My next movie review in the Carrie saga is The Rage: Carrie 2. A movie released in 1999 and one of the many Stephen King sequels that really did not involve Stephen Kings work or even involvement. As we go along this will be a trend we will see especially when we get to Children of the Corn.
What does this movie has in store for us as an opening scene? Do we get another girl getting her period for the first time? Nope my loyal readers, this movie opens up with a scene where a mother is painting the walls red. She is speaking religious things which bring back memories of Carries mother in the original. We also see she has a little daughter who is the reason why the mother is freaking out. The cops eventually come and take the mother to a psychiatric hospital. The little girl freaks out and runs to her room with her puppy while doors are mysteriously slamming on their own. I bet she has the same power as Carrie.
We cut to a few years later and the girl who is named Rachel Lang (Emily Bergl) is in foster care with parents that only have her for the extra money they get. She also still has her dog. She goes to high school now and is basically an outcast with one real close friend. Now after a great opening this is when the movie turns to into American Pie meets Carrie. Which is funny since American Pie came out the same year and also features two actors from the movie. One is Lisa (Mena Suvari) who is Rachels best friend and the other is Arnie (Eddie Kaye Thomas) which I guess is also a friend of Rachels.
Anyway basically the story follows a bunch of high school football players who is sleeping with high school girls and they are keeping points for what type of girl they sleep with. In this group is Jesse Ryan (Jason London) who participates in the game but does not really seem to like it. He also seems to have an eye for Rachel. We find out that Rachels friend Lisa was a victim of the game (and lost her virginity to one of the guys) and she basically gets told she is nothing to the guy. She ends jumping off the school roof and killing herself. This of course devastates Rachel and we see signs of her telekinetic powers.
Rachel is comforted by the school counselor who is Sue Snell (Amy Irving which is the same actress who played her in the original). On a side note it looks like Sue Snell spent some time in the mental hospital also after the events of the first movie. Sue speaks with Rachel and starts to notice she has the same abilities as Carrie did.
Rachel finally gets to talk to Jesse. Unfortunately it was at the expense of her dog getting hit by a car. Dont worry about it the dog lived. Jesse appears to be falling in love with Rachel which all his friends and the popular kids do not like. They eventually have sex and this also takes Rachels virginity. Lets just say the friends and popular kids film it and forge the points in their point book and all hell breaks loose when Rachel attends a party with them. I will let you watch the ending to see what happens to everyone.
I will be one of the few reviewers that liked this movie. While the acting wasnt great and reminded me of typical late 90s and early 2000s high school movies I thought it was good in the vein of Stephen King. Some call it a remake with a different story. I think it was a good continuation of the story. Now you ask how is it even linked to the original Carrie? Besides it being in the same town (you see the old high school burnt down from the first movie) and Sue Snell being in the movie we find out that ***minor spoiler*** Carries dad also impregnated Rachels mom which is why she has the same powers as Carrie ***End minor spoiler***.
While I liked the movie it wasnt great and it wasnt bad. It was entertaining and I enjoyed it for what it was. I really did not see the extreme bullying I did with Carrie. I mean Rachel at least had a friend. I just saw that the popular kids did not like an outsider dating one of their friends. It was basically crossing the line over social cliques. There was a little abuse by the foster parents but not on the level of Carries mom.
That is another thing in society and especially in high school is there is always cliques. Like a jock wont associate with the nerd or because they are fat or something like that and make fun of them. It is more prominent in high school but I have seen it in the workplace and everyday life. Do people fear what is different from them? Is it human nature? It is crazy when you look at society from a birds eye view.
Anyway have any of you seen the movie? If so what did you think of it? Did you know people who played games with girls emotions or did a sex game like the one in the movie? Tell me what you thought of the review and comment on it or about the movie. Here is the trailer for the movie to maybe see if you would want to see it.
Like I said in the past I will have a tracker of the final ratings of each book or movie I reviewed to show what I liked or didn’t like. It is a rating based out of five stars. For previous reviews if you missed it you can click on the title and it will link to that review for you to read.
Books Reviewed:
Carrie ***
Movies Reviewed:
Carrie (1976) ****
The Rage: Carrie 2 ***