Carrie (2013 film)

Carrie

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Kimberly Peirce
Produced by Kevin Misher
Screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Based on Carrie 
by Stephen King
Starring Chloë Grace Moretz
Judy Greer
Portia Doubleday
Alex Russell
Gabriella Wilde
Ansel Elgort
Julianne Moore
Music by Marco Beltrami
Cinematography Steve Yedlin
Edited by Lee Percy
Production
company
Misher Films
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Screen Gems
Release dates
  • October 18, 2013 (2013-10-18)
Running time
 99 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $30 million[2]
Box office $85,039,284[3]

Carrie is a 2013 American supernatural horror film, directed by Kimberly Pierce, and is the third film adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 novel of the same name. The film was produced by Kevin Misher, with a screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen & Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Screen Gems on October 18, 2013. The film stars Chloë Grace Moretz as the titular Carrie White, and Julianne Moore as Carrie's mother, Margaret White, Judy Greer as Ms. Desjardin, Portia Doubleday as Chris Hargensen, Gabriella Wilde as Sue Snell, Ansel Elgort as Tommy Ross, and Alex Russell as Billy Nolan.

The film is a re-imagining of the classic horror story about Carrie White (Moretz), a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother (Moore), who uses her telekinetic powers with devastating effect after being a victim of a cruel prank at her senior prom. The film was a financial success, grossing $85 million at the box-office, however received mixed reviews from film critics and audiences. Critics praised the performances of the cast, but criticized the film's predictability and lack of scares.

Plot

Alone in her home, Margaret White (Julianne Moore), a religious fanatic, gives birth to a baby girl. She at first intends to kill the infant, believing it to be born of sin, but changes her mind and raises the child in a strict environment. As a teenager, her daughter Carrie (Chloë Grace Moretz), is a shy and isolated student at Ewen High School in the town of Chamberlain, Maine.

While showering after gym class at school, Carrie abnormally experiences her first menstrual period. She naively thinks she is bleeding to death. A sadistic group of teenage girls humiliate her by throwing tampons and pads on her. The ringleader, Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday) records the events on her smartphone and uploads the video onto YouTube. Gym teacher Ms. Desjardin (Judy Greer) comforts Carrie and sends her home with Margaret, who believes menstruation is a sin. Carrie refuses to stop showering with the other girls, prompting an enraged Margaret to hit her with a Bible and lock her in her "prayer closet". As Carrie screams to be let out, a crack appears on the door and the crucifix in the closet begins to bleed.

The next day, Ms. Desjardin informs the girls who teased Carrie that they will endure boot-camp style detention for their behavior. When Chris refuses, she is suspended from school and banned from the prom. She storms out, vowing revenge. Meanwhile, Carrie learns that she has telekinesis. She researches her abilities and learns to harness them, without Margaret's knowledge. One of the girls who led Carrie's locker-room humiliation, Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde), feels guilty and attempts to make amends with Carrie by asking her boyfriend, Tommy Ross (Ansel Elgort), to take Carrie to the prom. Carrie initially refuses, thinking it is just a trick. She confides in Ms. Desjardin, who warns Tommy and Sue about tricking Carrie. Eventually, she hesitantly accepts Tommy's invitation. When she tells her mother, Margaret forbids Carrie to attend. Asking her mother to relent, Carrie manifests her telekinesis. Margaret believes this power comes from the devil, but Carrie explains her advanced telekinesis and how she isn't the only one, and that it was passed down from her grandmother, but skipped Margaret and maybe Carrie's father had the same ability. Carrie tells her she is going to the prom, with or without her blessing. She begins preparing for her senior prom, sewing her own dress and buying makeup.

That night, Chris, her boyfriend Billy Nolan (Alex Russell), and his friends plan revenge on Carrie. They go to a local farm and kill a pig so that they could collect its blood into a bucket. They sneak into the school gym and attach the bucket with a rope and place it on the rafters. Margaret tries to prevent Carrie from going to the prom, believing they will all laugh at her, but Carrie uses her powers to lock her mother in the closet. At the prom, Carrie is nervous and shy, but Tommy kindly puts her at ease. As part of Chris and Billy's plan, Chris's friend, Tina Blake (Zoë Belkin), slips fake ballots into the voting box, which name Carrie and Tommy as Queen and King of the prom. At home, Sue receives a text from Chris taunting her about her revenge on Carrie. Sue drives to the prom, arriving just as Carrie and Tommy are about to be crowned. Sue sees the bucket dangling above Carrie but, before she can warn anyone, Ms. Desjardin hustles her out, suspecting that Sue is planning to humiliate Carrie.

Chris pulls the rope, causing the bucket to tip over and spill the pig's blood onto Carrie, leaving the entire crowd in shock and Tommy angry. Tina plays the humiliating video of the gym shower incident on the projection screen, causing most of the crowd to laugh. Suddenly, the emptied bucket falls off the rafters and hits Tommy in the head, killing him instantly, to shock of Carrie and everyone else, as Chris and Billy leave the commotion. Carrie sobs over his dead body and, in a fit of rage, sends a shock wave of her powers onto the crowd, which kills Heather (Samantha Weinstein), one of the girls who bullied Carrie. Locking the doors and setting the gym on fire, Carrie uses her powers to kill everyone who wronged her, including Chris' friends. She turns on the sprinklers and pushes Nicki and Lizzy Watson (Karissa and Katie Strain) to the floor, who are trampled to death by a stampede. Carrie then targets Tina by attacking her with electric wires before she stumbles into a fire, setting herself in flames and killing her, while Ms. Desjardin and George (Demetrius Joyette), Tommy's friend, look on in horror. Carrie levitates Ms. Desjardin and pushes her to safety, before sending the wires to the floor, electrocuting almost everyone in the room. Carrie levitates over the carnage and leaves the burning school. Ms. Desjardin, along with George and other students, escape the fire.

When Chris and Billy attempt to flee in Billy's car, Carrie causes the road in front of them to cave in, forcing them to turn around. Seeing Carrie before them, Chris urges Billy to run Carrie over, but Carrie smashes his grill, causing Billy to smash his face on the wheel, killing him. As Chris attempts to flee, Carrie locks the door. Chris moves into the front seat and tries to start the car, but Carrie levitates it into mid air. Chris stubbornly continues to try and run Carrie over, but Carrie drops the car and sends it crashing into a gasoline pump, smashing Chris' face through the windshield. Carrie walks over to witness Chris suffer, before she finally dies. As Carrie walks away from the scene, the car finally explodes with Chris and Billy's corpses still in it.

Meanwhile, the few survivors of the prom come out of the school, while Ms. Desjardin silently tells Sue her boyfriend is dead. Carrie arrives home and she and Margaret embrace. Margaret tells Carrie about the night of Carrie's conception: after having shared a bed with Carrie's father for some time, they felt temptation one night, and after praying for strength, Carrie's father "took" Margaret, who found that she enjoyed the experience. Whilst praying, Margaret grabs a knife and suddenly stabs Carrie in the back. Carrie uses her powers to separate them, sending Carrie tumbling downstairs. Margaret continues to attack her to "kill the demon inside of her" After Margaret slashes her several more times, Carrie uses her telekinetic powers to stop the knife and levitates a large number of kitchen utensils, impaling Margaret repeatedly, and pinning her against a wall. Overcome with guilt and remorse, Carrie becomes hysterical and summons stones to fall from the sky and crash into her house. When Sue arrives, a furious Carrie attacks her with her powers, while Sue tries to apologizes. She notices that Sue is pregnant, and tells her that her baby is a girl. Carrie pushes a stunned Sue out of the house to safety as the house collapses from the raining stones, killing Carrie in the process.

At the White Commission, Sue testifies on Carrie's behalf and gives her opinion regarding the prom incident. She visits Carrie's grave and places a single white rose by the headstone which is vandalized with the words "CARRIE WHITE BURNS IN HELL". As she leaves, the gravestone's surface begins to crack, and Carrie's scream is heard.

Cast

Production

In May 2011, representatives from MGM and Screen Gems announced that the two companies were producing a film remake of Carrie. The two studios hired Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to write a screenplay that delivers "a more faithful adaption" of King's novel—Aguirre-Sacasa previously adapted King’s work The Stand into a comic book in 2008.[4] Reshoots were ordered, as the screenplay was re-written by Lawrence D. Cohen, who also wrote the original film.

Upon hearing of the new adaptation, King remarked, "The real question is why, when the original was so good?" He also suggested Lindsay Lohan for the main role and stated that "it [the film] would certainly be fun to cast".[5] Actress Sissy Spacek, who played Carrie in de Palma's adaptation, expressed an opinion on the choice of Lohan for the character of Carrie White, stating that she "was like, 'Oh my God, she's really a beautiful girl' and so I was very flattered that they were casting someone to look like me instead of the real Carrie described in the book. It's gonna be real interesting."[6] In March 2012, the role of Carrie White was offered to Chloë Grace Moretz,[7] who accepted the role.[8]

Kimberly Peirce directed the film,[9] while Moore starred as Margaret White and Gabriella Wilde played Sue Snell.[10] Alex Russell and Ansel Elgort are also members of the main cast,[11] and Judy Greer played the gym teacher Miss Desjardin.[12]

Release

The original release date was March 15, 2013,[13] but in early January 2013 the release date was moved to October 18, 2013.[14][15]

Sony held a "First Look" event at the New York Comic Con on October 13, 2013 that allowed attendees to view the film prior to the release date. The event was followed by a panel session with several members of the cast and crew.[16]

Trailers for the film included a phone number that offered promotions to the caller, as well as a recording of a simulated encounter with characters from the film.[17]

Home video

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 14, 2014. The Blu-ray features an alternate opening and ending and nine deleted scenes.

In the alternate opening, a young Carrie has a discussion with her teenage neighbor, who is sun-bathing, over the fact that Margaret believes that women with breasts are sinful. Margaret catches them in the conversation and believes that the neighbor is offending Carrie, not before the neighbor's mother disagrees with her. Suddenly, stones begin to rain only on the White household. Margaret, believing it is a sign from God, takes shelter inside her home with a distressed Carrie.

In the alternate ending, the cracking gravestone and the court speech are not present. Sue is in the hospital and is preparing to give birth to her baby. As she struggles to give birth, Carrie's bloody hand suddenly emerges and grabs Sue's arm. Sue screams loudly as she wakes up in her own bedroom, with her mother comforting her and telling her that her nightmare is over. A subliminal frame image of Carrie soaked in pig's blood is seen carrying Sue's baby as Sue continues to scream in her room.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from film critics and audiences. Critics gave praise to the cast, but criticized the film's predictability and lack of scares. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 48% approval rating with an average rating of 5.4/10 based on 161 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "It boasts a talented cast, but Kimberly Peirce's "reimagining" of Brian De Palma's horror classic finds little new in the Stephen King novel—and feels woefully unnecessary."[18] On Metacritic, it scored a 53 out of 100 based on 34 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[19]

Kevin C. Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave the film a favorable review, saying, "Long before the blood starts spilling, it's clear the new team has mostly nailed it. The reboot is as good a Carrie remake as possible, though it's not truly a scary movie; the film takes its time living up to its R rating."[20] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle also gave the film a favorable review, remarking: "In a way, the new Carrie is almost too easy to enjoy. Everything discordant and all the nagging weirdness and strange feelings surrounding the original have been smoothed down, and what we're left with is a well-made, highly satisfying and not particularly deep high school revenge movie."[21] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film a positive review, stating: "The acting's strong; in addition to Moretz and Moore, Judy Greer is a welcome presence in the Betty Buckley role of the sympathetic gym instructor. But something's missing from this well-made venture. What's there is more than respectable, while staying this side of surprising."[22] Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News gave it three out of five stars, saying, "With the exception of some appearances by social media, 'Carrie' doesn't try to hip up King's basic, often slow story. And while De Palma's version is fondly recalled as a high-blood-mark of the 1970s, this new take seems to linger a bit more on the bugaboos of overparenting and bullying while underplaying Mama's fanaticism. Peirce only glancingly lets her heroine have a mild discovery-of-powers moment that feels 'X-Men'-ish."[23] In a positive review on Roger Ebert's website, Matt Zoller Seitz awarded the film three out of four stars, praising the portrayal of Carrie and Margaret's relationship and the feelings of sympathy Carrie manages to evoke; although, he criticizes the representation of Chris as "exaggeratedly evil". Seitz ultimately concludes by stating: "The first Carrie was horror. This is tragedy."[24] A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave the film a C- rating, criticizing Moretz's Carrie as "too adjusted, coming across less like the 'very peculiar girl' King described in his novel and more like the stealth babe of some nottie-to-hottie teen romance." Dowd lamented on the film as a whole, "It's a strange thing to say about a movie so obsessed with the red stuff, but this Carrie is bloodless."[25]

Box office

Sony estimated the revenue for the opening weekend of Carrie as between $16 million and $18 million, while others estimated a bigger margin of $24 million to $28 million due to the Halloween season. However, the final takings totaled $16,101,552 and the film was ranked at number 3 behind Gravity and Captain Philips, both of which were in their second and third weeks, respectively. By the end of the week, the film managed to gross $20,121,355.[26] In week two, the film slipped 62.8% to sixth place with $5,900,000 and 43.2% to ninth place in its third week with $3,400,000.[27][28][29]

At the end of its run, the film has grossed $35,266,619 in North America and $49,524,059 in other countries for a worldwide gross of $84,790,678. It is the 67th highest-grossing film of 2013 in the United States.[30]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result
2013 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Sequel or Remake That Shouldn't Have Been Made Carrie (tied with Oz the Great and Powerful) Won
Fright Meter Awards Best Supporting Actress Julianne Moore Nominated
Best Special Effects Carrie Nominated
Women Film Critics Circle Awards Hall of Shame Carrie Won
2014 People's Choice Awards[31] Favorite Horror Movie Carrie Won
Saturn Awards[32] Best Horror Film Carrie Nominated
Best Young Actor/Actress Chloë Grace Moretz Won
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Supporting Actress Julianne Moore 3rd place
Dorian Awards Campy Flick of the Year Carrie Nominated
Jupiter Awards Best International Actress Chloë Grace Moretz Nominated
Joey Awards International (Non-Canadian) Actress Feature Film/Made for Television or Straight to Video Feature that was filmed in Canada Chloë Grace Moretz Won
World Soundtrack Awards Film Composer of the Year Marco Beltrami Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "CARRIE (15)". Columbia Pictures. British Board of Film Classification. October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Carrie (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  3. ↑ http://pro.boxoffice.com/statistics/movies/carrie-2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  4. ↑ Kit, Borys (May 19, 2011). "MGM, Screen Gems Team for 'Carrie' Remake". The Hollywood Reporter.
  5. ↑ Labrecque, Jeff (May 20, 2011). "Stephen King sounds off on new 'Carrie' remake -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. ↑ "LiLo in 'Carrie' remake? Sissy Spacek can see it". CNN. July 12, 2011.
  7. ↑ Fleming, Mike (March 27, 2012). "MGM Formally Offers Lead Remake Of Stephen King’s 'Carrie' To Chloe Moretz". Deadline Hollywood.
  8. ↑ "Chloe Grace Moretz celebrates 16th birthday with star-studded bash". WMAR-TV-ABC News.
  9. ↑ Fleming, Mike (January 4, 2012). "MGM/Screen Gems Eye Kimberly Peirce to Direct Remake of Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  10. ↑ Littlejohn, Georgina (2012-05-14). "Julianne Moore And Gabriella Wilde Board Carrie Remake". London: CinemaBlend.com.
  11. ↑ Ge, Linda (May 15, 2012). "'Chronicle' star Alex Russell and Broadway actor Ansel Elgort join "Carrie" remake opposite Chloe Moretz". Up and Comers.
  12. ↑ Rich, Katey (May 25, 2012). "UPDATE: Judy Greer HAS NOT Signed On To The Carrie Remake As The Gym Teacher". CinemaBlend.com.
  13. ↑ Sitterson, Aubrey (April 13, 2012). "'Carrie' remake gets Spring 2013 release date". IFC. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  14. ↑ "'Carrie' Has Been Shifted All The Way To October". Bloody Disgusting. January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  15. ↑ Staskiewicz, Keith (January 3, 2013). "'Carrie' remake gets pushed back to October". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Sony to Debut First Looks at Carrie and Evil Dead at NYCC". comingsoon.net. CraveOnline Media, LLC, an Evolve Media, LLC company. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  17. ↑ Barton, Steve (October 15, 2012). "Carrie called. Messages left. Listen now." Dread Central. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Carrie (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. October 18, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Carrie (2013)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  20. ↑ Johnson, Kevin C. (October 17, 2013). "'Carrie' remake is a bloody good time". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  21. ↑ LaSalle, Mick (October 17, 2013). "'Carrie' review: less searing than the original". Fandango. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  22. ↑ Phillips, Michael (October 17, 2013). "'Carrie' remake is a bloody good time". Fandango. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  23. ↑ Neumaier, Joe (October 17, 2013). "'Carrie': movie review". Daily News. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  24. ↑ Matt Zoller Seitz (18 October 2013). "CARRIE". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  25. ↑ A.A. Dowd (October 17, 2013). "'Carrie': movie review". Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  26. ↑ "Carrie (2013)". Box Office Mojo. MDb.com, Inc. 3 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  27. ↑ Golum, Rob (2013-10-28). "U.S. Movie Box Office Grosses for Oct. 25 - Oct. 27". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  28. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for January 17-19, 2014". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  29. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for October 25-27, 2013". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  30. ↑ Matt Zoller Seitz (18 October 2013). "Carrie (2013) (2013)". Boxofficemojo.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  31. ↑ Lewis, Dave (November 5, 2013). "'Game of Thrones' vs. 'Iron Man': This year's People's Choice Awards nominees". HitFix. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Lead Saturn Awards Noms"

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