Carrie

Boys Don't Cry director Kimberly Peirce claimed her adaptation of Stephen King's first book would go back to the basics of the novel, but this pale imitation is more of a homage to Brian De Palma's 1976 horror classic and completely lacks the captivating poignancy at the heart of the original. The core scary fairy tale remains - teenage Carrie White (Chloë Grace Moretz) is picked on by her venal classmates until she unleashes full telekinetic revenge at the school prom - except there's a birthing prologue to ramp up the tortured religious conflict of her mother (Julianne Moore), updated social media frills (Carrie's shower humiliation is put on YouTube), silly visual nods to that other 70s landmark The Exorcist, extraneous gore in the bloody massacre finale and excessive comeuppance for her vapid persecutors. The performances are fine, just not in the same indelible class as iconic Sissy Spacek or Piper Laurie, and showing shy Carrie to be in control of her powers makes the film much less emotionally engaging.