The Rage: Carrie 2

A smart, realist drama -- I wouldn't be surprised if this one winds up on my 10-best list for '99.

Does what good horror movies do: It taps into the baser emotions.

Emily Bergl plays the misfit heroine -- pale Goth grrrl Rachel Lang -- with a nicely sulky empathy, equal parts hurt and hope.

Emily Bergl plays the misfit heroine -- pale Goth grrrl Rachel Lang -- with a nicely sulky empathy, equal parts hurt and hope.

Dares to take a different tack, taking its young people seriously in a more realistic context. If ever there was a director ready to graduate from genre films, it surely is Shea. [12 March, 1999, Calendar, p.F-6]

Dares to take a different tack, taking its young people seriously in a more realistic context. If ever there was a director ready to graduate from genre films, it surely is Shea. [12 March, 1999, Calendar, p.F-6]

The surprise of the movie is that it actually does have a talented director and star. It doesn't begin to make up for the low quality of the story or the numerous other unfortunate elements, but it does suggest little flashes of something that, with more thought, might actually have been somewhat interesting.

The original "Carrie'' worked because it was a skillful teenage drama grafted onto a horror ending. Also, of course, because De Palma and his star, Sissy Spacek, made the story convincing. The Rage: Carrie 2 is more like a shadow.

I have never been a fan of the original Carrie, but, despite the different slant offered by The Rage, there's not enough new material here for me to like the sequel any better.

The original was a Midol moment, this is a Prozac exercise. [12 March 1999, Life, p.8E]