I found myself very disappointed with the pacing of this film The director
Katt could not figure out whether or not to direct the film as like DePalma
would have or use a unique style. Katt Shea's style (think Shea, think,
"Poison Ivy came out only at the very end of this film. She appears
as Assistant DA in the middle of the film and perhaps chose the role for
the message that it contained, who knows? (the whole Statutory Rape thing).
Shea is maybe better known for being a Scream Queen before becoming a director.
Remember her in Psycho 3? She also was the flag girl in the original Cannon
Ball Run film. But she put away her visual assets and started her life
behind the camera as a cinematographer on "Devastator". The film
itself is written by Rafael Moreu (Hackers).
The film as a standalone picture steals a lot of its narrative from
"SHAME" and Australian film which was remade in the USA as "A
Case of SHAME". The film revolves around the suicide of a girl who
is nothing but a couple of points in a football teams sex-score book. In
SHAME the girl was raped, in this film she was used and abused, MENTALLY
RAPED. The protagonist/antagonist in this film RACHEL (who's natural father
is also Carrie White's father- thus the link), is best friends with the
tragic Lisa (Mena Suvari)who commits suicide.
The film than takes a similar route to the original Carrie. The narrative
has changed, the fanatically religious mother is in Arkham Asylum and the
Rachel (Emily Bergl: 24 y.o. English Broadway actor in a debut film performance)
is in the hands of a foster family that is interested in the 300 bucks
a week they get for looking after her.
But than Rachel meets Jesse (Jason London: Dazed and Confused, Blood
Ties). The only solid casting in this film would be of the STAR CROSSED
lovers. The other cast members must have been the next 20 people through
the door because none of them could really act like the jerks that they
are supposed to be.
I used a Shakespeare quote so you may guess where the film is going..
But the real EDGE this film has is the displays of alienation and student
massacres. Something that has since been discouraged by heads of state
in the US, since the incident in Columbine. But this film was made and
released prior to that. This is the first of the 2 school yard killing
flicks for the year. The other "Idle Hands" was released unfortunately
at the same week as the massacre and flunked at the Box Office and has
since had its official site removed. The film in basicallity, tries to
prevent, than condones/ empathizes and finally regrets schoolyard massacres.
This parallels with some commercial news networks, pre-dating this film.
Yet Carrie 2 never seemed to make the same impact in conversation. The
reason is simple. Nobody saw it. The result was one of MGM/UA's worst quarters
in history and the sacking of CEO Frank Mancuso (formerly Paramount), who
could not spark up the MGM 75th as he did the Paramount 75th in the 80s.
The dialogue was more befitting an 80s film and the only line I might
take with me is "Cleptoed it!". But I doubt I'll ever use it
in its intended context.
I'm still baffled by the title. It should have been called RACHEL (as
Carrie only appeared in FLASHBACKS). The inclusion of a character from
the original (Amy Irving) did not advance the plot it just made the story
a little to easy to follow and essentially was the cause for a lot of under-developed
characters (even for a horror film).
The DVD promises to have a couple of alternate endings.. But I would
say the VERY FINAL 15 seconds make this film worth watching. It is perhaps
the most dark and morbid thing I have seen on the screen in a Hollywood
film years. If you make it to the end of this film. You will have an image
that will haunt your memory.
Keep an eye out for the blatant Donald Duck Scream Spoof.
B+
, 1998-1999.