On the Reboot of "Carrie"

**Mild spoilers ahead if you haven't watched the original**

Although the original Carrie from 1976 is filled with bad fashion, an outdated musical score, and a big heaping load of cheese, I've always able to see past all of that to appreciate the awesome paranormal story weaved by the master of horror. When I heard a remake was in the works, starring Julianne Moore, I was excited, yet skeptical. Knowing it would be directed by Kimberly Peirce, the same woman who directed Boys Don't Cry, I knew it would be pretty dark, and probably a bit original.

I was able to catch the new Carrie on its premiere night. The very first scene was among the most disturbing. We watch as Carrie's mom gives birth all alone, not understanding that in fact she was pregnant and is delivering a child. While this was not in the first Carrie movie, it certainly added a whole new element of horror into the mix. It also gave us a better idea of what a psychopath Margaret White truly is. The mother continues to be the most troubling element of the remake, between her overzealous religious beliefs, abuse of her daughter, and self-abuse.

After the pig's blood was spilled toward the end is where I found myself losing some interest. The way this Carrie walked around with her arms up like a marionette for the last 20 minutes really irritated me, and I wasn't a fan of her "supernatural" telekinetic abilities that allowed her to lift a car in the air, and split a tar road like some kind of earth quake. I did, however, like the final showdown between Carrie and her mother.

The acting was just as spot on as I had hoped. Oscar award winner Julianna Moore did an outstanding job as the mentally disturbed mother, Chloë Grace Moretz was able to pull off being the socially outcast yet hopeful Carrie, Portia Doubleday nailed the part of the hateful bitch Chris, Gabriella Wilde (I'd love to see more of her) was perfect as the beautiful and sympathetic Sue, and Ansel Elgort (of upcoming The Fault in Our Stars fame) pulled at my heart strings as sweet Tommy. Truthfully, I preferred this cast over the original (sorry, Sissy).

Overall, I was drawn into the story even though I already knew it inside and out. The addition of the locker room scene being uploaded to YouTube was the only glaring difference, other than the focus on the mom harming herself. Although I'm not yet convinced I like the remake any more than the original, I had hoped that the updated version would at least appeal to the newer generation so they would appreciate the disturbed mind of Stephen King. But as we were leaving the theatre, a girl ahead of me in her early twenties told her boyfriend, "I liked the original better." Quite honestly, I don't know that a remake was necessary, but at least it made for an entertaining Friday night. And now my daughter knows (1) what can happen when you bully people, (2) at least her mother isn't a raving lunatic, and (3) don't have sex, because that birthing scene was discomforting at best.

Why "The Conjuring" Scared the Hell Out of Me

**Warning, contains "mild" spoilers**

Ever since my 13-year-old decided she wants to watch horror movies as all her friends do, I've fallen back into the genre just as much as I was before having children. I can't really tell her she can't watch them, because I remember watching movies like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th in 8th grade (at a friend's house), and I know she'll watch them somewhere else if not with me. While I've become comfortable with her watching scary movies, I don't want her watching anything overly sadistic or mentally disturbing (accordingly, it will be a few years yet before movies like The Purge or Texas Chainsaw Massacre make her approved watch list). Personally, I'm more of a scary-thriller type of girl, and like something that makes me jump, but also blows my mind.

When my daughter mentioned she really wanted to see The Conjuring, I decided I better screen it ahead of time to make sure it wouldn't give her a lifetime of nightmares as the trailers looked pretty freaky. So during the daytime when I knew I wouldn't scare myself quite as badly, I gave it a run. And I'm pretty sure I'm the one who will be having nightmares for the rest of my life.

For anyone like me who was really excited about this movie, and maybe even considering letting their teen watch as I was, you need to know this isn't just a harmless ghost story. It involves a mentally disturbed witch, and demon possession. Think The Exorcist—ironically, that's one of the few movies I have a really hard time re-watching because it scares the hell out of me (pun intended). Just about every scene involved something that would make your skin crawl, or have you hiding underneath your blanket. Not only are there invisible and visible creatures lurking in this old farm house, but the mother and her five daughters are physically harmed, or otherwise messed with. And there's also a side story told of a creepy doll that makes Chucky look like an American Girl.

I loved the cast of characters. I've adored Lili Taylor since she first appeared in Mystic Pizza many moons ago, Patrick Wilson does well when faced with terror (probably from his experience on Insidious), and Vera Farminga plays a very likable heroine. Even the young girls did very well with their parts (it was a surprise to see Mackenzie Foy—a/k/a Renesmee from Breaking Dawn—in the mix). And the director James Wan certainly seems to know what he's doing on the set.

The worst part about The Conjuring? It's supposedly based on a true story. I watched the extended version in which they interview the clairvoyant woman who says this actually happened to her and her husband. The skeptic in me wondered why they wouldn't show us real footage if that was the case. The part of me who sometimes wonders if exorcisms are real nearly peed.

So, did I like it or not? Yes, the rather disturbed part of me really did. Will I be able to watch it again any time soon? Definitely not. Will I let my daughter watch it? Hell no. Unless she wants to wait until she's 18, she'll just have to sneak it in a friend's house like I did when I was her age. Let some other parent be responsible for corrupting her mind. Maybe she'll follow in her mother's footsteps and grow up to write about the paranormal.

Vlog Celebrating New Release and a Discussion on Horror Movies

I'm baaaaack. Today I celebrate the release of Cheating Death *throws confetti* and review a couple of horror movies, as well as discussing horror movies today in general. Oh, and I wear a really cool t-shirt that may quite frankly be my favorite.

Sorry for the funky lighting. It was a gloomy day here in Minnesota!

Check out Cargo (the 7 minute zombie movie I mentioned)

Read my review of Hannibal

Listen to the fun crew at Zombiecast

Our Place in a Violent World

Just as most Americans, after the horrific slaughter last week in Connecticut I suddenly feel like I'm drowning in my personal quest to keep my children's moral compasses in check. How do you explain to your child something that you don't understand yourself? What kind of monster could kill so many innocent people? How do I send my kids off to school each day and assure them that they'll be safe?

Today's generation of kids are waaaaay too desensitized. Between movies, Internet and video games, they've become numb to the whole concept of death unless it happens in their personal life. When I was growing up, many of the killers in horror movies were either a mythical creature or someone who came back from the dead to revenge their deaths. But an exception to that rule, and also one of the most disturbing I had ever seen, was Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It's no secret that I love a good scary movie, but there are times when I draw the line with senseless violence.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the first of many films to feature mentally deranged humans torturing others. One of the first horror movies I was unable to finish as an adult was Hostel. I just couldn't grasp the concept as entertaining and it was too disturbing to watch. Businessmen paying to torture young backpackers in Europe? How is that anything other than sick and twisted? There have been a slew of movies to follow Hostel that focus on deranged humans torturing other humans.

When The Dark Knight Rises came out, I braced myself for the worst after the shooting in Colorado. But I didn't find Bane's character nearly as disturbing as Heath Ledger's role in the previous Dark Knight film. I guess this only proves that mentally ill people are going to imitate things that come out of Hollywood, no matter what degree of twisted they may be. While I understand this, I still wonder why we add fuel to their imaginations with disturbing films.

When speaking to a friend this past weekend about the Newtown shootings, she pointed out that Americans think shows in Europe revolve too much around nudity and sex, while our entertainment has taken a major swing into gore and violence. When looking at the fatalities from guns in each country, it would seem that the US needs to reassess our goals. There were a reported 8,583 gun-related deaths in the United States in 2011 alone. Just this past week, a grandfather in Minnesota shot his granddaughter when he thought he heard an intruder in the night. Why give anyone and their dog the right to hold a weapon that kills? Why are there weapons available to the public that hold a hundred rounds of ammunition? I'm not going to go into the whole "right to bear arms" issue here, but it just seems gun violence is out of control. Something needs to be done. I know that making guns illegal is not the answer because, as some people recently pointed out in the endless debate, so are cocaine and meth. But something needs to be done as here have been far too many senseless acts of violence in recent years. As President Obama recently stated at the Newtown memorial service, "We're not doing enough and we'll have to change."

What can we as a nation actively do about the violence? Adults need to educate the next generations on right from wrong and monitor what they're exposed to. As much as I try to limit what my 10 and 12-year-old see on the Internet and watch on TV, I know it's impossible to protect them from everything. Still, they don't get to watch The Walking Dead with me and they don't have any video games that involve shooting humans. I know they'll go to a friend's house and see a violent horror movie or play the latest Call of Duty - they already have. But for the majority of their young lives, they'll be exposed to shows in which people are kind to each other and hopefully understand that senseless violence is inhumane.

And above all, we have to teach our children how to be considerate to others. In this modern society of road-rage and school shootings, we have to make more of an effort to demonstrate kindness. We have to show by example that it's not okay to bully others or wish cruel deaths on our enemies (i.e. explain to your children why the Korean singer Psy was horribly wrong in singing about torturing American soldiers and their families). This holiday season, make a point to reach out to others in need and lead by example. Let's show the world that the United States is still filled with good, and teach generations to come that violence is not the answer.