:
Carrie White is a teenage girl who has lived her whole life in abuse from her overly religious mother, Margaret, and bullies at school. After a humiliating experience when she receives her first period in the school showers, she begins to discover she’s able to move things with her mind. When the girls at school are punished for the way treated Carries, one of the girls, Sue Snell, decides to make it up to her by getting her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to take Carrie to the prom in her place. Carrie accepts against the pleading from Margaret not to. While evil girl, Chris Hargensen, wants revenge on Carrie for her punishment and she and her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, rig the prom ballots so Carrie will crowned Prom Queen and then dump pigs blood on her. This sets Carrie power to go into overdrive and kill almost everyone at the prom.

Structure

The Book
·      The book has an interesting structure, it’s non-linear and is almost like a case study on the horrific event and Carrie White herself. There are no real chapter breaks; the novel is in two parts with an epilogue. Instead there are scenes that are separated by extracts from newspaper articles, books, interviews etc. The book is also relatively short compared to most of Stephen King’s work; the copy I own is 242 pages long. It is very much an anti-bullying story, an allegory for real-life tragedies caused by bullying and abuse. With the telekinesis used as a metaphor for finding your inner power and the misuse of it.
1976 Film
·      Director Brian De Palma abandons King’s non-linear structure and omits all the extracts and interviews to tell it as a straightforward story. De Palma’s adopts his unusual style of directing, giving the film an art-film like style. The film mostly plays out like an unsettling teen-drama that becomes a horror in the third act. 
2002 Film
·      The 2002 adaptation is a TV film, which served as a pilot for a TV series that didn’t go ahead. This film attempts to stick King’s non-linear style by breaking up scenes with detectives interviewing survivors of the tragic event. The film is pretty much an investigation drama and a supernatural teen-drama.
2013 Film
·      Kimberly Peirce, like De Palma, tells the story more straightforward however she weaves King’s social commentary into the story more and updating it to fit today’s audience. She tells the story as like a superhero origin story with an anti-bullying message and a tragic ending.

Characters

Carrie White
The Book
·      Despite being the title character, she feels less of a protagonist and more of a subject. She was considered by many to be ugly and overweight, incredibly shy and awkward. In scenes where the reader gets to spend with time with her, she displays rebellion against her mother, even using profanity. There was this suggestion that she was never a weak person, just that people made her think she was.  When she discovers her powers, she’s able to stand up for herself and let her true self come out. She also displays quite a sense of humour especially at the prom with Tommy and his friends, telling jokes. Her physical flaws are emphasised quite a bit in the first half being overweight, spotty and having colourless hair, while the second half the narrator states it as fact that Carrie is beautiful.
1976 Film
·      Played by Sissy Spacek, she does capture the shy and awkward loner pretty well. She’s also likeable and is easy to feel sorry for that you want to root for things to go her way. What I feel lacks in her performance is the rebellious side, even when she stands up to Margaret it doesn’t feel earned and comes across as forced. The sense of humour seems to be lacking as well, she still comes across as awkward during the prom when she’s socialising. The most memorable part of her performance, most likely what got her nominated, was the death stare she gave during the prom massacre. Just the image alone of her standing wide-eyed covered in blood. God that look is scary!
2002 Film
·      Played by Angela Bettis, she was considered to be the highlight of the film even by the haters. Like Spacek she nails the awkward loner but she’s able to display Carrie’s sense of humour as well. In fact I enjoy some her comebacks (Chris “She tried to talk me into getting Botox”, Carrie “Maybe she thought you needed it”) and I laughed when she was secretly reading teen magazines in her praying closet. However she lacks the rebellious side in the confrontational sense, she seems way to calm throughout the rage towards the end doesn’t feel warranted.
2013 Film
·      Played by Chloe Grace Moretz, I want to start by saying that I do not agree with the criticisms that she was miscast for being too pretty. It did not matter, she gave a stellar performance. Also pretty people get bullied too, even Moretz herself has said she was bullied in real life. In fact I have a point to make later how physical beauty is portrayed in the film. I also feel they were successful in making her look awkward compared to the other teenage girls, for example she’s clearly younger than them which works because Carrie is a late bloomer, it’s easier to buy that we’re watching a girl become a teenager. What Moretz nails is the awkward feelings to be around other people, I remember being an awkward teenager myself and doing what she did, shrug my shoulders, fold my arms, hesitate etc. I also loved watching her grow in confidence as the film goes on. We get to bits of it early as she angrily tells her mother why she’s wrong about the bible and why she’s the sinner, so you can the strong person she can become. I love seeing bits of Carrie’s dark side, like knocking the knife on the floor to scare her mother and that smile on her face as she does it. She’s also quite likeable, Moretz has got a lot of charm in her facial expressions and line deliveries that you would like to interact with her.



Margaret White
Book
·      Margaret is highly religious and mentally unstable, she’s quite reclusive and looks down on other people, believing everything they do is a sin. She met Ralph White and they had sex once out of wedlock, feeling guilty they vowed never again even after they were married. Then one night he raped her and she enjoyed it, which conceived Carrie. Ralph later dies and Margaret believed her pregnancy was a cancer from God as punishment.
1976 Film
·      Played by Piper Laurie, she’s portrayed as much less reclusive than the other versions as she goes to other people’s house in attempt to convert them to Christianity. It’s also implied she does her bit for the church too. This is the most over the top portrayal; she’s quite theatrical in most of her line deliveries that it’s hard to take her seriously at times. Laurie is able to add depth when Margaret reveals her backstory to Carrie. But then it goes comical when she takes pleasure in stabbing Carrie and then getting stabbed herself.
2002 Film
·      Played by Patricia Clarkson, who does a great job with what she’s given to work with. Due to a lot of obvious censoring, the religiousness and disturbing aspects of the character are toned down. Very little is revealed about her backstory and her screen time is minimised to just her essential scenes.
2013 Film
·      Julianne Moore plays her and I’m just going to say it, she deserved an Oscar. She was terrifying! Closer to the book, Margaret is not just an overly religious person but also is someone with mental health issues. It’s heavily suggested she doesn’t understand Christianity very well as she mentions things that aren’t even in the bible. In most of her scenes we see her self-harming in disturbing ways. Unlike Laurie and Clarkson who look well groomed, Moore constantly looks haggard and her hair is messy. I also like that they humanise her, we see her drive a car, we see at her job as a seamstress. I also like the motherly-love she displays in between the abuse, I do believe she genuinely loves Carrie and wants to be a good mother, like when she let her out of the closet she gives Carrie something to eat, kisses her and plaits her hair. This is the most maternal portrayal of Margaret, the other versions including the book she displays very little love. She’s still a scary character but she’s also easy to sympathise with.


Sue Snell
Book
·      Sue was one of girls, who bullied Carrie but feels really bad about it, even after being punished. She attempts to make it up to Carrie by convincing her boyfriend to take Carrie to prom in her place. After the disaster she still tries to help Carrie, Carrie forgives her when she could see into Sue’s mind and see that she never meant any harm. The White Commission tries to use her as a scapegoat for the incident, but she fights it off and writes a book telling her perspective of events.
1976 Film
·      Played by Amy Irving, who is likeable enough and does a great job with what she’s given to work with. This version is largely downplayed from the book, mainly because the film tries to keep her intentions unknown to the audience until the third act. Letting the audience think she may have talked Tommy into taking Carrie to prom because she was in on the prank, then the audience realise she was not when she sees the rope and bucket. It’s confusing as she was the first to throw towels at Carrie and scream “Plug it up” and doesn’t seem to show remorse until the detention scene. We do get to see her explain she’s trying to help Carrie when she’s confronted by Miss Collins and later to Frieda but we are still supposed to suspect her. We don’t see her during the actual prom massacre and she doesn’t go to see Carrie after either. While we see the guilt she has at the end, having extreme nightmares about Carrie, we don’t get much personality out of her. Irving was given a second chance to bring more depth to the character, in the 1999 sequel Carrie 2: The Rage. Where we learn she spent time in an asylum after the event and became a school counsellor. She notices student Rachel has telekinesis and discovers that she’s Carrie’s half-sister. She attempts to warn Rachel but fails as she loses control at a party and Sue is killed with a spike through the head. While it was nice to see Irving do more with the role, Sue’s character still suffers from achieving nothing and being killed off in a pretty dumb way.
2002 Film
·      Played by Kandyse McClure, the film features her quite heavily in the interview portions as well as the main story. While this Sue is faithful to the book and we are let in on her good intentions. However I wasn’t too keen on McClure’s performance, throughout the main story she had the same facial expression and her line deliveries were quite bland, that I didn’t really buy her as either a bully or someone who’s remorseful. I did enjoy her though during the interview scenes, when she was giving her perception on certain characters and religion there were some dialogue that she was able to pull it off with a wit in her delivery.
2013 Film
·      Played by Gabriella Wilde, she’s able to bring a warmth and compassion that was lacking in the previous portrayals. Like in the book, she feels guilty immediately and confides in Tommy about it. After accepting her punishment, she realises from Chris that it was about getting to go to prom, which drives her to the decision to not go and get Tommy to take Carrie in her place. There’s a moment in the book where Sue thinks she maybe pregnant, here it’s expanded upon – Carrie senses Sue is pregnant with Tommy’s baby and forces Sue out of the house to safety while it’s crashing down. It helps serves as a redemptive moment for Carrie who unlike Margaret sees the joy in pregnancy regardless that it’s out of wedlock, leaves Carrie with hope after losing the will to live.


Chris Hargensen
Book
·      Chris is the ringleader of the girls who bullied Carrie, when refusing to go to detention Chris is banned from attending prom. Chris has little to no redeeming qualities, she’s spoilt, sociopathic with a history of bullying several girls brutally (firecracker in a girls shoe).
1976 Film
·      Played by Nancy Allen, I feel is way she’s too likeable to be taken seriously as a horrible person. While she is convincing enough as the queen bee, most of her scenes are played comically and Chris just comes across as a cardboard cut out. I don’t mean any disrespect to Allen, after all she’s Robocop’s badass sidekick Anne Lewis, now that’s the role she was born to play!
2002 Film
·      Played by Emelie De Ravin, she’s portrayed as almost pure evil at the start as she declares that she hates Carrie at the beginning for literally no reason and has a terrible attitude towards teachers in general. Yet however towards the end she does show a bit of a soft side, as she hesitates about pulling the rope and is shocked when Billy tries to run Carrie over. It seems like this Chris is someone who thinks she’s powerful but in fact she has no power at all.
2013 Film
·      Played by Portia Doubleday, who gives a terrific performance as this nasty character. She’s convincing as the high school mean girl, who loves being in control and has a short temper. She’s more sociopathic than the previous versions, after Billy bashes a pig for her she slits it’s throat without any hesitation. This Chris is a bit of a social media and technology addict, she not only filmed the shower incident and posted it online, one of the first things she does when she gets home is check her computer. She also can’t resist texting Sue bragging what she’s about to do with Carrie, despite a warning from Billy. Despite being an evil person, there are small moments that humanise her, when she sneaks into the auditorium you see the sadness in her face that she’s missing prom, attempts to check on Tommy when he’s hit with the bucket and then attempts to text her dad for help in the midst of the massacre. But ultimately she’s still evil, as when she sees Carrie on the road she yells at Billy to run her over and even tries to do it herself.


Miss Desjardin
Book
·      She’s like a surrogate mother for Carrie and a stark contrast to Margaret. While at first disgusted with Carrie and slaps her during the shower incident, she regrets it and apologises to her. She heavily sympathises with Carrie, trying to comfort her and severely punish the girls who bully her. She bonds with Carrie with her own prom story and survives the prom massacre by escaping through the vents.
1976 Film
·      The character is renamed Miss Collins and is played by Betty Buckley. While she doesn’t apologise to Carrie for slapping her, she still sympathises with her and is given a scene encouraging confidence in Carrie after being asked to prom. Then she confronts Tommy and Sue suspecting they’re pranking her. Like the book she shares with Carrie her own prom story, which is a touching moment. This is the only version to be killed during the prom massacre and quite brutally as Carrie crushes her abdomen with a basketball rafter. This is likely because through Carrie’s eyes Miss Collins was laughing at her too.
2002 Film
·      Rena Sofer plays the more badass version of the character, as she angrily confronts the bullies and throws tampons at them. She has an aggressive tone with the girls and like the book tells them they are all ugly. She gets to show her softer side sharing her prom story with Carrie and telling her that she can put high school life behind her. Like the book she escapes through the vents and she tells the detective the bizarreness that she has witnessed.
2013 Film
·      Judy Greer plays the softer portrayal of the character, when she tells the girls their punishment she’s more calm. When Chris resists, she tells the girls because of that how severe their punishment is and has a little gloat. She also displays initiative by bringing up Chris’s video against her father who attempts to get her fired and get Chris her prom privileges back. Because Greer is a mostly comedic actress, they do use a bit of humour, especially her over-the-top dance at the prom. While we don’t get to see her share her prom story, she still gets the scene like Miss Collins encouraging confidence in Carrie and confronting Tommy and Chris. Like in the book, she apologises to Carrie for slapping her. Her kindness has impacted Carrie, who deliberately levitates her away from electrocution and pushes her to safety.


Tommy Ross
Book
·      Sue’s boyfriend, whom asks him to take Carrie to prom. He’s very reluctant at first, believing Sue’s plan to be crazy but goes ahead with it anyway. He ends up enjoying Carrie’s company at the prom, possibly even falling for her. Not much is known about Tommy’s personality, he’s mostly just a nice guy. Although he has a bit of a backstory as he reveals to Sue he beat another student who used to beat him. After the blood dump, the bucket drops on his head, which presumably caused his death.
1976 Film
·      Played by William Katt and I have to admit I can’t take him seriously mainly because I’m always distracted by his blonde perm. There’s no mention of him beating up someone in his past. He secretly shows compassion to Carrie in English class, she speaks out saying Tommy’s poem is ‘beautiful’, which Tommy uses as a way to get her to accept his invitation to prom.
2002 Film
·      Played by Tobia Mehlor and unfortunately I can remember hardly anything about his portrayal. He’s mostly a generic good guy and not much else. Although he does get one standout moment at the beginning, where he hits a guy for picking on Carrie – which I guess is a nod to his backstory in the book.
2013 Film
·      Ansel Elgort portrays Tommy and he is very easy to like, as he does bring personality to the role. Like in the book, he confesses his backstory to Sue. Tommy sticks up for Carrie in English class after she reads out a poem and the teacher mocks her. Later he shares her interest in poetry as a way to bond with her and talk her into going to prom. Elgort and Moretz have great chemistry on screen, you believe they genuinely enjoy being with each other. When he tells her “You’re beautiful”, you know he means it. When the bucket on his kills him, you feel Carrie’s grief that when she snaps you feel that with her.


Billy Nolan
Book
·      Chris’ abusive and controlling boyfriend and a gang leader, he conducts the plan for the prank and slaughters a pig.
1976 Film
·      Played by John Travolta and while I do like him a lot as an actor, he’s easily the biggest miscast out of everyone. I can’t help but feel this version of Billy was nothing more than proto-Danny Zuko. Billy is supposed to be an evil gang leader, who is quite abusive and controlling of Chris. Here he doesn’t seem evil, he’s just pathetic, nothing more than a doormat to Chris’s evil plan. Even when he slaps her, it’s played mostly for humour and doesn’t across as abusive and more like a kid lashing out.
2002 Film
·      Played by Jesse Cadotte, who I got to say gave a pretty chilling performance, he has such a cold expression in his eyes I wouldn’t want to go anywhere near him. When he threatens to kill Chris if they get caught, he barely moves, he just gets under your skin. He’s very manipulative and controlling that he actually makes Chris look good in comparison.
2013 Film
·      Played by Alex Russell, who is less cold than Cadotte but is equally abusive and controlling. Probably physically as he grabs Chris and threatens her to kill her if they get caught. He also forcefully stops Chris from texting her dad during the massacre.


Norma/Tina
Book
·      Tina and Norma are friends of Chris who may have switched the ballots so Carrie can be crowned prom queen. They escape with Miss Desjardin through the vents and Norma tell her perspective of the events
1976 Film
·      Norma is played by PJ Soles, who plays both characters’ roles while Tina is just an extra. Norma is Chris’s best friend who switches the ballots so Carrie would be crowned. Soles gives a memorable comedic performance and she always wears a redcap in every scene, including the prom. She does get a lame death though as she’s knocked unconscious with a firehouse.
2002 Film
·      Katharine Isabelle plays Tina, she is Chris’s best friend who switches the ballots at prom. Isabelle’s performance is extremely over the top, every moment you see her onscreen she’s pulling faces and/or fidgets, which gets so annoying. There’s even a moment where she growls at Carrie like a dog. Her death couldn’t come sooner for me, as a basketball board crushes her. Isabelle starred in Ginger Snaps another horror film which deals with an outcast coming-of-age through supernatural means and she was great in that film, but awful in this. Norma’s character, played by Meghan Black, is altered from the book as she’s not involved in the prank. In fact she’s picked on by Chris and Tina but unlike Carrie she’s doesn’t let it get it to her, she’s not afraid to speak her mind and is Class President. Like in the book, Norma survives and gets interviewed by the detective.
2013 Film
·      Zoe Belkin plays Tina, while Norma is not present. This is the least memorable depiction as she’s mostly there as Chris’s right-hand with little personality. She play’s her role of switching the ballots so Carrie would be crowned, but she also adds to the cruelty by playing the shower video after the blood dump. Also there’s a subtle look exchange she and the nasty English teacher share, implying they may be having an affair. She gets the best death though, as Carrie whips her with electric cables until her dress catches fire.



Carrie’s Rage

Book
·      After the blood dumping, people laugh hysterically Carrie runs off the stage as Miss Desjardin tries to help her and Carrie thinking she’s laughing too forcefully pushes her away. She runs and gets tripped up which makes the laughter even louder, but she makes it out of the auditorium. Then she decides to get her revenge, she goes back seals the doors shut and turns on the sprinklers. Then gets carried away as all she’s got on her mind is “Power!” and begins killing everyone setting the place on fire and electrocuting people on the wet floor. Norma says she saw Carrie look through the window with a smile on her face.
1976 Film
·      I like that we see the laughter through Carrie’s eyes, we know a lot of people laughed but it’s left up to audience to do decide if Miss Collins was actually laughing or Carrie just saw it that way. I’d go with the latter as it would’ve been out of character. Carrie’s widen and appears to be in a catatonic state and looks around at everything she does. She seals the doors and sets off the firehouse, kills Miss Collins and sets the whole place on fire and leaves everyone inside to die. While she was aware of what she has done, it’s suggested her powers went into overdrive and wasn’t in control of it. After it’s over, she appears confused and then starts to cry realising what she’s done.
2002 Film
·      Like the 1976 film, she goes into a catatonic state however she’s not aware of what she was doing. When it’s over she has no memory of what happened and is confused.
2013 Film
·      The video of the shower incident is played after the blood dump, adding to the humiliation. Similar to the book, Carrie runs off the stage and Miss Desjardin tries to help her and Carrie pushes her away. However, when Tommy is killed by the bucket she goes back and cries over his body. The anger she had supressed for years, finally gets the better of her and lets out her rage with a force knocking everyone down. She has a lot of anger in her face and she uses her hands to orchestrate her revenge. During the massacre we start to see her smile as letting out her rage is finally giving her satisfaction. She self-conscious enough that she’s sure whom she kills and who she chooses to live. After it’s over she’s distressed over what she’s done, her revenge fantasy has become a reality as she looks at her hands like Lady Macbeth.



Other Changes

Both the 2002 and 2013 films take changes that De Palma’s film has made. Carrie’s prom dress is red in the book, while all three have it as light pink (all versions of Margaret still see it as red) which is understandable as blood on red material is not interesting visually, having blood on a lighter colour makes it stand-out better. In the book, Carrie runs outside after the blood dumping and creates the massacre while looking through the window, while all three films have her still on stage. Again it looks better that way, it shows the power she has over them making her more dangerous, like a queen.

There’s a scene in the book that was filmed for all versions but only the 2002 film kept it in. In the scene, Carrie as a child talks to a teenage girl sunbathing next-door and asks her about her breasts and says only bad girls get them; then Margaret catches her and drags Carrie into the house and Carries screams and a rain of stones come down and damages the house. It’s understandable, despite being referenced a lot in the book it doesn’t seem to have an impact on the main story and is largely forgotten about in the second half. The 2002 film might as well have cut it since the scene is never brought up again. According to De Palma, he cut it because he couldn’t get the stones to look right but also behind-the-scenes pictures show Spacek also playing the child version, which is ridiculous because she was 26 at the time (side note Jodelle Ferland who played Sharon/Alessa from Silent Hill plays young Carrie in 2002 film, while in the deleted scene for the 2013 version she’s played by Skyler Wexler who played Kira in Orphan Black). The 2013 film was going to use it as the opening, personally I was happy with the opening scene they went with and that they moved the hail of stones to the climax as a way of destroying the house.

The 2013 film takes a lot of scenes and changes from 1976 film, which is most likely why screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen from that film was given a co-writer credit. However these are changes/additions De Palma’s film that I actually quite liked and I feel they work fine Peirce’s film, probably even better.
·      I already mentioned the poetry scene in both films and the difference is that it’s Carrie’s poem in the 2013 film. Sue is also present and she sees Carrie look at Tommy when he sticks up for her, which gives Sue the idea for Tommy to take Carrie to prom.
·      Miss Desjardin confronts Tommy and Sue about asking Carrie to prom and asks Tommy if he’s worried looking ridiculous dancing with her. Sue responds saying, “We don’t care how we look. Do you we?” looking at Tommy. Tommy doesn’t respond in the original while Tommy here agrees with Sue.
·      Sue discovers Chris’s plan and tries to put a stop to it, but Miss Collins/Desjardin thinks Sue is trying to sabotage Carrie and kicks her out. In the original Sue sneaks to the prom just to watch and sees the rope and bucket, while in the one Chris texts Sue to brag and Sue goes to the prom to investigate.
·      Margaret tells Sue Snell’s mother these are “Godless times”. In the original it’s when she goes to Mrs Snell’s house trying to convert her to Christianity. In the new film, it’s when Mrs Snell picks up Sue’s prom dress from the laundrette where Margaret works at. Mrs Snell is complimenting her work and brags about Sue, while Margaret is secretly digging a seam-ripper in her leg.
·      Margaret’s Death - In the book and 2002 film, Carrie makes Margaret’s heart stop beating. In the 1976 film, Carrie with her powers pins her hands to the doorframes and stabs her with several kitchen and sewing utensils as they fly into her one-by-one, resembling the crucifix in the closet. She makes orgasmic sounds as she slowly dies with a smile on her face. In 2013 film, it’s similar although this time they fly to her at once. She gasps in pain, Carrie unpins her while she’s still alive and Margaret dies in her arms.

1976 Film

De Palma’s direction combined with the minimal budget he was given, gives it the feeling of an art-house film; it’s incredibly beautiful but it also strange.

Like the opening shower scene, while I’m not one to complain about the sight of naked beautiful woman taking steaming hot showers, especially combined with Pino Donaggio’s sensual score. However it’s unreal when I’m supposed to buy these 20+ looking women as 16-year-old girls and they’re happily walking around naked; being a guy born in the 90s I can’t definitively know if teenage girls were actually like this? But from personal experience, I remember at school the changing rooms being a scary place, I was very insecure about my body and the none of the boys showered naked, even the ones in good shape. Nevertheless, it is a wonderfully erotic scene but it shows that De Palma wasn’t going for realism. It was likely just an excuse for De Palma to show off eye candy in his film, part of it actress Nancy Allen practically shakes her breasts to the camera. Another example is the blood-dumping scene, the amount of time Carrie and Tommy were on stage and the applauding from the crowd went on so long, Sue spent a lot of time studying the rope and bucket realising what’s about to happen. Why is this applause still going on? And why is Chris taking so long to pull the rope? Granted it’s still an intense moment, as the audience realises Sue was never involved in the prank but they’re with her as she was so close to putting a stop to it and ultimately failed.

There are also inconsistencies where scenes are placed, for example - the scene where the auditorium is being decorated which takes place after Chris and Billy installed the pigs blood, so how did nobody notice it? That scene also features Norma with her usual pigtails but literally in the previous scene we see her get her hair done for the prom.  

There’s also quite a bit of 70s cheese, like the detention scene which looked less like a punishment and more of a regular workout with an added silly score. Which was most likely another excuse for De Palma to add more eye candy watching these ladies workout in short-shorts. There’s also a cringe worthy moment where Tommy and friends are trying on tuxedoes and it fast-forwards a debate they’re having.

Despite my criticisms, I still have to acknowledge the film for the masterpiece of classic horror that it is. Brian De Palma delivers a beautiful yet strange feel to the film with odd camerawork, editing which includes split-screens, as well as an intriguing use of lighting and primary colours. While the effects haven’t aged well, he makes up for it by creating a haunting atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The ending dream-sequence to this day still remains one of the most iconic endings that is both emotional and scary.

Overall as wonderful as the film is, it’s not the adaptation for me as it is for many fans. But a great film regardless and deserving of it’s classic status.

2002 Film

Since the 2002 version is TV films, the cinematography shows that with unimpressive camerawork that looks cheap and very over lit. There’s also quite a bit censoring with little to no nudity or swearing, the religious content was watered down and the blood that looks like runny strawberry jam. The music is awful, it’s so cheesy and at time sounded it belongs in a Disney Channel Movie.

There’s so much silliness in this film, which makes me wonder what anyone was thinking. When the girls surround the shower cubicle looking over Carrie all I could think was ‘What are they standing on?’ In the next scene, they shove a thousand tampons in her locker again all I could think is ‘Where did they get so many tampons from?’ Also attempts to modernise the film, screenwriter Brian Fuller updates and adds dialogue which is just awful e.g. “This is so far from over, it’s not even in the same area code as over”, “We should have a rule: If they do something in a Freddie Prinze Jr. movie, we're not allowed to do it in real life” etc. Speaking of which a pop culture reference like that has really dated the film, I don’t think Freddie Prinze Jr. even acts any more. 

As you’d expect from a TV film, the special effects are pretty terrible, there’s a lot of cheap CGI like the rain of stones and the town destruction with debris flying everywhere. Even the practical effects are bad, I already mentioned the blood looking but when it was being dumped on her it looked like it was being shot at her with a big hose.

That’s not to say this film doesn’t have its good merits. With a longer running time there are scenes that try to flesh out the characters particularly the teenage girls, even more so than in the book which is what makes it feel more like a teen drama. I really liked the character Helen, played by Chelen Simmons, she’s one the girls who bullied Carrie and is genuinely nice to her at the prom. She even catches on that a prank is about to be pulled and attempts to put a stop it, then tries to help Carrie after the blood dump. It was nice to have another character besides Sue who was a bully actually be nice to Carrie. Her role is similar to Frieda from the book and other films, however Frieda had nothing to do with bullying Carrie, while Helen is in the book she’s just a background character. Chris and Sue also get an extra scene each with Carrie, Chris attempts to manipulate Carrie against Sue, while Sue attempts to bond with Carrie helping her pick out lipstick.

This is the only version where Carrie lives at the end, as Sue successfully revives Carrie and helps her fake her death and leave town. It was mainly done so they can make the TV series, which thankfully didn’t happen.

Although I didn’t care much for this film, I can see why it appeals to some fans for adding more from the book.

2013 Film

While I’m not saying that the 2013 film is definitively the best of the adaptations, I feel it better captures what I love about the book better and is a great film in it’s own right.  

Kimberly Peirce goes for a more realistic tone than the other two, with warm lighting and a soft score by Marco Beltrami. She downplays the eroticism from the original, there’s no nudity and scenes with the girls in swimsuits, gym kit and even the sex scene with Tommy and Sue are portrayed in a non-fetish way.

Peirce focuses on Carrie’s coming-of-age, showing her growth in confidence as the film goes on. Adding in aspects of a superhero (or even a supervillain) origin story, with Carrie practising and developing her powers and using the powers as a metaphor for her growth and femininity. Carrie uses her telekinesis to even do mundane things, which could serve as a metaphor for addiction.

This film is updated to fit with modern times but avoids pop culture references and limits the updates to mobile phones and social media, which aren’t overused but when they are they actually enhance the story. Chris films the shower incident and posts it online which is a reference to cyber-bullying which is a big problem in today’s society. This helps carry the bullying issues throughout the film, after the video is posted online people laugh at Carrie where she goes and those who aren’t laughing still look at her. It also backfires on Chris when her father tries to appeal but refuses to handover her phone knowing she’ll be caught. It’s also very effective when the video is shown again after the blood dump adding that extra layer of unspeakable cruelty and humiliation. I love other ways to keep the bullying consistent, like the English teacher and yes some teacher are actually like this and it’s disgusting. The volleyball scene was handled interestingly, when Carrie accidently hits Sue with the ball everyone laughs and lets Carrie laugh with them until Chris says “You eat shit” and they laugh at Carrie. It’s actually a bit of clever foreshadowing, that Carrie will be mislead and then humiliated.

I love some of the nods the book
·      Margaret listens to Let The Lower Lighter Be Burning and I love the added touch of having her sing along to it.
·      The principle’s discomfort over the subject of menstruation but it’s played for humour and even won’t use any words related to it.
·      When Chris makes an online profile for Carrie Billy suggests Blood Sport as her favourite film, which is the title of Part 1 in the book.

Other details I love
·      In the shower scene, Sue is the first to lash out at Carrie and throw tampons while Chris is at first helpful telling there’s nothing and tries to give Carrie a tampon. As it escalates the reverse happens, as Sue stops yelling and throwing and Chris orchestrates the chant “plug it up” and films Carrie.
·      Before Miss Desjardin slaps Carrie, there’s a quick shot of the tampons moving by themselves, quite clever that I didn’t notice on the first viewing.
·      Carrie’s poem Samson Angonistes foreshadows the disaster about to come.
·      After trapping Margaret in the closet, Carrie plays His Amazing Grace on the radio as she leaves.
·      Carrie watches Chris show Billy the video and he’s wearing sunglasses which Carrie sees after Tommy’s death, making her realise it was them who did this.
·      The reason Chris and Billy have trouble getting out of the car park is because Sue’s car blocks them in.
·      When Margaret tries to stab Carrie she point the blade to her eye, just like when she pointed the scissors at baby Carrie at the beginning. Kind of implies baby Carrie was able to use her powers to stop her even back then.

Physical beauty plays a great part visually especially when you look at Carrie, Chris and Sue. Throughout the film Chris has an unnatural look to her, she wears a lot of makeup and quite a bit of hairspray in contrast to Carrie who’s beautiful with messy hair and no makeup. There could be a bit of jealousy that Chris puts a lot of effort in her appearance unlike Carrie who doesn’t need to. When Carrie and Chris have their showdown, Chris’s face smashed through the car window and her beautiful face is destroyed, revealing the true ugliness inside. Then Sue (I got to say Gabriella Wilde is one of the most beautiful girls I’ve seen in my life) in the first half, she wears makeup and has perfect hair. In the second half she wears no makeup and unbrushed hair, while Carrie wears makeup and has perfect hair. When they see each other at the end, neither are wearing are makeup and have unbrushed hair. Also earlier, when Carrie looks in a mirror it breaks and later Sue looks at herself through the same cracked mirror. It’s a nice way of displaying their inner beauty but also the grey areas of their personalities.

This is not perfect either, from what I read there was a lot of studio interference. Peirce apparently filmed more scenes from the book, in attempt to stick to the book’s structure, including The White Commission. These would’ve helped give this film more of it’s own identity and not be looked as just another remake. That’s not to say I felt these were essential, I still think Peirce was able to deliver King’s message and social commentary such as including the cyber-bullying and not over do it. Some of the special effects could’ve used a little bit more work, it was obvious when CGI was used, some of it was used effectively especially when practical effects were used. The final shot is a bit over the top, with Carrie’s grave cracking over a rock song. I actually really like the ending itself, with Sue walking through the graveyard of all the victims and leaves a white rose on Carrie’s vandalised grave, while we hear her give a cautionary monologue. The white rose at funerals is often a symbol of hope, purity and promise of heaven, so there’s irony putting it against a grave with the words “Carrie White Burns In Hell” painted over it. With the film starting off with Carrie’s birth and ends with her grave, it feels like a perfect bookend -from cradle to grave. But I feel a slight crack and no sound would’ve been far more effective.


Overall I love this film and I feel it does justice to the book. When it comes to adaptations there’s always going to be debate over which version represents the source material better and what’s better in general. There are several adaptations of classics like Dracula or Pride & Prejudice and people are just going to like the version they like and neither are going to be wrong. Stephen King wrote a beautiful book that deserves to be taught as literature and so far it’s got three film adaptations among others that can appeal to different people and help bring a wider audience to the story.