Carrie, directed by Kimberly Peirce, is the third remake of the Stephen King story of the same name and features Chloe Grace Moretz as Carrie and Julianne Moore as her mother, Margaret. When discussing remakes, I approach the situation with caution.

Remakes often approach the original work the wrong way, with its main goal being to modernize the story and ultimately to make money from the same movie all over again. By doing this, the essence of the original is usually lost or even exploited.

The story follows Carrie White, who endures bullying and abuse not only from her classmates but also from her insane mother, Margaret. Carrie, however, discovers she has telekinesis and is not afraid to use it when pushed too far.

This remake follows the original for the most part but it seems as though its main goal was to appeal to a younger audience, which makes it look like it’s trying too hard to be a hardcore horror movie. Chloe Grace Moretz, playing Carrie, does not come across as believable, although she acts well. In the original, Sissy Spacek plays Carrie well enough that it feels all too real. The scenes in the original, in which Sissy Spacek cries and begs her mother to stop tormenting her, remains hard to watch just because of how real it sounds, making the audience forget that she’s only playing a character. Chloe Grace Moretz’s performance, however,  does not shock the audience at all and seldom did I feel sorry for her. She looked, for most of the movie, like a pretty girl who was just having a bad hair day and looked as though she could become popular if she really wanted to, while Sissy Spacek was nowhere near being popular, not only because of her appearance but because of her seclusion from the rest of her classmates.

The whole movie plays out relatively slow, mainly to reveal what Carrie must deal with day-to-day and builds tension up to final scenes, which are shocking, but not as much as they could be. In no way is this movie a horror movie, although certain scenes are cringe worthy.

Overall, if you have to see Carrie, just make sure you see the original. This movie does not stand out as much as the original and the performances are done better the first time. I’m not claiming Carrie does not have enjoyable parts, but it’s just another instance of a movie that was remade when nothing was wrong with it originally.