The Rage Carrie 2
USA 1999
Reviewed by Kim Newman
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
Bates High School, Ca., the present. Rachel Lang, raised by foster parents because her mother Barbara is institutionalised, is shocked when her best friend Lisa commits suicide. Lisa had been deflowered and dumped by Eric, a star football player, as part of a contest organised by team-mate Mark: members of the Bates High Bulldogs compete to see who can seduce the most girls. Guidance counsellor Sue Snell, sole survivor of the prom night 20 years ago when Carrie White burned down the school, notices Rachel has abilities similar to Carrie's. She visits Barbara in the asylum, and learns Rachel is Carrie's long-lost sister.
Rachel brings Eric's crime to the attention of the authorities, exciting the enmity of Mark and the team. She also starts a relationship with sensitive football-player Jesse Ryan, which sets Jesse's ex-girlfriend Tracy and her friend Monica against her. An apparently conciliatory Monica and Mark invite Rachel to a big party but she is humiliated there when Mark screens a video of Rachel and Jesse having sex. Lashing out with telekinesis, Rachel murders Eric, Monica, Mark, Tracy and most of other guests. She also accidentally kills Sue, who has sprung Barbara from the asylum. Barbara rejects Rachel, whom she believes is possessed by the Devil. Rachel resists Jesse's attempt to stay with her, telekinetically throwing him to safety while she burns to death. A year later, Jesse is still haunted by dreams of Rachel.
Review
Given that a film-going generation has come and gone since Brian De Palma's 1976 film of Stephen King's 1974 breakthrough novel Carrie, it's surprising that the rights-owners have opted to go the tardy sequel route rather than mount a 90s take on the same basic story as a straight remake (like the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers). The Rage Carrie 2, however, goes the whole sequel hog. Amy Irving, sole survivor of the original production, reprises her role, her 'where did my career go?' bewilderment appropriate to her high-school princess cum psychological cripple. Tiny snippets of Sissy Spacek are glimpsed in flashbacks, and while it's a touch shoddy that Irving's Sue should remember Carrie's subjective fantasies, at least continuity is respected in a visit to the still-ruined site of the old school. In the book, telekinesis is passed down from mother to daughter, but this jiggles the premise to introduce a hitherto unknown sister of the definitively killed-off Carrie.
There are noteworthy changes in the characterisation. Rachel is a tougher outcast than Carrie, tattooed and sharp. This plays well during the long build-up that tries to feel like a teen movie distantly influenced by Kids. But it undercuts the finale in which Rachel has total control over her telekinetic powers (she can even rewind videotapes) and is thus a malignantly vengeful fury in contrast to the lost, desperate Carrie. Rafael Moreu's script just scrambles the elements, taking all the plot points and characters from De Palma and King and trotting them out again in light disguise: the caring gym teacher becomes the caring counsellor, the callous bitch becomes a callous stud, the strict mother becomes neglectful foster folks, the nice girl who tries to help becomes a nice guy, the prom becomes a post-game party (with a considerable loss of iconic teenpic status) and Sue's last-minute nightmare of Carrie's hand reaching up from her grave is ineptly reprised as Jesse's vision of a fragmenting ghostly Rachel.
For a project that could hardly be anything but a waste of space, the film is fitfully engaging for at least two-thirds of its running time. Aside from one minor exercise in post-Scream jokiness, the standard teen stuff is enlivened by good performances from the kids (the adults, mostly, are dreadful). Katt Shea, who took over direction at the last minute from Robert Mandel, strives to recreate some of the class and sex issues of Poison Ivy, his most successful film. But The Rage falls apart when it ought to go into overdrive during the climactic holocaust. The more contrived gruesomeness (a spear impales one jock to the door and also skewers Sue on the other side, for example) tends to get laughs. That producer Paul Monash, who handled the original, has a franchise in mind is confirmed by the veiled suggestion that Ralph White, father of Carrie and Rachel, might have other unknown daughters out there.
Credits
- Producer
- Paul Monash
- Screenplay
- Rafael Moreu
- Howard A. Rodman
- Based on the characters created by
- Stephen King
- Director of Photography
- Donald M. Morgan
- Editor
- Richard Nord
- Production Designer
- Peter Jamison
- Music
- Danny B. Harvey
- ©United Artists Pictures Inc.
- Production Companies
- United Artists Pictures presents a Red Bank Films production
- Executive Producer
- Patrick Palmer
- Production Co-ordinator
- Susan Morris-Bean
- Unit Production Manager
- Patrick J. Palmer
- Location Manager
- R. Douglas Whitley
- 2nd Unit Director
- Patrick J. Palmer
- Assistant Directors
- Stephen Buck
- Susan E. Fiore
- Lisa Rowe
- Gregory Palmer
- 2nd Unit:
- Gregory Palmer
- Script Supervisors
- Helen Pinkston
- 2nd Unit:
- Faith Conroy
- Casting
- Gretchen Rennell Court
- North Carolina:
- Lisa Fincannon
- Associate:
- Erica Arvold
- Voice:
- Barbara Harris
- 2nd Unit Director of Photography
- Steven Poster
- Camera Operators
- Paul Varrieur
- 2nd Unit:
- John 'Perk' Perkinson
- Jeff Tufano
- 2nd Unit, Underwater:
- Gary Shlifer
- Digital Visual Effects
- Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Frank E. Vitz
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Erika Walczak
- Animation Supervisor:
- Beau Janzen
- Effects Supervisors:
- Randy Goux
- Greg Juby
- Compositing Supervisor:
- Mary E. Nelson
- Technical Supervisor:
- Ryan Laney
- Computer Graphics Artists:
- Keith Cormier
- G.G. Heitman Demers
- Daniel Roizman
- Rae Long
- Kody Sabourin
- Dana Peters
- Chris Swing
- Mark Pompian
- Phearuth Tuy
- Production Co-ordinator:
- Santo Ragno
- Technical Co-ordinator:
- Martha Small
- Executive Producers:
- Jeff Kleiser
- Diana Walczak
- Special Effects
- Co-ordinator:
- Roy H. Arbogast
- Foremen:
- Jim Reedy
- Mike Arbogast
- Art Director
- Geoffrey S. Grimsman
- Lead Set Designer
- Beverli Eagan
- Set Decorator
- Linda Spheeris
- Costume Designer
- Theoni V. Aldredge
- Costume Co-ordinator
- Keith Lewis
- Key Make-up
- John R. Bayless
- Make-up
- Patricia Mackin
- 2nd Unit:
- Chris Varosky
- Special Make-up Effects Design/Creation
- Thomas R. Burman
- Bari Dreiband-Burman
- The Burman Studio
- Barney Burman
- Keith Christensen
- Michael Rios
- Hair
- Key Stylist:
- Rita Parillo
- Stylist:
- Karen Lovell
- 2nd Unit:
- Vanessa Davis
- Main Title Design
- Eric Fitzgerald
- Titles
- Hollywood Title
- Opticals
- Howard Anderson Co.
- Music Supervisors
- George Ghiz
- Richard Winn
- Music Editor
- Danny Garde
- Soundtrack
- "Looking Down the Barrel" by Brian Carpenter, Brett Crawley, performed by 5 X Down; "My Wonderful Friend", "Take Over" by Romell Regulacion, performed by Transmutator; "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr, performed by Billie Holiday; "Comes Love" by Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept, Charles Tobias, performed by Billie Holiday; "Far Behind" by Ariel Rechtshaid, Rich Zahniser, Louis Castle, performed by The Hippos; "Sleep" by Keith Megna, Joseph Bennett, performed by Trailer Park Pam; "What's Fair" by Romell Regulacion, performed by Razed in Black; "Treat Your Mama Right" by/performed by Dan Shea; "Teddy Boy Kung-Fu Weapon", "13 Cats" by/performed by 13 Cats; "Backstabbing Liar" by John Flansburgh, performed by Mono Puff; "Mad Love" by C. Rytterlund, J. Malmberg, performed by LCD; "They're All Gonna Laugh at You", "Walter's Tune", "Anti-Christ" by/performed by Danny B. Harvey; "Crazy Little Voices" by Sahaj Ticotin, Premananda R. Johannes, performed by RA
- Sound Design
- Alan Rankin
- Production Sound Mixer
- Steven Smith
- Re-recording Mixers
- Patrick Cyccone
- Michael Keller
- Additional Audio
- Mark Ormandy
- Recordists
- Eric Flickinger
- Drew Webster
Supervising Sound Editor- Barney Cabral
- Dialogue Editors
- Constance A. Kazmer
- Paul Timothy Carden
- Mark Hollingsworth
- Effects Editors
- Perry Robertson
- Scott Sanders
- Stu Bernstein
- Brian Bowen
- ADR
- Recordist:
- Dana Porter
- LA, Mixer:
- Ron Bedrosian
- NY, Mixer:
- Paul Zydel
- Editors:
- Jennifer Mann
- Mary Smith
- Foley
- Artists:
- Jeff Wilhoit
- Jim Moriana
- Pat Cabral
- Dario Biscaldi
- Recordist:
- Greg Zimmerman
- Mixer:
- Nerses Gezalyan
- Editors:
- Glenn T. Morgan
- Dan Hegeman
- Philip Hess
- Stunt Co-ordinator
- Charlie Croughwell
- Animal Trainer
- Dick Parkinson
- Film Extract
- Carrie
(1976)- Cast
- Emily Bergl
- Rachel Lang
- Jason London
- Jesse Ryan
- Dylan Bruno
- Mark
- J. Smith-Cameron
- Barbara Lang
- Zachery Ty Bryan
- Eric
- John Doe
- Boyd
- Gordon Clapp
- Mr Stark
- Rachel Blanchard
- Monica
- Charlotte Ayanna
- Tracy
- Justin Urich
- Brad
Mena Suvari- Lisa
- Elijah Craig
- Chuck
- Eddie Kaye Thomas
- Arnie
- Clint Jordan
- Sheriff Kelton
- Steven Ford
- Coach Walsh
- Kate Skinner
- Emilyn
- Amy Irving
- Sue Snell
- Rus Blackwell
- sheriff
- Harold Surratt
- school principal
- David Lenthall
- English teacher
- Kayla Campbell
- little Rachel Lang
- Robert D. Raiford
- senior D.A.
- Katt Shea
- deputy D.A.
- Deborah Meschan
- party girl
- Robert Treveiler
- smiling patient
- Gina Stewart
- female vet
- Claire Hurst
- night nurse
- Albert E. Hayes
- head-banging patient
- Colin Fickes
- tuba player
- Rhoda Griffis
- saleswoman
- Eric Hill
- Jesse's spotter
- Jennifer Nicole Parillo
- fleeing party girl
- Jessica Cowart
- smoking girl
- Tiffany LeShai McMinn
- gardening girl
- Steven Culbertson
- the ref
- Certificate
- 15
- Distributor
- Redbus Film Distribution
- 9,411 feet
- 104 minutes 34 seconds
- Digital DTS sound/DTS stereo
- In Colour
- Prints by
- DeLuxe