Wikipedia

The Rage: Carrie 2

The Rage: Carrie 2is a 1999 Americansupernaturalhorror filmdirected byKatt Shea,and starringEmily Bergl,Jason London,Dylan Bruno,J. Smith-CameronandAmy Irving.The film is a sequel to the 1976 horror filmCarriebased on the 1974novel of the same namebyStephen King,and serves as the second film in theCarriefranchise.The film was originally titledThe Curseand did not have connections to theCarrienovel or film, but was eventually rewritten to be a direct sequel to the 1976 film. Its plot follows the younger half-sister ofCarrie White(Bergl), also suffering withtelekinesis,who finds that her best friend's suicide was spurred by a group of popular male classmates who exploited her for sexual gain.

The Rage: Carrie 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKatt Shea
Written byRafael Moreu
Based onCarrie
byStephen King
Produced byPaul Monash
Starring
CinematographyDonald M. Morgan
Edited byRichard Nord
Music byDanny B. Harvey
Production
companies
United Artists
Red Bank Films
Distributed byMGM Distribution Co.
Release date
  • March 12, 1999(1999-03-12)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$21 million[1]
Box office$17.8 million[1]

The Rage: Carrie 2was released on March 12, 1999, and was abox office bomb,grossing $17 million against a $21 million production budget.[2]It received generally negative reviews, which criticized the routine recycling of the original film's story and themes. However, they widely praised the performance of Bergl, who was nominated for aSaturn Awardfor her work on the film.[3]

Plot

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In 1989, Barbara Lang claims her daughter Rachel is possessed, having seen her display oftelekinesis.Barbara is diagnosed withschizophreniaand institutionalized, while six-year-old Rachel is placed infoster care.

In 1999, Rachel, an outcast high-schooler, is living with unsympathetic foster parents. Her best friend Lisa Parker commits suicide by leaping from the school's roof after popular football star Eric Stark dumped her, having exploited her for sex.

While developing Lisa's film, Rachel finds a photograph of her and Eric kissing. She turns the photo in to the police, explaining Lisa confessed to her that she had recently lost her virginity. Sheriff Kelton and the school's guidance counselor,Sue Snell,pursue statutory rape charges against Eric, who is 18 while Lisa is 15.

Eric and many of his teammates, including Mark Bing and Chuck Potter, are competing to see who can seduce the most girls. Rachel'sBasset Hound,Walter, is hit by a car and she flags down a driver, who is Jesse Ryan, another player on the team. Jesse takes an interest in Rachel, to the chagrin of cheerleader Tracy Campbell, who is pursuing him. Meanwhile, having discovered that Rachel implicated them in Lisa's death, Eric and Mark attempt to scare her into silence by harassing her at her home, but her telekinetic powers frighten them away. Pressured by the players' families, thedistrict attorneycovers up the statutory rape charges against Eric.

Sue begins to suspect Rachel may possess telekinetic powers through their counseling sessions. She tracks down Barbara, whose schizophrenia has stabilized, and learns that Rachel's father was Ralph White, the father ofCarrie White.Sue brings Rachel to the ruins of the high school which Carrie destroyed in a telekinetic rage in 1976 after being humiliated at her senior prom. Sue, a peer of Carrie's, is the only survivor of the incident. When Sue discloses that Carrie is Rachel's half-sister, Rachel dismisses her as a liar. Sue later sneaks Barbara out of the institution so that she can inform Rachel of her father's identity.

As revenge, Mark sets up and covertly films a romantic date between Rachel and Jesse. He throws a big party at his family's mansion. Monica Jones, a girl in the clique, befriends Rachel and invites her to their party. Rachel leaves with Monica to the party, while Tracy takes Jesse, having arranged for his car to be sabotaged. Tracy attempts to seduce Jesse but he rejects her.

At the party, Mark and Chuck cruelly humiliate Rachel by projecting the footage of her and Jesse having sex for all the partygoers to see, and saying she is just a name in Jesse's "list of conquests." This triggers Rachel's telekinesis, and she seals the mansion closed. She causes a large window to explode, killing and maiming most of the partygoers, and triggers a fire. Sue and Barbara arrive at the party, but a fire-poker impales the front door, killing Sue.

Monica, Eric, and Mark frantically arm themselves as Rachel pursues them. Rachel makes Monica's glasses implode into her eyes, killing her and causing her to inadvertentlycastrateEric with aharpoon.Mark shoots Rachel with a flare gun and she falls into the swimming pool. When Mark approaches the pool, Rachel pulls him in, triggers the sensor to the automatic pool cover, and leaves him to drown.

Barbara accuses Rachel of being possessed and flees. Jesse and Tracy arrive at the party. Rachel kills Tracy by causing a piece of ceiling to collapse on her. On a balcony, Rachel confronts Jesse about his list, but he denies it. Rachel then notices that the videotape of her and Jesse, still playing in the living room, captured Jesse saying "I love you" while she slept. As Rachel realizes Jesse's genuine feelings for her, an awning collapses on her. She throws Jesse off the balcony onto the pool as she burns to death.

In 2000, Jesse, now a student at King's University, cares for Walter. He has a nightmare of kissing Rachel before she shatters into pieces.

Cast

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Production

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Development

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Originally titledThe Curse,the film was not developed as a sequel to the1976 film adaptationand began as an original story.[4][5]Production was initially scheduled to start in 1996 withEmily Berglin the lead role; however, production stalled for two years, and the plot was retooled as aCarriesequel.[6]The plot involving the high school jocks who use a point system to rate their sexual conquests is inspired from a real-life 1993 sex scandal involving a group known as theSpur Posse.[7][5]The film went into production in 1998 under the titleCarrie 2: Say You're Sorry.

A few weeks into production, directorRobert Mandelquit over creative differences andKatt Sheatook over the reins with less than a week to prepare to start filming, and two weeks' worth of footage to reshoot.[8]Shea was initially hesitant to take over, but was told everyone would be fired and the film would be shelved if she did not.[9]Portions of the film were filmed in a North Carolina house designed by the iconic architectGene Leedy.[10]

Casting

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Amy Irvingreprised the role ofSue Snell,which she originated in the firstCarrie,though she was initially wary of taking the role and askedBrian De Palma,director of the original film, for his blessing.[11]In a 2024 interview, Irving said De Palma and herself liked the original director [presumably Robert Mandel], factoring into her agreement to perform in it. She said "I'm sorry I ever made that film.... Except they paid me a shitload of money."[12]Director Shea was told that she would not be able to use footage ofSissy Spacekfrom the originalCarrie,but she edited several scenes into the film and presented the film to Spacek, who granted permission for her likeness to be used.[10]

Release

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Box office

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The Rage: Carrie 2was released byUnited Artistson March 12, 1999. It opened in second place that weekend but was not successful.[13]It grossed a total of $17,762,705 domestically against a $21 million budget, making the film a box office disappointment.[1]

Home media

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The film was released onVHSandDVDon October 12, 1999, andLaserdiscon November 9.[14]ABlu-rayversion of the film was released on April 14, 2015, in a double feature with the 2002 TV version ofCarriefromScream Factory.[15]This edition wentout of printin October 2019.[16]

Reception

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Critical response

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The film received mostly negative reviews upon its release.Rotten Tomatoesreported the film had a 23% approval rating based on 39 reviews with the consensus: "As disposable as its predecessor is indispensable,The Rage: Carrie 2mimics the arc of Stephen King's classic story without adding anything of value. "[17]OnMetacritic,it had a rating of 42 on a scale from 0–100 based on 21 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews.[18]

Roger Ebertgave the film two out of four stars, deriding its recycling of the plot of the originalCarrieand the contrivances employed to make the same plot happen over again, though he briefly credited Bergl for delivering a good performance considering the weakness of the material.[19]Anita Gates ofThe New York Timescharacterized it as "an uninspired updated" and "typical B-movie making. The actors are attractive and do credible jobs, and in the tradition of the original film, there's one really good scare at the end."[20]Both Ebert and Gates commented on the absurdity of the scene at the high school's ruins, which had not been cleared away despite two decades having passed.[19][20]Dennis Harvey ofVarietypanned the film, noting that it "uses the original as a blueprint, but leaves out all the wit, sympathy and bravado." He criticized the recycling of ideas and even footage from the original film, and found the characters all lifeless, particularly compared to their counterparts from the original film.[21]

Ty BurrofEntertainment Weeklygave the film a more favorable B-minus rating.[22]He wrote, "The most satisfying change writer Rafael Moreu (Hackers) and director Katt Shea (Poison Ivy) have made is to their heroine. Where the original Carrie White was a sheltered, cringing wallflower, Rachel Lang (whose relationship to Carrie is a mid-film secret I won’t spoil) is a foster-homeGothgrrrl: pale, defiant, seething with surface-level cynicism. She’s the antithesis of the glamorous faux nerd played by Rachael Leigh Cook inShe's All That,and newcomer Emily Bergl portrays her with a nicely sulky empathy, equal parts hurt and hope. "[22]Kevin Thomasof theLos Angeles Timeschampioned the film as a "well-directed sequel" that treats the supernatural elements as simply obligatory devices while focusing instead on the deep and realistic social drama. He also praised Bergl as demonstrating "exceptional presence and range".[23]

John Kenneth Muir wrote that the abrupt death ofSue Snellwas "certainly powerful in terms of shock effect, but it also makes the rest of the film seem incomplete. All the time we invested in Sue goes exactly nowhere and amounts to nothing."[24]

In retrospective reviews, critics praised the film's depiction oftoxic masculinity,[7]with some commenting that the focus on the sexual misconduct committed by the male characters makes the film surprisingly timely, particularly in the wake of theMeToo movement.[25][5]

Soundtrack

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The Rage: Carrie 2
Soundtrack albumby
Various artists
ReleasedMarch 23, 1999(1999-03-23)
Length55:14
LabelEdel Records
Carriesoundtracks chronology
Carrie
(1976) 		The Rage: Carrie 2
(1999) 		Carrie
(2002)

The accompanyingsoundtrack albumwas released on March 23, 1999, by Edel Records.[26]

Track listing

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No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Crazy Little Voices" (Theme fromThe Rage: Carrie 2)Ra4:38
2."Quick, Painless and Easy"Ivy4:12
3."Resurrection"Fear Factory6:31
4."Year of Summer"Paradise Lost4:15
5."Low Down"Mary Watt4:17
6."Looking Down the Barrel"Five Times Down3:35
7."Die with Me"Type O Negative7:13
8."Keep Sleeping"16Volt3:14
9."Dark Love"Kate Shrock3:59
10."Laughter Lines"Sack4:20
11."The Slower I Go"L.A.X.2:47
12."Sleep"Trailer Park Pam2:26
13."Spark Somebody Up"Buddha Monk3:47
Total length:55:14

References

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  1. ^abc"The Rage: Carrie 2".Box Office Mojo.RetrievedNovember 8,2014.
  2. ^Gunning, Cathal (July 7, 2023)."8 Box Office Bombs That Killed Horror Franchises".Screen Rant.RetrievedJuly 9,2023.
  3. ^"Emily Bergl".TVGuide.RetrievedSeptember 10,2023.
  4. ^West, Alexandra (2018).The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle: Final Girls and a New Hollywood Formula.McFarland. p. 127.ISBN978-1476631288.
  5. ^abcDietsch, Drew (September 27, 2018)."[We Love '90s Horror] 'The Rage: Carrie 2' Was Ahead of Its Time as a #TimesUp Horror Movie".Bloody Disgusting.RetrievedSeptember 10,2023.
  6. ^Jones, Stephen (2001).Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide.Titan Books. p. 124.ISBN978-1840233094.
  7. ^abAlmeida, Gabriela (December 1, 2021)."Simmering RAGE: Forgotten Feminist Sequel CARRIE 2".Fangoria.RetrievedSeptember 10,2023.
  8. ^Hamman, Cody (May 15, 2023)."The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) - WTF Happened to This Horror Movie?".JoBlo.RetrievedSeptember 10,2023.
  9. ^"Katt Shea".The Movies That Made Me(Podcast).Trailers from Hell.January 29, 2019. Event occurs at 43:06.RetrievedMarch 22,2024– viaSpotify.
  10. ^abThe Rage: Carrie 2audio commentary(DVD).United Artists.2002.
  11. ^The Rage: Carrie 2Production Notes.
  12. ^"A Conversation with Amy Irving".Blank Check with Griffin & David(Podcast). January 23, 2024. Event occurs at 7:03.RetrievedJanuary 30,2024– via ListenNotes.
  13. ^"Weekend Box Office March 12-14, 1999".Box Office Mojo.RetrievedNovember 7,2011.
  14. ^"The Rage: Carrie 2 Blu-ray release".iHorror.Archived fromthe originalon October 21, 2014.RetrievedNovember 27,2014.
  15. ^"Carrie / The Rage: Carrie 2 Blu-ray Details".Dread Central.February 25, 2015.
  16. ^"The Rage: Carrie 2 [Double Feature]".Scream Factory.Archivedfrom the original on November 18, 2019.
  17. ^"The Rage: Carrie 2".Rotten Tomatoes.RetrievedJuly 9,2023.
  18. ^"The Rage: Carrie 2".Metacritic.RetrievedJuly 9,2023.
  19. ^abEbert, Roger(March 12, 1999)."Reviews: The Rage: Carrie 2".Chicago Sun-Times.
  20. ^abGates, Anita (March 12, 1999)."'The Rage: Carrie 2': Uninspired Update, Unintentional Laughs ".The New York Times.New York City, New York.Archivedfrom the original on November 18, 2019.
  21. ^Harvey, Dennis (March 14, 1999)."The Rage: Carrie 2".Variety.Archivedfrom the original on November 18, 2019.
  22. ^abBurr, Ty(March 19, 1999)."The Rage: Carrie 2".Entertainment Weekly.Archivedfrom the original on April 30, 2019.
  23. ^Thomas, Kevin(March 12, 1999)."Well-Directed Sequel to 'Carrie' Rages Against High School Machismo".Los Angeles Times.Los Angeles, California. p. D8 – via Newspapers.
  24. ^Muir, John Kenneth (2011).Horror Films of the 1990s.Jefferson, North Carolina:McFarland & Company.p. 638.ISBN9780786440122.
  25. ^Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (March 25, 2022)."Wild Women With Steak Knives: THE RAGE - CARRIE 2 (Katt Shea, 1999)".Fangoria.RetrievedSeptember 10,2023.
  26. ^"The Rage: Carrie 2".March 12, 1999 – via Amazon.
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