This year, Halloween falls on a Wednesday, and every Wednesday I have a screening for one of my classes. We were supposed to watch Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita (1990) on Halloween, but I decided that for the first time in at least 5 years, I was going to celebrate Halloween and force all of my students to do so as well. So, I canceled the screening, and decided to screen Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods (2011) instead, with a reception open to Film Students where people could dress up--as their favorite monster, perhaps. This decision begged the question: what would be my costume? I thought immediately of Mrs. White from Carrie (Brian De Palma 1976). Frizz my hair, find a white nightgown, wear a cross, grab a bible, and I'm rockin' it (haven't figured out the knives yet). Then I was reminded of this unfortunate set of circumstances:
Yep. Like every other horror movie, they are remaking this one. I guess that the 2002 TV movie, scripted by Bryan Fuller, was not enough. I like Chloe Moretz. I love Julianne Moore. But I'm still freakin' pissed off that Hollywood cannot create something equally iconic and NEW, but would rather go to the same damn well again. As one can tell from my Coma post, I'm not a remake fan. Granted, I don't have much to go on regarding the remake beyond these pre-release publicity shots, but I'm going to tear them apart just the same.
First, Moretz's Carrie: she looks like she tumbled into some paint in a mall parking lot in this shot. She doesn't have that demented Bambi look that Sissy Spacek does so well. Spacek's Carrie is in command of her space, while Moretz looks much more the sad victim. Part of the fun of Carrie's transformation in De Palma's film is that she goes from timid lamb to full force virago. Wooo! Moretz is feeling a little tepid, kind of meh.
Then there's Julianne Moore as Margaret White, Carrie's Mom. She seems like she heard a noise and now sees that her cat left her a dead mouse as a present, as cats are wont to do. Moore looks slightly worried, a little sad, but ultimately very, very soft. Piper Laurie's Margaret, on the other hand, is channeling her Saint Sebastian here. She's ecstatic and glowing, and deeply, deeply fervent about her "sinning" daughter. I think Julianne Moore is a wonderful actress, but Piper Laurie is inimitable in this role, and why f***ing bother??
I'm also all for Kimberly Pierce getting more directing gigs. She's talented and deserves them, but this kind of situation is just setting her up for failure. She's going to be shredded by every fan of the original film, including me. I want to champion women directors, damn it!!
I'm also thinking about Steampunk Vampire Mina Harker played by the always amazing Peta Wilson from the crappy The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Stephen Norrington 2003) as an alternative costume choice. Although paler with obvious fangs.
