Carrie 4K Review (Scream Factory)

Carrie is a 2013 horror film directed by Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry and Stop-Loss). It was written by Lawrence D. Cohen (It, The Tommyknockers, Carrie, Scorsese Shorts, and Ghost Story) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Big Love, Riverdale, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, and Supergirl). It’s based on the iconic horror novel from author Stephen King (Castle Rock, Maximum Overdrive, Silver Bullet, Doctor Sleep, IT, Pet Sematary, The Outsider, The Dead Zone, The Stand, The Mist, Misery, Cujo, Children of the Corn, Salem’s Lot, Christine, Stand By Me, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Firestarter, and Creepshow). It’s the 3rd adaptation of the original source material plus there was a sequel The Rage in 1999. The budget was $30,000,000 and it grossed $84,790,678 worldwide at the box office. Carrie White (played by: Chloë Grace Moretz from the Kick-Ass franchise, Let Me In, Suspiria, Greta, The Equalizer, The Eye, The Amityville Horror, Wicked Little Things, and 500 Days of Summer) is a social outcast from Ewen High School. While showering after gym class, Carrie unexpectedly experiences her first period. She is very confused and she thinks that she is dying. The other girls make fun of her because of it. Bully Christine Hargensen (played by: Portia Doubleday from Youth in Revolt, Fantasy Island, Her, and Mr. Robot) records everything on her phone and uploads it to YouTube to embarrass the unpopular Carrie.Miss Rita Desjardin (played by: Judy Greer from the Halloween franchise, Jawbreaker, Aporia, Jurassic World franchise, Cursed, The Village, Adaptation, and Ant-Man franchise) sends Carrie home to her religious fanatic mother Margaret White (played by: Julianne Moore from The Big Lebowski, Hannibal, Boogie Nights, Tales from the Darkside, Magnolia, The Hunger Games franchise, The Fugitive, Assassins, and Psycho). Margaret and Carrie clash over her recent changes. Carrie experiences more telekinetic abilities and she tries to control them. Miss Desjardin threatens the girls who teased Carrie with an ultimatum, Chris refuses and she’s punished for it. Sue Snell (played by: Gabriella Wilde from Wonder Woman 1984, The Three Musketeers, and Poldark) feels guilty so she convinces her boyfriend Tommy Ross (played by: Ansel Elgort from Baby Driver, West Side Story, Tokyo Vice, The Goldfinch, Divergent franchise, and Billionaire Boys Club) to take Carrie to the prom. Carrie is finally starting to feel normal despite her mother protesting that she doesn’t go to prom. The night is going perfect until Tina (played by: Zoë Belkin from Perfect Sisters, Breakout Kings, Endless, and Isabelle) and Billy (played by: Alex Russell from Chronicle, S.W.A.T, Bait, and Jungle) decide to carry out Chris’s embarrassing prank on the shy Carrie. Can she control her dangerous powers? or Will she get her revenge????Carrie 2013 is the 3rd adaptation of the original Stephen King book. It’s better than the 2002 version but it doesn’t come close to the original from 1976. Regardless, it’s a really good remake of the classic story with a modern update to it. I don’t think it gets the respect that it deserves and it’s usually overlooked. It’s directed by the talented Kimberly Peirce, she hasn’t done that many full length features but the few that she’s done were all high quality. She takes a completely different approach when it comes to the visuals in Carrie. Chloë Grace Moretz is top notch as Carrie White. She’s an excellent lead here, she’s very vulnerable and her character change is powerful here. She is a nice girl that’s pushed to her limits. Julianne Moore shines as the psychotic mom, she makes you feel Carrie’s everyday pain. Portia Doubleday makes you hate her as the villain in this. She’s mean spirited and she loves to torture people who usually don’t fight back. It has a solid supporting cast that includes Ansel Elgort, Judy Greer, Zoë Belkin, Alex Russell, Gabriella Wilde, Barry Shabaka Henley (Collateral), Derek McGrath (Freaked), Max Topplin (Suits), and Connor Price (Being Human). Carrie has always been one that you let the characters build up and the finale always makes it worth the wait. It’s crazy, very brutal and it has gruesome special fx. Stephen King has always been fascinated with people with special abilities and Carrie is one of the best when it comes to that. This remake deserves a revisit or even a first time watch for those who have slept on it. High replay value, it’s very entertaining especially towards the end. RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Scream Factory! This 2160p (2.39:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is from an 4K scan from the original camera negative. The original blu ray honestly looked pretty good when it was originally released but this new restoration knocks it out of the park. It’s a very impressive improvement. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 on the UHD. This remake sounds great in the home set up. All of the dialogue is very clean, the prom nightmare is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Kimberly Peirce. She goes over adapting Stephen King’s book. She chats about the casts and characters. She talks about production and the scenes here. She is very vocal and she doesn’t leave boring gaps like commentaries have. This is the only extra on the UHD. The rest of special features are located on the blu ray. “The Devil’s Hand: Designing CARRIE” is an almost 23 minute brand new and exclusive interview with production designer Carol Spier. She doesn’t speak for this whole chat, there’s some scenes added in so it kinda feels like a promotional piece at times.She does talk about design on specific scenes and moments from the remake. “They’re All Going to Laugh at You: Adapting CARRIE” is an almost 33 minute brand new and exclusive interview with author Joseph Maddrey. He is an expert on horror author Stephen King so he goes into great detail about him here. He brings up his influences when he was creating this. He compares the original and this remake. It’s very informative. It has an “Alternative Ending” with additional commentary with the director. It has 9 “Deleted/Alternate Scenes” that’s almost 11 minutes with additional commentary with the director. “Creating CARRIE” is almost 21 minute making of promotional piece. It has interviews with director Kimberly Peirce, producer Kevin Misher, actors Judy Greer, Julianne Moore, Chloë Grace Moretz, Portia Doubleday, and Gabriella Wilde. Lots of behind the scenes footage here. They chat about the remake, it’s a nice inside look into the production. “The Power of Telekinesis” is almost 4 minutes. It has interviews with the cast and crew. They discuss Carrie’s supernatural powers in this. “Tina on Fire Stunt Double Dailies” is a little over 2 minutes. It has behind the scenes footage with additional commentary with the director. “Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise” is a little over 2 minutes. It’s a promotional piece to grab attention for the remake. I remember it being pretty popular on YouTube when it was originally released. It has a “Theatrical Trailer”. It has a slipcover and a blu ray. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!