Netflix Flick Pick: ‘Carrie’

The week long special Halloween edition of Netflix Flick Pick is winding down and for the penultimate pick we’re going with a film so good Hollywood has remade it twice in the last 11 years. I’m of course talking about the film that introduced American movie going audiences to telekinesis, Carrie. Based on the Stephen King book the film tells the story of an outcast teenage girl who gets asked out to the prom and well you know the story.

Brian de Palma brilliantly showcases the horrors of high school in Carrie, which despite two modern day remakes remains the definitive version of the film. While we all know the story, it’s become part of the shared American culture, the film still manages to make the well known climax tense and keeps you in suspense and hopeful that things turn out okay for Carrie. To be honest the film doesn’t turn into a full out horror until the last half hour. The moments up until the film’s climax are filled with some rather vicious bullying of Carrie. She gets tampons thrown at her in the shower, her mother locks her in a closet to pray, and she gets set up on a prank date to the prom.

When the horror does come it is really intense as the put upon Carrie has finally been pushed too far by the school’s sadistic bullies and murderously snaps in a frighteningly prescient cinematic moment. Turns out dropping pigs blood on a girl on her prom night is not a good idea. If you know the story but haven’t actually seen the film it’s time to start streaming, because mere words do not do the film justice. Religious fanatacisim, pig slaughtering, bullying and telekinesis are the ingredients for this horror film classic but one of the film’s lesser talked about elements is its visual style. de Palma delivers a film that is shot brilliantly, contrasting a dream like state with a darker more traditional horror atmosphere when the time comes making it all the more intense. So stay home and enjoy the original before you go out to see the remake, when you’re done you might not feel the need to.

Netflix Flick Pick: ‘Evil Dead’ ‘Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn’

Day 2 of the special Halloween edition of Netflix Flick Pick continues with a 2 for 1 special. These films clearly have fans of blood and gore in mind but sacrifice nothing in terms of pacing and horror. I’m talking of course about the films that made Bruce Campbell a cult icon, tonight’s Netflix Flick Picks, The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn. I’ve already written about The Evil Dead as the subject of an earlier Netflix Flick Pick and you can read that in its entirety here. If not enjoy this snippet:

“The film is steeped in lore. As the story goes the film got financing after being shown as a short before The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Then, the extremely low budget independent film got made but couldn’t get US distribution until Stephen King saw it and wrote a rare review that raved it was the ‘most ferociously original horror film of the year.’ This of course led to one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time and oh yeah it launched the careers of the Cohen brothers who worked as editors on the film.”

The Evil Dead is an intense, horrifying, bloody gorefest but Evil Dead 2 is the rarest of things, a sequel that is actually better than the original. Dead 2 tells essentially the exact same story as the original, only it does everything better. Better script, better directing, better acting, better special f/x, more horror, more blood, more gore, more action and it even throws in some fantastically dark comedy throughout the movie to balance out the intensity of the horror. It also wins the award for best use of a chainsaw ever. What am I talking about? Just watch and find out.

In fact watch them both, back to back even. It’ll take less time than watching a Lord of the Rings movie. No knock on Tolkien, I’m just saying these films are a good investment of your time as director Sam Raimi is at his creative best in these films, showing an incredible combination of resourcefulness and visual mastery the likes of which have rarely ever been seen. While the franchise has just been rebooted, it appears Raimi will be bringing the fourth installment of the original franchise, Army of Darkness 2 to theaters. Here’s hoping it’s as good as Evil Dead 2.