Don't Lie to Me (Carrie 2013 Review)
In part two of Kat and Ryley's guilty pleasure movie reviews, we watch and read reviews for Kat's pick, the 2013 Carrie remake. Trust us when we say even Kat doesn't know why she loves it, but she does.
Review Overview: I think at this point, the story of Carrie is entirely too similar to that of a school sh00ter; therefore, it is hard to take her side.
Julianne Moore delivers an outstanding performance but cannot save this movie.
It is, however, so ridiculous that you might enjoy it for the comedy. The cheesy dialogue and exaggerated acting might not save it for everyone, but they did for us.
Kat: 1/10
Ryley:1.5/10
Both: [00:00:00] Hello,
Kat: and welcome to
Both: easy bake takes
Ryley: the podcast!
Kat: Where we read you one star reviews of your favorite movies and more. My name's Kat.
Ryley: And I'm Ryley.
Kat: And my guilty pleasure movie is the 2013 remake of Carrie. And this movie was rated R.
Ryley: Really?
Kat: Mm-hmm. The studio was very committed to making it rated R. It doesn't seem rated R, does it?
Ryley: No, this seems like a TV 14 kind of rating.
Kat: Yep. Hour and 40 minutes long. It's an, a horror/thriller. The premise of Carrie is, a disturbed fanatic, named Margaret White, gives birth to her daughter, Carrie at home alone. And she intends to kill Carrie as an infant, but changes her mind. So Carrie is now in high school and she's a shy, unassertive girl, who's in her senior [00:01:00] year of high school. And after gym class, Carrie is showering and has her first period. Her mom never prepared her for how to deal with her period, so she assumes she's bleeding to death and begins yelling for help. And then the other girls begin to ridicule her and throw tampons and pads at her while yelling, plug it up, led by longtime bully, Chris Hargenson, who also records the whole thing and uploads it to YouTube. Their teacher, Ms. Desjardin breaks up the conflict and takes Carrie to the principal where they call her mom to take her home.
Ryley: After she slaps her.
Kat: Yeah. Well, she's being hysterical, you know, she, I mean.
Ryley: That's a crime.
Kat: She shouldn't hit her.
Ryley: No.
Kat: But like. When Carrie and Margaret get home, Margaret demands that Carrie stops showering with the others at school. And when Carrie refuses, she hits her with a Bible and locks her
Ryley: literally, it's so funny.
Kat: And locks her in her prayer closet. As Carrie screams to be let out, a crack appears on the wall and the crucifix in the room begins to bleed. Over the oncoming days, Carrie begins to [00:02:00] experience more sign of her having telekinesis. She begins researching and learning to harness her powers. Miss Desjardin punishes Carrie's bullies by making them endure bootcamp style detention, or be suspended from school, which will keep them from attending prom. And Chris refuses and is suspended after not giving up her phone to be searched for the video. And then Chris's best friend, Sue Snell, feels bad about being part of the incident and asks her boyfriend, Tommy, to ask Carrie to the prom to make it up to her. Carrie accepts and makes her dress at home. Margaret forbids Carrie to attend the prom and during the conflict, Carrie manifests her Telekinesis. Margaret believes her powers are from the devil and are proof that she has been corrupted by sin. Chris and her boyfriend, Billy, plan the revenge on Carrie by obtaining pig blood to pour on her at prom. On prom night, Margaret tries to prevent Carrie from going, but Carrie uses her powers to lock her in the closet. Chris and Billy get Chris's friend, Tina to rig the prom court voting so that Carrie and Tommy win king and queen. At home, Sue gets a text from Chris, [00:03:00] taunting her about her revenge plan. Sue drives to the prom to stop it, but arrives as Carrie and Tommy are being crowned. Sue sees the bucket and attempts to warn someone, but Desjardin locks her out of the gym, suspecting that Sue has plans to hurt Carrie. The blood is dumped on Carrie and the video from the beginning of the movie is played above the stage. Carrie pushes Desjardin with her powers. Tommy is killed by the bucket that held the blood. Carrie kills everyone at the prom, but Desjardin and an electrical fire breaks out. And the school burns to the ground. Chris and Billy attempt to drive away but Carrie crashes their car killing Billy. Chris attempts to run over Carrie, but Carrie lifts the car and throws it into a gas station, killing her and sets the car on fire. Carrie returns, home and bathes and changes her clothes. She tearfully tells Margaret what happened. And the two hug as Margaret recounts Carrie's conception, claiming that her and her husband were sharing a bed platonically and yielded to temptation. Margaret then stabs Carrie in the back with a knife declaring that she must kill Carrie to prevent the devil from possessing her and [00:04:00] attacks Carrie again, but Carrie kills her with every sharp tool in the house. And then Carrie then makes stones rain from the sky to crush their home. Sue arrives at Carrie's home, and Carrie lifts her, but can sense that Sue is pregnant with a baby girl. Carrie throws Sue out of her house to safety as the house collapses, apparently killing Carrie as well. Sue gives her testimony in court about the incident at prom and then visits Carrie and Margaret's graves. Carrie's grave has been vandalized to read Carrie White burns in hell and Sue places white roses on the headstone. As she leaves, the gravestone begins to break and Carrie's scream is heard. The end.
Ryley: I have a quick question. What happened to Carrie's father?
Kat: I guess he either left or died. I.
Ryley: Weird.
Kat: I don't know if the movie really ever.
Ryley: They, they don't really get into.
Kat: I don't know if that's in the book or not.
Ryley: I'm maybe. Cuz like it's just so odd that she uh, well, it does, it's not odd, but like, cuz it makes sense for like a heavily religious person or heavy religious [00:05:00] woman, not understanding like what's happening during birth.
Kat: First of all, giving birth at home and doing it alone.
Ryley: Sounds awful.
Kat: That sounds terrifying. Also, like that would be the time to squat, how they used to.
Ryley: Yeah, exactly. That's I, I don't understand. Well, in the movie, it's just like, she kind of just slides out.
Kat: Cause her mom's a whore.
Ryley: I was just wondering cuz like, I didn't really remember that detail that oh, that's how she got pregnant with Carrie.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I was thinking like, oh, she never. Had sex and was like, oh, this is the devil kind of thing going on.
Kat: That's what it seems like. Yeah. Until she tells the story and is like, we prayed about it. And then we fucked. So you were married, you were.
Ryley: That's, how is that? I mean, my God, I I'll
Kat: I'll come back to this in a second. We'll get through the inform.
Ryley: Okay.
Kat: So the background info, this movie was directed by Kimberly Pierce, who also directed the movie, Boys Don't Cry. It was written by Lawrence D. Cohen, who wrote the 1976 Carrie and he also did [00:06:00] the 1998 IT TV special.
Ryley: Oh, okay. That makes sense.
Kat: Yeah. And so, Roberto Aguirre Sacasa also wrote it and he is the person that owns the rights to the Archie comics and is responsible for Riverdale existing.
Ryley: So we go after him.
Kat: yeah. So if that gives you any, uh, indication of who was writing. The novel obviously was written by Steven King. And the movie stars, Julianne Moore as Margaret White, Chloe Grace Moretz plays Carrie White. And so Ansel Elgort plays Tommy Ross. And this was his film debut actually.
Ryley: Mm.
Kat: Judy Greer who I also just love.
Ryley: I love Judy Greer.
Kat: Plays Ms. Desjardin. Gabriella Wilde plays, Sue Snell, Portia Doubleday plays Chris Hargensen and Zoe Belkin played Tina. So some trivia. While Kimberly Pierce was proud of her work on the film, she was disappointed that the studio interference compromised her original vision for the film. Her intention was to make a more faithful adaptation to the novel and not try to imitate the 1976 version. However, studio [00:07:00] executives forced her to excise 40 minutes of footage and reshoot several scenes in order to make the film a true remake of the 1976 version. There was a whole petition for the director's cut of this movie to be released because of that.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: While at the pig farm, Billy Nolan, played by Alex Russell, kisses the sledgehammer before killing the pig. Alex Russell got sick because there were pig droppings on the h- the sledge hammer.
Ryley: Good Lord.
Kat: It's disgusting.
Ryley: Oh.
Kat: But anyway, this is the first Carrie adaptation where the character of Carrie's actually played by a teenager. Chloe Grace Moretz had admitted to not having watched any of the previous adaptations of Carrie prior to making this movie. She decided not to watch any of the previous versions since she wanted to create her own spin on the character and not try to copy Sissy Spacek or Angela Bettis.
Ryley: I could say a lot.
Kat: We'll get we'll come back to that.
Ryley: We'll get there.
Kat: So the producers did communicate with Steven King while they were making it, but he was not actively consulted for this film. And Steven King was very unenthusiastic about another adaptation of the [00:08:00] novel saying that it was unnecessary when the 1976 version was a great film, that didn't need to be remade. He stated after viewing this version, that he was not fond of it. However, director Pierce was a close friend of Brian de Palma who directed the 1976 adaptation and got his blessing to make this. The person who made the story was not keen on it.
Ryley: That should tell you so because he doesn't like a lot of adaptations of his novels. So when he likes something, you know.
Kat: Yeah. He did a whole redo of the shining.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But I get it. It's your story, it's your creation. You know?
Ryley: I get it. I'm not going to, I'm not gonna say anything about it.
Kat: Mm-hmm. So they considered Sissy Spacek, who's the original Carrie, for the role of Margaret White, as well as Jody Foster.
Ryley: Oh, okay. Oh, that would've been interesting.
Kat: I love her. So I would've been. Yeah.
Ryley: I do too.
Kat: Shalene Woodley turned down the role of Carrie. And I cannot imagine what ABC family bullshit this movie would've been if she was in it.
Ryley: It probably would've been 10 times more irritating to watch than with Chloe.
Kat: Mm-hmm mm-hmm
Ryley: I'm [00:09:00] so glad that didn't happen.
Kat: Funnily enough, when they first started development for this, they considered Lindsay Lohan to be Carrie.
Ryley: Was- I'm sorry. She would've been well into her. God. I mean, twenties. Right? Am am I wrong?
Kat: Uh, this was like 2013. Yeah. She would've been in her twenties.
Ryley: I can't imagine.
Kat: She looked older than her age in Mean Girls, not to be rude. She would not have looked like at 17 year old.
Ryley: No, that's what I'm saying. Like she didn't look like a teenager mean girls. There's no way.
Kat: To prepare Chloe Grace Moretz for the role director, Kimberly Pierce sent her to homeless shelters to meet people who genuinely had tough lives. And also on a, on her own to prepare for the role, Chloe Grace Moretz learned how to sew and locked herself in a closet for several hours to understand what Carrie would be going through. She also tried not to break character on set even when she wasn't shooting scenes. And I know you have your feelings about about actors staying in character.
Ryley: Yeah, I do.
Kat: It's always the most annoying fucking characters [00:10:00] too.
Ryley: Yeah, I was about to say, I can't imagine working on, I bet she just lurked around too. I bet you'd be talking. You were like, she's behind me as is she I hate that. I would. Oh, I hate that.
Kat: But I don't know if you remember seeing this video on Twitter, but as promotion for this movie's release, they posted a telekinetic coffee shop, surprise prank with stuntmen and actors to terrify unaware customers with a girl with ESP and the actual prank video was on the DVD Blueray release of the film.
Ryley: Is this in a coffee shop?
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Okay. I do remember this.
Kat: Mm. But that's all the trivia I have about this movie. There was a lot because it's a remake. Have you seen the 1976 Carrie?
Ryley: Yes. A long, long time ago. And I'm, I'm just gonna say I don't like the setup of this story and that's not really anyone's fault. I've never read the books so I don't know how it actually goes.
Kat: I tried. It's it's pretty close.
Ryley: Okay. I don't like the whole concept of just this [00:11:00] character. Their life sucks to such an extreme degree. And the whole movie is just showing you how much their lives suck, how much turmoil they're going through, and then the end they get revenge. But for me, especially with this version of this movie, it's just so irritating to watch. I don't find any entertainment in it at all. It just makes me frustrated. It makes me angry. I didn't even like the main character. You don't even really get to know the main character. All you really know is just the shit they have to go through which isn't personality. That's not anything.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: And if anything, this character is just annoying and whiny. And I understand like she's growing up in this, you know, very religious conservative household where she doesn't have knowledge. About most things.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: But it's still, I don't like it. I don't like that character. I don't, I don't care almost.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I'm watching the most annoying [00:12:00] actors be extreme versions of mean high school people. The whole construct of this movie is not fun to watch. The ending is always fun. Yes. Oh. Oh. She burns down the school. That's fun. Whatever, but it's not worth to me. That's not worth it to watch all of it for it.
Kat: Yeah, cuz like the, the job of a story like this is to show you like, oh, well, no matter how bad the thing she does is you're supposed to feel like she kind of deserved to get this revenge.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: And I think that was more present in the 1976 version. You feel for her a little more.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: And that is something that comes up quite a bit is like nothing to make you sympathize with her.
Ryley: No.
Kat: No matter how bad her home life is and how mean people are. It's like it never, you never really see.
Ryley: Her. What's her personality like?
Kat: You never see her and you never really. Yeah. Like, you know, like the, the like general things
Ryley: mm-hmm
Kat: of her personality that were affected by her upbringing. But like,
Ryley: mm-hmm.
Kat: She seems like she's fine until [00:13:00] her mom hits her with a Bible. You know, it seems like up to that point, she was like cool with it. And not to say that she was.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: But like, that's just how the character comes off. That she didn't seem bothered, I guess. I don't know if that makes sense.
Ryley: No, that, that makes sense. Because Chloe was talking like she was giving a little interview about Carrie and she was saying like, the relationship between her and her mother is like, oh, they really do love each other, it's just toxic. I don't, I, I don't,
Kat: I understand that happens. Like you,
Ryley: mm-hmm.
Kat: It's, that's still your parent and that's still your kid. So there's a level of love there.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: No matter like the treatment and no matter if you don't think it's deserved or not to have that love.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: But I don't see that. I don't see any part of it where her mom seems like she gives a shit about her.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: and it doesn't really see, like, it seems like I don't, I don't even know, like, it just is so not there. The relationships-.
Ryley: Everything's just so manipulated.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Their whole relationship is so manipulated. I think what I'm trying to say [00:14:00] is just like everything about Carrie and what happens to her and what we know about her is so external and about her environment.
Kat: Mm-hmm
Ryley: I don't get to know Carrie, so therefore I don't care about Carrie.
Kat: Yeah, exactly. And that's, that's fair. That's definitely accurate, but I guess I should probably tell you why it's a guilty pleasure movie for me.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: And it's really just that level of acting is an MTV high school dramedy.
Ryley: Yes. It's like Degrassi,
Kat: it's ki kind of Degrassi, kind of like Awkward.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Teen Wolf, that kind of brand of acting where it's not necessarily like ABC family, but it's not
Ryley: good?
Kat: HBO, you know?
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: And so it's just like this perfect level of bad. I don't know why I love it. I think I just watched it at the right time in my life. It's kind of like you with the Happening, it's just, you just make fun of the faces Chloe Grace Moretz makes, whenever she's doing her telekinesis. And she like goes, Hi-yah, like whenever she kills, she literally makes that sound when she kills Chris. And it's so funny to me, it's just so [00:15:00] silly and I love it.
Ryley: I think the scene where the bucket falls on Ansel is I laughed way too hard during that, and that it kills the character. Cause I thought I just knocked him out. No, it legit just kills him. He's done. That's how he dies. He got killed by a bucket.
Kat: The bucket kicked him.
Ryley: He kicked the bucket. Oh my God. Also I wanted to say the guy that plays Billy in this movie looks like a relative of Mike from Jersey Shore. I like,
Kat: He does.
Ryley: I did a double take. I had to be like, is that,? who is?
Kat: Is that the situation?
Ryley: Is it the situation? It looks like him.
Kat: Oh my God. I was literally watching that last night. I've been watch, I've been on a Jersey shore rewatch.
Ryley: I always return every now and then whenever we have guests over, we put on shore just so they know the vibe.
Kat: It's great. I just got to the Italy season and I was like, I'm sad and I might just skip, I might just skip this.
Ryley: That is, I only watch it for the fight just to, just to remind myself how, like
Kat: Mike smack his head on the wall.
Ryley: Yeah. And the rest of that season, like [00:16:00] I'm gonna say, well, and the Snooki fights with Jionni and it just kind of gets, I don't know, for me gets a little boring.
Kat: It does. It's just kind of like the same shit and not in a good way.
Ryley: And not in a good way. You can tell how fed up they are at the end. Like they are done.
Kat: And they all had so much shit going on in their lives.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Like every single one of them's like something else is going on and they immediately have to go to Jersey and film another season.
Ryley: I can't believe that.
Kat: I can't imagine how tired they must all be. And I think the season right after it, this isn't a Jersey Shore podcast. We'll move on in a second.
Ryley: We'll move on.
Kat: But like, I think that that's the season right after it is the number of Vinny goes home at one point.
Ryley: Mm. Yeah. Right after.
Kat: It's just terrible.
Ryley: They're burned out. I totally get it.
Kat: They are. Okay. We'll move on. We'll move on. We'll talk about this later.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But, uh, is there anything, anything else you wanted to say about the, about Carrie?
Ryley: Oh, I just wanted to say like, I, it's probably very, very intentional, but you know, those it's in every high school movie where there's a [00:17:00] bully and it's the most extreme version of a high school bully you can fathom to think about.
Kat: Mm-hmm
Ryley: and I, I understand I'm sure someone out there was like, I had a bully like that.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Okay. But like this person, I mean, it's hard to believe that a person like this is real, just because of how insane cuz like that's how I felt about like, I forgot her name in this movie, but she's like the main bully.
Kat: Chris.
Ryley: And then like, and that character's so irritating to watch.
Kat: Yeah. It, her acting is on the like exaggeration level.
Ryley: Yes.
Kat: Of her character.
Ryley: It's crazy exaggeration. It's so fictional to me.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: And they have it in every high school movie, TV show this just hardcore psychopath bully.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: It's on a different level.
Kat: Oh, yeah.
Ryley: And it's just kind of crazy. That's another complaint I had with that.
Kat: That is very fair.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: because it is cartoon super villain bully.
Ryley: Yes. It's just a little much. And I understand like, that's the main theme, but it's just like, [00:18:00] it's overkill. Honestly, it's overkill.
Kat: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That's another reason I, I love this movie is because like, everything is so, so much.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: And I would love to see the director's cut of it, if that ever.
Ryley: Yeah. Cuz I remember watching a video where they were talking about it. Like the director was all like, oh this is gonna be like a different version and it's not, it's a complete copy.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: So I would like to see their version of what they did have in mind, cuz this movie's not different.
Kat: no, they cut out like 40 minutes of it. There was probably stuff where we actually got to know Carrie a little more and got to sympathize with her. And I would just love to see that 40 minutes that was taken out.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: The thing I thought of earlier, we were talking about Margaret and like her husband and I just, I had kind of a realization, I don't know if I'm not saying this is like intentional from the book or the movie. The thing I picked up on with like her husband, like she just, they never had sex or at least she says, slept in the same bed platonically to her. It kind of seems like to me, I could see [00:19:00] maybe this was in the extended part of it.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: because she says like you had unholy thoughts, you had sinful thoughts when you're showering with the other girls in gym class, you, of course she had, you probably had sinful thoughts. To me, it sounds like the mom might be a little gay, in my opinion.
Ryley: Oh.
Kat: And like, she never wanted anything sexual with her husband.
Ryley: Well, that would make so much sense because like you're married and even like, like even when you're married, like I understand there's always guilt.
Kat: You're allowed to.
Ryley: You're allowed to, it's literally like the only version of sex that's okay. In like, in that, that Bible sense is like to procreate.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: That's it. And so the fact that that was, that happened, but also like yeah, that projection of like, oh.
Kat: Like it seemed like maybe they probably would've hinted at that more in the extended version.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: but that was just like, that struck me as odd and it never really like comes up.
Ryley: Yeah. Never gets flushed out.
Kat: That one line is, cuz she's saying her daughter had [00:20:00] to have had these unholy thoughts in the shower with other girls.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: But yeah, that's the only thing that really like that I had that realization watching at this time. That's all I really have. But did you have anything else you wanted to talk about?
Ryley: No, but I understand why it's a guilty pleasure. It's a, it's terribly so terribly bad. It's you know, I understand.
Kat: Okay, so now we can move on to the critical reviews. The first one I have is from Live Mint by Udita Jhunjhunwala from 2014. Starting with quote, “billed as thriller horror, carrie is devoid of scares, compounded by mediocre special effects.”
Ryley: This movie looks awful. CGI wise is awful.
Kat: For a movie about telekinesis.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Maybe try a little harder on that one.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: They found it implausible that a mid 2010 teenager wouldn't even be aware a little bit of menstruation. Like I know she's sheltered but.
Ryley: Mm-hmm . I wanna argue that like, there are kids out there who absolutely are not educated in [00:21:00] any sense about it.
Kat: Yeah. But they probably don't go to school.
Ryley: Exactly. Yeah. Like what, you never seen a tampon before.
Kat: You don't know what those things are for.
Ryley: Sorry. One thing I wanna say, why are they throwing all their tampons and pads? Are you just wasting all those, those things are expensive. Oh my God.
Kat: And yours is just unlocked like that. You don't have to put a quarter in.
Ryley: Yeah. That's nice.
Kat: Look at you with your free tampons, wasting them.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But they also say quote, "watching Moore in the role of the obsessive violent irrational mother. You wonder why the actor known for her work in such films as boogie nights and the kids are all right, would've done this part.” End quote. Julianne Moore is too good for this movie in their opinion.
Ryley: Oh, she is absolutely. When I see her in a bad film, I'm like, why. You're so good.
Kat: What are you doing here?
Ryley: What are you doing here? You can't be here.
Kat: Get outta here. But they say that Moretz plays Carrie as only, only plays her as either scared meek, outcast, or grimacing destroyer, and like nothing really in [00:22:00] between. Which kind of adds to your thing of like, we don't really know her.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: We just know her, she's either shy and weird or she's trying to kill somebody.
Ryley: Or wanting revenge and that's it. Those are the only personalities. Yeah, exactly.
Kat: Yeah. And to add to that, uh, and to your point.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: They also said that Pierce failed to connect the audience to Carrie and Moretz was unable to add anything to it.
Ryley: Oh yeah. 100%.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I'm sorry. This is not the well- best- not great performances, I would say all around.
Kat: Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't just the writing.
Ryley: It wasn't just the writing. There was some- I find it odd cuz earlier saying Chloe didn't see any of the Carrie, she wanted to make the character her own and literally just plays the shy high school girl who takes off the glasses and she's beautiful. That's literally the character.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: That we see all the time.
Kat: Yeah. It's not like you, you. You weren't um, what's the?
Ryley: Creative.
Kat: Yeah. You didn't like reinvent the, like reinvent the wheel or anything, [00:23:00] you know, like, or she did. I don't know. Nevermind. I'm- she didn't do anything special.
Ryley: No, she didn't. She, she did hardly anything.
Kat: Exactly. Yeah. But we can move on to the next review.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Which was from Scream Queens by Chloe Leen in 2013. They weren't excited to hear that there was another Carrie remake being made, but when they heard that Pierce was going to direct it, they were excited. They were ultimately disappointed by the film and said that the film kinda got lost in the material. And quote, “whilst the kills and gore were mildly entertaining, it was incredibly hard to sympathize with a Carrie that was fully aware of her powers and using them in violent ways, as opposed to the deer and headlights unaware Carrie, Sissy Spacek gave us in the original,” end quote.
Ryley: Okay. What were were, are they saying the, the Carrie Sissy Spacek one? Like she?
Kat: She, she played it a little more. What's the word she wasn't as, she didn't seem as real, like her powers didn't she didn't, it didn't seem like she realized those powers as much as [00:24:00] the Chloe Grace Moretz version, I guess. Like, she seemed a little more innocent than this, Carrie.
Ryley: Okay. All right.
Kat: To this person.
Ryley: I don't know if I agree- I don't know if I agree with, I don't know if that I care about that. I honestly don't know if that's something that would,
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Whether she knew she had it or didn't, or not as well, or as much.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I don't think that really matters to me.
Kat: And I think it's probably a little bit of Chloe Grace, Moretz. Could've done it exactly like Sissy Spacek and they still would've had a problem with that probably cause it's a remake, that kind of thing.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Leeson also calls it mean girls with blood.
Ryley: It is mean girls with blood. Absolutely. Not as good though.
Kat: Yeah, exactly.
Ryley: I would say mean if mean girls actually had blood in it. That's a fantastic film. That would be really great.
Kat: Porsche double day, he played, Chris gave Regina George with more hairspray than heart. They liked the introduction of cyber bullying in the movie and said that that part of it paid. Pierce's Carrie had more of a heartbreaking, longing to join her peers. And the original was during a time of second wave [00:25:00] feminism, where women were realizing the power they had and the power of freedom and standing up for themselves. And Pierce eliminated the male gaze in this version and had like focused on female relationships a little more instead of like female empowerment, it was like female relationships.
Ryley: Okay. Kind of see that, especially when that girl character is like, To like Ansel. I forgot her name. I think it's Sue.
Kat: Sue.
Ryley: Yeah. Sue. Sue's being nice in the movie. Is that in the original? I can't remember. I don't think it is. I think they're all just ploting against Carrie.
Kat: I don't. Yeah. I don't think she's as nice to Carrie.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: In the other one.
Ryley: So I can kind of see that in this movie with Sue.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: That's fair. But they end this review with quote “Pierce had her heart in the right place, but didn't take full advantage of the material in her adaptation, leaning towards a teen movie revamp than all new book adaptation. It was taking the de diploma adaptation, sprinkling, glitter on it and adding vampire weekend to the soundtrack.
Ryley: Yeah. Yeah, totally agree.
Kat: Is our criticism of Moretz's [00:26:00] Carrie as too pretty slash too vengeful an admittance to our belief in the system that attractiveness equals happiness and our willingness to quickly dismiss bullying as just a joke like Chris Hargensen?” End quote.
Ryley: Hold on one second.
Kat: I think they're basically saying, are we just like Chris being like, oh, well, if you're pretty, you can't be sad kind of take on it. Because there was a lot of criticism that like Chloe Grace Moretz did not look like an outcast.
Ryley: I think that's more of a casting thing than, than anything. That's what I was saying earlier. She plays that role of like shy girl, but take off your glasses or do your hair.
Kat: Brush your hair once.
Ryley: Yeah. Brush your hair once. Don't. Yeah, exactly. And then all of a sudden she's pretty, she's ready for prom and all that.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I totally understand that. The too vengeful part, I don't think that's, I don't think that's a bad thing.
Kat: No.
Ryley: Especially what she goes through in this movie. I totally understand why she wants to kill everyone in this movie.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: It's that's not my issue. That's not my issue with this movie.
Kat: Yeah, you just don't sympathize with her.
Ryley: I just don't care.
Kat: Like which they said, they said it was hard to sympathize with her. So I don't think, I, I feel like that question was [00:27:00] probably just, people were like, once the cast was released for this movie were like, really like, that is not Carrie.
Ryley: I get that. And I totally get that. Yeah.
Kat: But yeah, I, I don't agree with the two vengeful thing. Um, in that regard, I don't think it's a societal belief thing for that.
Ryley: Yeah. And I don't understand the willing to quickly just, I don't, I don't, I didn't see that really, or I didn't, I didn't think that I don't under,
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I don't understand the thought process on that.
Kat: I didn't dismiss the bullying at all. Yeah. I think it was still terrible.
Ryley: Like again, extreme to the absolute extreme.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: It's not even, it's not anything you can just like go, oh, I forgot about that. Whatever. It's not it's extreme versions of bullying, so, no, I don't think that does that at all.
Kat: There were weird girls at our high school that were gorgeous.
Ryley: Yes. There were.
Kat: There were gorgeous people with shitty lives at our high school too. Like, I don't understand. I get that she was written that way in the book, but it's like, it's literally Hollywood, yell at Hollywood. Not at the people who made [00:28:00] this movie.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But the next review I have is from time out written by Cath Clark in 2013, who gave this movie a three outta five. And said that as far as remakes go, it isn't as lame as it could be.
Ryley: Nope.
Kat: And says that Pierce got into the psychology of her characters more than De Palma did in the 1976 version.
Ryley: No, no, she didn't.
Kat: And then said that this version is no match for the scares and shocks of the original quote, which still gives the shining a run for its money as the best film of a Stephen King novel. So they think the original Carrie adaptation is the best film adaptation of a Stephen King novel.
Ryley: I've heard that and that's fine.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I'm just not a fan of the whole Carrie story in general so.
Kat: Which I think is fair.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Cause it really, really, really borders on like school shooter fantasy.
Ryley: Yep, it does. Yeah.
Kat: I just, I can't be on board with that. Not in these times. And then they say that Moretz is talented, but she was not born to play Carrie. And says [00:29:00] quote, “she hasn't a victim's bone in her body and fluffs the early scenes when the mean girls pick on her” end quote.
Ryley: I think she has too much of a victim thing going on in this movie.
Kat: I think like with the way she's written. Yes.
Ryley: Mm.
Kat: but not the way she plays her. Like, it never really seems like she's bothered that the girls are picking on her.
Ryley: She's not like bothered enough by it. Yeah. Okay. I know, know what you're talking about. Yeah. Mm-hmm
Kat: Yeah. She's more bothered that her mom is gonna have to come to school.
Ryley: And hit her with a Bible.
Kat: Yeah. Hit her with a Bible and put her in the prayer closet. She literally bonks her.
Ryley: She bonks her the head with the Bible. It's really, it's actually kinda funny.
Kat: We're not laughing at abuse. We're laughing at the movie.
Ryley: We're laughing at the movie.
Kat: It's a fictional movie. Oh my God. Okay. But they, they end this review with quote, “it's only in the final 20 minutes after the pig blood scene, nothing new here, that Carrie grabs you by the throat with a fireworks display of Carrie's telekinetic freakouts. Too [00:30:00] little, a little too late.” End quote. So it's not, they're saying it's, it's not exciting or good until like, she's just on a rampage.
Ryley: That's the point of the movie though, like how it's written. So.
Kat: But it's gotta be entertaining before that I think is what they're meaning, you know?
Ryley: Yeah. So if you're complaining about that, you're just complaining about how literally the movie is written and set up. And that's literally what I was saying before. It's not good until the end until, you know, the, the big build up. To me, that's not worth it. That's just not worth it. So if you don't like that, you just don't like the story of Carrie. Sorry. I mean.
Kat: Yeah. I mean, it's, I, I agree with what you're saying, but I think they're right in saying that it should at least be attention grabbing and good other than the 20 minutes. Not that it's like, you know, like, I don't think they're saying that that it's dumb, that the most exciting stuff happens in the last 20 minutes.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: I think they're just saying like, this movie needed to be on the same level.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: Or at least be at a higher level before that and not just have those really great last 20 minutes and nothing else.
Ryley: Oh [00:31:00] yeah. And I understand that and I, I agree. It sh it should be more entertaining before that, but like for Carrie and I'm sure you could.
Kat: It's possible to make the earlier part to Carrie more interesting than that than they did.
Ryley: But it just isn't .
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: So, yeah.
Kat: And I think that's what they mean, like.
Ryley: Okay. All right.
Kat: Not that they hate the story. I think they just.
Ryley: I just really hate the story.
Kat: It's a terrible story. And I don't think-
Ryley: It's not my thing.
Kat: No, I just don't think it needed to be made again.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: In general.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: like, it's just a story that does not age well.
Ryley: It. Yeah. I totally agree with that. Mm-hmm.
Kat: I'm not gonna sympathize with the fucking school shooter. I'm so sorry. I don't care how well she's written. I'm not sympathizing with her.
Ryley: Exactly. Yeah.
Kat: But the last review I have is from the St. Louis post dispatch by Kevin C. Johnson in 2013. Starting with quote, “horror movie remakes, or a dime a dozen,” end quote. This movie mostly nailed it. And it is as good as a remake as possible though. [00:32:00] Not truly a scary movie and said that Carrie adaptations are only as good as their prom scenes. And they said that the enhancement of Chris's characters, fate will delight the most jaded of horror fans and that it'll never overshadow the original, but that wasn't the point. And that on its own merit, it is a bloody good time. Any thoughts so far?
Ryley: Um, just they're wrong. Well, it's not that they're wrong, but I do have things to pick.
Kat: Okay. Go ahead. Before the last thing's just the end quote. So go ahead.
Ryley: Okay. Well one mostly nailed it. No. Um, and then yeah, the point Carrie's not scary at all. Nothing about Carrie is scary. So to think it's gonna be a new horror film that remake around. No, cuz it's literally the same story. And right here, Carrie adaptations are only as good as their proms. So even going in, you know, it's only gonna be worth it up until the end to see it.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: It's a boring premise and I understand someone could make it entertaining.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: But overall, it's, it's [00:33:00] all build up till the end. That's the whole point of the movie.
Kat: Yeah. And I think at this point there are so many stories that are the little guy getting
Ryley: mm-hmm
Kat: getting their day.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: Especially with high school teen movie kind of things.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: So at this point it's like, I don't care. They all end with a prom.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: There are movies that can take that premise and make it entertaining all the way through.
Ryley: Exactly.
Kat: Really not scary in the traditional sense of a horror movie.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: Her treatment's horrifying.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: That's not the horror part of it. It's just like a thriller, but it's not even like, there's no SU- it doesn't feel suspenseful. Like, especially since it's a remake, like, you know, it's like what that person said with, um, a star is born. I think it was like an audience review or something.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: It's like the Titanic, you know, the boat's gonna sink.
Ryley: Yeah, yeah.
Kat: This one, you just say, you know, what's gonna happen.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: So it's not, you don't feel the suspense.
Ryley: You don't cuz you, you know exactly what's gonna happen. You act, you know, the exact, when shit hits the fan moment, cuz it's very iconic and they're not gonna redo it [00:34:00] differently, you know? And that yeah.
Kat: Yeah. A remake, especially of a horror classic,
Ryley: mm-hmm.
Kat: That's based on a classic horror novel.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: You have to divert expectation. And I'm sure with that trivia thing we saw, I'm sure Pierce wanted to do that. And I'm sure Pierce wanted to give us a different Carrie, but ultimately could not.
Ryley: No, I totally agree. Which is unfortunate that, that, that didn't happen.
Kat: Exactly. Yeah. Johnson ends this review with quote, “Carrie is an expert hands with director Pierce, Moretz displays just the right amount of sweet innocence and evokes a certain amount of sympathy even when doing her worst. And Moore is wonderful in full throttle loony mode allowed to go over the top without being campy,” end quote. And surprisingly, she's the only character in that movie, in this movie who doesn't come off as campy.
Ryley: Yeah. That's actually very true. That Moore is very good in this movie. She's not part of the criticism.
Kat: Mm-hmm
Ryley: I do not understand how you would like Chloe's. No, there's no sympathy.
Kat: I also don't.
Ryley: There's not a sweet, innocence. There's [00:35:00] not.
Kat: It's like, unless you have revenge fantasies, 24/7.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: I don't see how you could sympathize with her.
Ryley: that's the whole thing. Like I just don't, there's nothing to sympathize with this character, cuz I don't really care about this character. There's nothing to care about. It's just this character that has environmental bad things happening to her.
Kat: Exactly.
Ryley: And that's it, that's it that's that's everything to the character and she has telekinesis. So there you go.
Kat: Yeah. Which just seems so like, whatever, you know?
Ryley: Mm-hmm yeah.
Kat: Like she has just fucking Telekinesis and you're just like, eh. But, um, is there anything else you wanna say about this review?
Ryley: No, I think I've, I think I've said enough.
Kat: Okay. So we'll move on to the audience reviews. The first one I have is a 10 out of 10 from IMDB titled “beautiful tragedy” from September of 2016. “The thing that confuses me most about this film is the way many people see it. They call it an unnecessary remake, awful, and carbon copy unoriginal. They're mistaken. This film is exceptional if you have an open mind and are seeking to only be [00:36:00] entertained. There is not a dull moment in the remake whatsoever. That would make be believe the collective negative perspective. The beautiful cinematography, the score and the well selected actors carry this film from beginning to the very end. I was a bit skeptical at first because Moretz doesn't seem like that kind of girl that would ever have any kind of problems like Carrie did in this. I thought it would be very unrealistic to see a hurt girl like Carrie being portrayed by a very beautiful woman like Moretz, but I was mistaken. Moretz did deliver the role from her shy, demeanor to her demonic rage to her repented fear. She was Carrie. I applauded this film because when the credits started rolling, I felt this strange feeling of emptiness inside me. I felt sad, but the beautiful kind of the sad, the sad that makes you think about things from a whole new perspective. This movie is beautiful tragedy to its core and ends in a way that makes you understand that some people live and die, hurt and alone. So to all the haters out there, I forgive you and to all the first timers that are skeptical to see this film, watch it. You will definitely be entertained and you [00:37:00] will enjoy the ride.”
Ryley: Lies.
Kat: We're forgiven though.
Ryley: Oh, oh, this person forgives us.
Kat: Oh, thank God.
Ryley: Oh wow.
Kat: I was hoping PrimoLander729 would forgive me.
Ryley: This is one of those reviews where you wonder what? I wanna know what this person looks like. I wanna know how I wanna talk to them. I wanna know. I wanna get know them a little bit.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Just to understand why they cuz this is the type of movie that I don't understand why anyone would be very passionate. And they're very passionate.
Kat: Yeah, exactly, exactly what you said. What do you find fun?
Ryley: Like what do you, I, I spend a day with them. See what yeah. What they do and what they consider fun. What they like, what TV shows they like. Do we have anything in common? Cause I do not understand how you could sit here and really passionately defend this movie. It's just one of those things.
Kat: It seems like the kind of person where like, you probably do watch the same things, but you don't agree on them.
Ryley: Right. Like you could, you could sit there and [00:38:00] watch the office, but somehow find different ways while you both like the office.
Kat: Exactly.
Ryley: Like one of those crazy things, you know?
Kat: Yes, exactly. Exactly. This is our twin flame.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: The next review I have is a five star review from 2022 that says from Letterboxd that says, “you know what? I don't blame her.”
Ryley: I mean,
Kat: I do.
Ryley: Yeah. Like you said before, it's it's.
Kat: A little school shootery.
Ryley: A little school shootery. It's a little, it's a little out of taste nowadays. You really can't.
Kat: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But the first one star review I have is from 2013 on IM D B one out of 10 titled “this isn't horror. It's a lifetime movie of the week with cussing.” “I saw the original Carrie at the drive-in when I was a kid and was looking forward to the remake. Unfortunately, this was a huge letdown of a horror film. Can you even call it horror where the original felt creepy? This was just plain slow and dramatic. The scares have been replaced with emotional and dramatic scenes of child abuse. Carrie is bullied, her mother [00:39:00] abuses, and she's coming of age except her puberty is telekinesis, with a little revenge. Had this been a drama, it might work better instead of hiding behind the image of an all out horror film, the magic of the original is gone. If you wanna see a scary movie, see the original. If you wanna see the drama version of Carrie and be bored out of your mind, then check this out. Personally,” I like to, “I like scary movies to be scary and thrilling. This is neither, maybe next time they'll get a remake right.” I hope they don't try again.
Ryley: No, I hope they don't either. I mean, at this point. This person, oh my God, they were a kid and went to a drive through to see the original, this person is ancient.
Kat: Well, maybe they were, it doesn't mean that it was when it came out. It could have just gone to a drive-in and the drive-in was playing old,
Ryley: Okay.
Kat: Movies.
Ryley: That makes, that makes sense. A little.
Kat: Were you in a model T?
Ryley: I'm not saying this person's wrong. I, I agree with them, but I'm not as passionate as what the original as they are.
Kat: Exactly.
Ryley: So I can't really be on the same page as someone who really likes the original and dislikes the [00:40:00] remake. I don't like either.
Kat: Yeah. I tried my best to like, get ones that weren't about the remake.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But they were fucking essays and essays.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: and essays about how the remake- how the original is better. And it was like, I, I just need some of you to hate it, just to hate it.
Ryley: Yeah, I bet.
Kat: Okay. So the next one is from Letterboxd from 2021. It is two and a half stars. “It's been said countless times, but seriously, what a miscasting. It just doesn't work. Chloe Grace Moretz doesn't fit the character at all and she doesn't do anything interesting with the role. I don't think this movie is egregiously awful or anything, it's just entirely unnecessary and the first hour is completely unremarkable. The last 30 minutes are much better than what came before it at least.”
Ryley: You're giving a little too much credit.
Kat: Mm-hmm
Ryley: saying it isn't egregiously awful. Yeah, it's not egregiously awful, but it's bad. Just say it's bad.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: It's okay to say that.
Kat: Yeah. Like a movie should not only be good or interesting in the last 30 minutes.
Ryley: It should not. It shouldn't be all build up. That's like the,
Kat: yeah.
Ryley: That this.
Kat: Well, there isn't even, there isn't even build up there.
Ryley: There [00:41:00] just, that's the first thing you learn, like, oh, you got, you can't just build up. Wh- whenever you're making a story, whether you're making a movie writing a story, don't make it all build up. That's the first thing they tell you. So when they go ahead and make a movie, that's all that.
Kat: It doesn't even feel like build up. It just feels like, I don't know if this cuz you know, you're like, it's like building
Ryley: mm-hmm
Kat: rising.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: the whole time.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But this one just feels like it's set up, you know? Like they're just like.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Here's the stuff that's happening. Here's the school. Here's the people, but you're not gonna get to know any of them, but here you go.
Ryley: It's so flat. It's so flat.
Kat: Yeah. It's it's flat and then it just goes boom. All the way to the top.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Which is not how things should be.
Ryley: No, that's not how stories work.
Kat: No.
Ryley: Well.
Kat: No, this next review I have is a one out of 10 from 2014 on IMDB titled 'what the hell was that?' “Forget that it's a remake, many people judge this film based on the fact that it's a remake. Forget it. Have you forgotten? Good.” This film is absolutely. “This film was absolutely terrible. The story is [00:42:00] outstandingly stupid and the acting is poor people that I know admire Chloe Grace Moretz massively and it's a shame that they have to see this filth. The film is not interesting, nor scary, nor entertaining. Can someone please pay me my six?”
Ryley: Oh, we got an English person here.
Kat: British!
Ryley: We got a British.
Kat: “my six pounds 80 back please. I went to see a solid horror and ended up seeing one girl, having a period and killing everyone. It's really terrible. I am disgusted by the good reviews, please stop lying to the public and tell them the truth.” She has her period and kills everybody.
Ryley: I love that. That's I mean, again, a good little summarization on the movie. I like this one. This was really funny.
Kat: Like, I loved that they were just like, just shut up about it being remake. Let's talk about how bad it actually is.
Ryley: That's the thing. And I, and I love that. It's not even the fact that it's a remake it's just a bad movie. It's just a bad movie by itself.
Kat: Exactly. This person's smart.
Ryley: I agree. I totally agree. I love it when we get a British they're usually right.
Kat: They're either, right. Or they're just like, so [00:43:00] egregiously British that I'm like, what are you talking about?
Ryley: It's usually funny. It's it's usually enough where it's like, this is my favorite one, because it's funny.
Kat: Mm-hmm. The next review is a star and a half from 2017 on Letterboxd that says, “I don't know it was on right after a show I was watching and I thought, how bad can it be? But mostly I was just too lazy to change the channel. This movie was totally unnecessary.”
Ryley: There's a part of me that believes that you kind of wanted to see the ending. You kind of were like, this is a cuz I've, I've been there. I'm too lazy to change the channel. That's usually because whatever's on isn't that horrendously bad.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Like I'm not saying I'm into it, but it's like, I can watch this.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: So there's something about it that was intriguing to you.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: And I think the movie was to this movie was totally unnecessary, there's more to say there's so much more to say
Kat: Mm-hmm. So the next one is a three star review from 2018 on Letterboxd. “Not as bad as it's made out to be, in my opinion, Kimberly Pierce's Carrie isn't completely a shot for shot remake, though. It does share most of the same beats from DePalma's classic. I thought the acting was mostly pretty good. Some of the lines that were borrowed from the [00:44:00] original came out sounding strange in a modern climate. But at least there isn't any excessive slash creepy nudity for gratuity. Yes. I just came up with that and yes, I hate myself. Goodnight.”
Ryley: Is there nudity in the original?
Kat: Yes, there is, but they, they literally couldn't because Chloe Grace Moretz was a minor.
Ryley: Oh, okay. Good.
Kat: It's just that seventies show a full Bush sentiment. I'm sorry.
Ryley: Dang. Really? Full frontal? Not just boobies?
Kat: I think it's boobs. You probably see side Bush or something. I don't remember, but it's the seventies. So there's probably a Bush in there.
Ryley: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. good, Lord.
Kat: The next one is a three star review from 2022 on Letterboxd. “Hats off to miss Chloe Grace Moretz for trying really hard to emulate the vulnerability and inferiority of Carrie. The way CeCe Spacek magnificently did in the original, but even Julianne Moore's five star portrayal in this three star film failed to give the blood red on a pale revival. Still, a good enough try.”
Ryley: Okay. I get what they're saying.
Kat: They're they're right though. Julianne Moore did great, but that did not save anything.
Ryley: No, it didn't. Nothing I don't, I don't know how much anyone [00:45:00] could have saved this movie. Really.
Kat: Okay. So this one's kind of long. It is a two out of 10 from IMDB from 2014 called “Don't Carrie on.”
Ryley: That's a good one.
Kat: “I'm not exactly sure why Carrie needs so many remakes, reboots and sequels. As a huge pre sober Stephen King fan, I appreciate his visions and horror granted of all the dozen or so books of his I've read his first Carrie.” Oh, it's. That was his first.
Ryley: Really? Wow.
Kat: “His first Carrie, I have not read yet. I know the whole story behind both the fiction and the true story of it being written in this particular case of fiction, the true story out shines his book. Google it for the entire Carrie background or better buy and read the fantastic In Writing by Stephen King. I digress into another story of mine: back between 1992 and 1994 when I attended college, my film professor chose the 1976 film as the most influential horror movie of the 1970s. Many, including myself disagreed, some would say it would've surely been the 1973 cult, the [00:46:00] Exorcist, I would say 1978's Halloween. But I would concede that the Sissy Spacek version of Carrie was fantastic and haunting, especially if the ending hadn't been spoiled by multiples of horror documentaries since. Fast forward to last year. 2013's Carrie stars, two established actresses. Well, one to get even better, I believe: Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. But they could not pull it off. First off, there was zero reason to remake this again. Second, they not only didn't bring anything new to the table, they actually took the film a few steps back with terrible CGI and bad acting. And third, with most remake slash reboots, just stick with the original. This is no exception to that third rule. I would highly recommend the original and that alone. Please don't let this be your first experience into the world of Carrie. Final thoughts: I'm not joking read in writing by Steven King. Granted there's other ways to get the whole story of the making of the novel Carrie, but In Writing explains it best and from his own words. And speaking of which, in a word, Tabitha, thank you.”
Ryley: I really like how they go back to their, their film school days. I [00:47:00] really like that.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: And I also agree the film professor saying the most influential horror movie in the 1970s, I understand was popular, but, and, and I can't, I can't really argue what was influe influential or not.
Kat: Maybe body horror.
Ryley: Yeah. I can understand that.
Kat: Or feminist horror, but there's like, I just don't wanna say that Carrie did anything.
Ryley: I, in my own opinion, I just don't understand the, how, just how much attention Carrie gets. I really don't I don't get it. I, this is one of those movies where I just, I don't get it. I really, I don't understand what people really see in this movie. So I can't argue if it was influential or not. I'm. I mean, it was absolutely to some extent, but I don't get it. And I don't understand why people put so much emphasis on this movie ever.
Kat: Yeah. And I'm just gonna say this to add fuel to the fire for the people that are gonna be upset at us for not giving a shit about Carrie. I watched the 2013 version [00:48:00] first.
Ryley: I remember this one more than I do the 1976 one. Yeah. With that one. Yeah. I agree with them. I like, I like that little detail they gave
Kat: I, it was a nice little picture they painted.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But this next one is a two star review from Letterboxd from 2020. “Watching this before watching the original, I just didn't have the time, is gonna go down as,” the worst, “one of the worst things I've done, but Hey, what a killer soundtrack brought to you by the vampire weekend pandora station.”
Ryley: People can't stop talking about it. I love it.
Kat: I mean, the whole soundtrack was like music that I loved in high school.
Ryley: Yeah. It was probably done on purpose as well, you know?
Kat: Oh yeah.
Ryley: I just love how they, they had to defend themselves. I didn't have enough time. Like they, they had to preface.
Kat: Nobody yell at me.
Ryley: Don't, please don't yell at me. I just didn't have enough time.
Kat: Okay, so the next one is a two-star review from 2021 on Letterboxd. “It feels as though it's rushing to hit the important marks without letting things breathe. The characters aren't very convincing and Moretz is probably too adorkable to be playing the creepy weird girl, everyone avoids, but at least Carrie is played by an actual teenager this [00:49:00] time. And we also call mama out for her preaching shit that isn't actually found anywhere in the Bible. So Hey, this one scores, some authenticity points over the DePalma one at least.” I did like that. And she's like, that's not even in the Bible. What are you talking about?
Ryley: You're just making that up.
Kat: That's a lie. This is a one star review from 2020 on Letterboxd. “One star for Julianne Moore.”
Ryley: You know what honestly, like that's gonna be one of my stars as well.
Kat: Mm-hmm. This next one is two star review from Letterboxd from 2014. “Julianne Moore is great even for Julianne Moore. Chloe Grace Moretz is amazing, regardless of the fact that she's 16, but the movie is charming where it needs to be tense and lovable, where it needs to be horrifying. There's nothing really wrong with the Carrie remake, the special effects weren't great, but they're nothing to complain about, but the few moments of excellence don't make up for the rest of the mediocrity. I think if this had the same talent going into it, but did something original instead of trying to imitate the classic, it could have been fun, but the comparison to Brian DePalma's original just emphasizes the film's shortcomings again.”
Ryley: This is way too way too nice.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: For something I would, I would write.
Kat: For [00:50:00] a two star.
Ryley: Yeah. Well, they're just saying like, oh, the CGI wasn't that bad? They're saying the acting was good. Just saying it's mediocre too. It's just like, not even enough for me. I'm like no tear it to shreds.
Kat: mm-hmm.
Ryley: Do it. You can.
Kat: Yeah. It's okay.
Ryley: People have torn apart better movies way more than what-
Kat: For less.
Ryley: Yes. I don't understand the people are really like walking on eggshells around this. I do not understand why. It is it is not that good. It is okay to say so.
Kat: Exactly. So this is our last negative review. It is a two and a half star review from 2013 from Letterboxd. “Not a completely terrible remake, just not a scary one. This movie's not compelling enough to keep you hooked in the moment on a scene by scene basis, you spend most of the running time just waiting for the pig blood. What keeps this afloat is the serviceable performances. Nothing to compare to the 76 original, but nothing that Chloe Grace Moretz's or Julianne Moore have to be ashamed of. You'd think the director of Boys Don't Cry would have a sharper take on this material, but everything comes across as pretty pedestrian. Perfectly adequate, but nothing to pop out of a grave [00:51:00] over.”
Ryley: You could go way harder. And I do think they have to be ashamed of this movie.
Kat: I feel like this, this movie is kind of like a bad pop song.
Ryley: Yeah. And people still listen to it cuz it's catchy, but it's not good.
Kat: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Ryley: We all acknowledge. It's not good, but they still listen to it's like, oh, it's, you know.
Kat: Some people might not be, you know, some people just can't admit that, like it's not good, but I'm still gonna listen to it. They just have to be like, it's not that bad.
Ryley: It's like, but it is.
Kat: You could say it's bad. It could be bad. And you could still enjoy it.
Ryley: That's the thing you could say it exactly. Just be honest about it.
Kat: Don't lie to yourself.
Ryley: Don't lie to yourself. Don't lie to me, not about this movie.
Kat: Uhuh. Okay. So this is the last review. It is a five star review from 2022 on Letterboxd. “This version of Carrie is the one that always sticks with me the most. This is such an amazing adaptation of the story. Unlike many people, for whatever reason, I genuinely will never get tired of it. It's given such a hard time, but I feel like this version is the most raw and the most gut wrenching to witness personally. It's so chilling and easily the darkest we've seen care. Every single performance in this film is incredible, which [00:52:00] pushes the story along so smoothly and naturally. I will never ever forgive the studio for making Kimberly Pierce change and cut so much of the movie in order to make it more of a remake of the 1976 adaptation, rather than it standing,” on its, “as its own fresh telling of the novel itself. It is still an amazing film, but I definitely would've loved to have seen everything included in this film prior to the studio's interference, hashtag release the Pierce cut.”
Ryley: That I agree with. I would like to see the Pierce cut. I would actually watch it if that were released.
Kat: The, the first part of it, it just, it's kind of like other good reviews of bad movies we've read where it's like, are you being sarcastic?
Ryley: Yeah. Like, are they, are you being, are you being genuine?
Kat: Like you thought the performances were incredible?
Ryley: No, they weren't. I can tell, Moore, sure, but everyone else really you're gonna look me, you're gonna look me in the face and say that.
Kat: You're gonna say only Porsche double day did a good job.
Ryley: The bar is so low for you. I just know. I just know the bar is very, very low for entertainment for you.
Kat: What are you gonna give this movie out of 10?
Ryley: 2. 1 for Moore.
Kat: And one [00:53:00] to piss off the original fans?
Ryley: Yes. Yeah. You know what? Yeah, cuz I don't wanna say, I don't wanna give too much credit to give it a one. I don't. But this movie just makes me angry. I don't like the story. I, it just it's one of those movies. I'm just like irritated.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Through all of it.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: It's just annoying. It just I'm in a bad mood after.
Kat: Mm-hmm. I'm gonna say, uh, one and a half.
Ryley: You gave it lower, this is the movie, your guilty pleasure movie.
Kat: I can't in good conscience. I know it's terrible. Like the only thing that's redeeming about it for me is that it's so ridiculous that I love it.
Ryley: Oh yeah. I understand.
Kat: Do you have anything else you wanna say?
Ryley: No, I I'm pretty sure I tore this movie part enough.
Kat: So if you wanna give us any suggestions or feedback or criticism, or you wanna yell at us for not liking Carrie, you can DM us on our Instagram at easy bake takes. We also sometimes post clips with the show on our TikTok also at easy bake takes. And if you're ever confused about anything, we say. We have a transcript of all of our episodes on [00:54:00] our website, easy bake takes podcast.com. And also if you liked this and you don't hate us for not liking Carrie, you should give us a rating on wherever you listen to your podcast. And also give us a follow if you like us, it really helps us out a lot. And thank you so much for listening. My name is Kat,
Ryley: And I'm Ryley.
Kat: This has been easy bake takes. Easy watching out there.
Ryley: Bye.
Kat: Bye.