Carrie

"School was - pardon the expression - bloody, screaming hell in Stephen King's 1974 novel, and Brian De Palma's still-definitive 1977 film adaptation. The problem for Kimberley (Boys Don't Cry) Peirce's competent cover version is how to up the stakes?"

"Director Kimberly Peirce’s intermittently effective third feature eschews De Palma’s diabolical wit and voluptuous style in favor of a somber, straight-faced retelling, steeped in a now-familiar horror-movie idiom of sharp objects, shuddering sound effects and dark rivulets of blood."

"Only Julianne Moore, as the Bible-thumping mom, has an instinct to go softer — how couldn’t she, after Piper Laurie? — and paradoxically, it’s a move that feels wrong, the role requiring its cantatory bigness."

"Peirce plays up the story's religious themes and Carrie's burgeoning power ... even as the dread of the female body that deepens Mr. De Palma's version somehow goes missing."

"Touches of wit and insight enliven the first half, but Carrie eventually devolves into lackluster modern horror cliches for a souped-up version of the famous finale."

"Despite the talent involved and the notoriety of the source material, Carrie feels strangely small, even television-sized."

"If De Palma’s version was one part adolescent dream, three parts nightmare, with a sly streak of satire running through it, Peirce’s is a more earnest yet still engrossing take on the story that should connect with contemporary teens."