Sunday, October 20, 2013

First Reaction: Carrie (2013)

Kimberly Pierce's adaptation of Stephen King's novel sounded a lot better in theory than its actual execution, which tried to tell the same story but through a modernized lens of cyber-bullying and hollywoodization. In concept, Julianne Moore and Chloe Moretz portraying the highly dysfunctional relationship of mother and daughter sounds like a dream come true. But somehow with Pierce's touch, everything from the cinematography, acting, to the soundtrack sulks in shallow waters and fails to go any deeper than the transparent surface. These two actresses have excelled in everything they do but they represent the Hollywoodness of the film that is ultimately the reason why the film will fall under. While in the 1976 version of Carrie, Sissy Spacek was able to churn the tormented high school girl character to agonizing lengths, Moretz' undeniably pretty face simply cannot convey the deep seated turmoil that burned in Spacek's eyes. These days, the Horror genre is getting beaten to a pulp with its recycled themes, gimmicks, gore, just to amp up some shock factor. And sadly, Carrie is no different. With reimaginings, it is always hard to fully capture the essence of what the original film or book embodied. But instead of fleshing out the themes of girlhood, bullying, and religion, Carrie decides to tread in skin-deep waters just to shell out a buck or two. In the end, It doesn't matter how good the marketing was, it is the film that'll ultimately determine how loud the horror is. C+