“Carrie” is one of the most attempted and tapped in to books of all time, and Scream factory’s latest release proves this fact pure and simple. The story of a pubescent young girl coming of age to realize she’s pure evil, or perhaps misunderstood (?) is a compelling tale that Hollywood has tried to perfect can’t quite get right. Brian DePalma’s film has comes the closest to acing what makes the narrative so incredible. 2000’s “Carrie” was a made for TV backdoor pilot for a possible TV show that’s just a mess from start to finish. Even without its efforts to tout itself as the next big television show, “Carrie” only has a few redeeming features to it and nothing more.
Angela Bettis, who gave a stunning performance in “May,” doesn’t catch lightning in a bottle twice as Carrie White. Here as Carrie she looks too old for the part, and her efforts to look impish and realizing her powers look more as if she’s on the verge of a major sneeze. Her flickering eyes and twitches offer nothing to her interpretation of the character, and she just looks bored most of the time. There are some added technologically updated ideas injected about online bullying, and word spreading through chat rooms and whatnot, but it’s all so outdated it’s more humorous than socially conscious. I did enjoy the notion that Chris Hargensen was more bullied in to the big finale with the pig blood rather than insisting on giving Carrie her blood bath. There’s the heavy implication Chris Hargensen is crushing under peer pressure and is bullied like Carrie, but nothing is really made of it, unfortunately. The production quality for 2000’s “Carrie” is flimsy and shoddy and will only make for good horror viewing for completists. 1999’s “Carrie: The Rage” fares much better as a loose sequel that can never decide if it’s a follow up to “Carrie” or a remake. Emily Bergl gives a criminally underrated performance as Rachel, a reclusive young girl who decides to take on the football team of her school when they begin sleeping with local virginal female schoolers and dumping them. This results in their suicides. Rachel is much bolder than Carrie White, but seems to be from the same bloodline of the woefully cursed White family. This prompts Sue Snell to attempt to council her and get her in touch with her fantastic power which, like Carrie, might be the realization of pure evil when unleashed. “The Rage” takes on more relevant tones of bullying with the themes of slut shaming and rape, while also trying to advance the blood bath that ensues in the finale. The gruesome massacre is much more blood soaked than suggestive this time around with exploding eye balls, spears through crotches, compact discs being used as razor projectiles. While still as outdated as “Carrie 1999,” thankfully “The Rage” holds up more to scrutiny for its more socially relevant narrative and stunning performance by Bergl. I consider “The Rage” an underrated pseudo sequel and it’s a gem for completists. For folks that want the whole treatment for “Carrie,” Scream Factory supplies a great double feature on Blu-Ray. Never one to just stuff two moves on to a pack, Scream Factory offers up a wonderful slew of extras. Director David Carson offers up a brand new audio commentary for the 1999 “Carrie” explaining Bryan Fuller’s with praise, Bettis’ performance, and where it would have gone as a series. There’s also a trailer for the film. For “The Rage: Carrie 2” there’s a new audio commentary with director Katt Shea that’s lively as she talkes with DOP Donald Morgan about the film, and its production. There’s also the original audio commentary from the MGM DVD, an Alternate Ending involving snakes that Shea cut since it made no sense, and three alternate scenes not shown in theaters. Finally, there’s the original trailer.