I have to say I was pretty surprised by how much I liked the first 2/3 of this movie. Didn't have high hopes coming in but was happy to see a good 90's horror flick with a storyline. Then the " Climax " happens and it all goes to hell. Seriously people ? That's what you have for an ending to all this? So disappointed

An unnecessary sequel-cum-remake to De Palma's original which gets by thanks to the quality of the scripting and acting, surprisingly enough. It must be said that this movie can barely qualify as a "horror" movie and instead works better as a "teen drama" type film. The horror content is low, there are absolutely no scary scenes in it whatsoever, instead we get in-your-face gore to make up for the lack of chills. A large part of the film concerns the developing romance between the two lead characters which is delicately handled and faintly moving. Emily Bergl is no Sissy Spacek but makes for quite a strong lead, however the scriptwriter made her far too strong a character and able to fend for herself, whereas Spacek played a mentally troubled, physically inferior girl suffering from depression and isolation. Bergl instead has friends, a close boyfriend, is attractive and disliked by only a few at school. Where's the drama in that? Where's the reason for the gory massacre that predictably closes the movie? The plot is definitely this movie's weak point. It strictly adheres to the original CARRIE, throwing off only a few different sub-plots (the 'high school sex ring leading to suicide' is a nice idea and makes for some suitably loathsome "jock" type characters as the villains). As the movie progresses it follows the original more and more slavishly, ending in a re-run of the massacre and even a ludicrous ending involving bad CGI work (London sees Bergl in a dream, and she shatters). Amy Irving returns from the original in a thankless role, and her character is totally extraneous to the plot. Quite a few scenes are devoted to her and Rachel's real mother, who is broken out of an asylum to come and see her daughter. At the end, it turns out that whole sub-plot was a waste of time.Jason London (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) has a good solid role as the jock with a heart and the various high school cliché characters are fairly solid and hateable enough. Even a pre-stardom Mena Suvari makes a brief, tragic appearance, going from her ugly duckling character here to an angelic sexual character in American Beauty. One thing I didn't like about the film was the handling of the gore content, which was over-the-top and sometimes needless. Did we need to see the dog crushed under the wheels of a moving car? These scenes are ill-judged and rather loathsome. At least the finale is entertaining enough, where the gore content is upped and we are treated to all manner of bizarre (and deserved) deaths – decapitation, impaling by CDs, drowning, blinding and my favourite, unexpected castration. Although THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 is entertaining enough, it pales as a sequel to the original classic so one best ignore the first film ever happened to get a kick out of it. Otherwise you'll sit wondering just why they bothered.

Filmed as a sequel to the original 1976 Carrie, this movie is set some 22 years after the events of Carrie. High school student Rachel has lost her best friend to suicide and, in making matters worst, is the victim of tormenting from a bunch of punk football jocks who sleep with girls to score points. But, this tormenting threatens to put Rachel's power of telekinesis to action.Emily Bergl did a nice job portraying Rachel as an outcast, troubled, yet vulnerable and sympathetic. Dylan Bruno and Zachary Ty Bryan played love-to-hate portrayals of Mark and Eric, displaying that rich but spoiled, punky guys type. But their acting was dull, as well as Jesse Ryan's emotionless portrayal of Jesse Ryan. The plot device of Rachel's best friend committing suicide after finding out she is another pawn in the guys' sex games is a clever way to lead into the movie's turn-of-events and, eventually, into Rachel's unleashing of her powers. Add onto the return of Amy Irving as Sue Snell to serve as a link between the two films, trying to discover the history of Rachel's powers and the link between her and Carrie is a great piece of suspense. However, much of this drama is lost as the plot was rushed through toward the second half of the movie.***major spoilers ahead*** The ending carnage was action-packed, but many important plot elements were left unexplained, including the fate of Rachel's mother, the whereabouts of Ralph White (Carrie and Rachel's father) and the town's reaction after Rachel's wrath. And, Sue Snell served as a very important link between the past and present and wanted to put all the pieces together to help Rachel, but she was unceremoniously killed off *** major spoilers ends*** What started out as a suspenseful and dramatic movie came to a mishmash of loose-ends.Grade D

"The Rage" is a serious high school drama that includes the sub-theme of telekinesis and ends in utter, tragic horror.The basic plot is the same as Stephen King's original, albeit with a stronger person as the title character. Hence, "The Rage" is essentially a more-modern remake as much as a sequel. In fact, it's not even necessary to see the original to appreciate it.THE PLOT: A social outcast in high school slowly becomes aware that she has telekinetic abilities. These powers are unleashed with lethal fury when the popular kids pull a meanspirited prank on her.WHAT WORKS: I'm glad "The Rage" doesn't have the creepy Pharisaical mother like in the original. This is one aspect that I couldn't stand about "Carrie." It (sort of) gave the impression that anyone who takes the teachings of Christianity seriously will become a warped, hideous, deathly, abusive killjoy like Carrie's mother. Actually, although there are indeed modern-day Pharisees in Christendom, nothing could be further from the truth. Authentic Christianity gives liberty, life and joy, not the opposite (see, for example, John 8:31-32, John 10:10 and 1 Peter 1:8). Don't take me wrong here, I'm not preachin' to you.Emily Bergl plays Carrie's half-sister Rachel and she does it well. She's an outcast like Carrie but she's stronger, more confident and doesn't have a dream to fit in with the popular kids. One of the film's themes is: Does love really exist? Rachel says she doesn't believe in love. Her mother's in a mental institution. She's a foster child and her foster parents clearly only have her for the extra money, not because they love her.Any teenager or adult can readily relate to the situations/issues addressed in the film:The common cliques: the "popular" crowd, oversexed jocks, snooty cheerleaders, rich kids and their parents, nerds, outcasts, etc. - Pre-mature sexual experience and the resulting emotional turmoil. - Suicide. - the spiritual emptiness of casual sex. - First love, true love. - Being attracted to or dating someone outside your social stratum. - Football, players, fandom and hardcore coaching antics. - Friendship, rivalry, fights. - Partying."The Rage" effectively brings to life these joys and horrors of the high school experience.Jesse, played by Jason London is an interesting character. Jesse is truly attracted to Rachel, but why? It's not that she's conventionally beautiful like his ex-girlfriend, although she's not ugly either. Perhaps Jesse sees the superficiality and conformity of the spoiled "popular kids" clique and veers toward someone more humble, loving and genuine, like Rachel. Also observe that Jesse isn't a conformist, even though he's technically part of the popular kids clique: Because of his love for an outcast he fearlessly stands up to the most popular (arrogant) jock; everyone on the team gets his head shaved except Jesse, etc.It's interesting to note that, although Rachel is portrayed as a misfit who likes Marilyn Manson, she's not a rebellious, disrespectful teenager. She never "answers back" her foster 'father,' she works, she isn't promiscuous and isn't a party monger.Furthermore, "The Rage" is respectful of its source. It even brings back the lone survivor of the original, Sue Snell (Amy Irving), as a school counselor.Also, the credits features the excellent song "Crazy Little Voices" by the Egyptian band Ra, which isn't available on their proper albums.WHAT DOESN'T WORK: There's a love scene that's premature IMHO, but it can be defended on the grounds that time has to be condensed in a movie.I just saw the original "Carrie" and "The Rage" back-to-back and I liked the latter better with the exception of the original's prom scene, which is iconic with the blood-splattered Sissy and the fire in the background. Plus, the '76 version is the original version and it gets points just for that whereas "Carrie 2" loses points for just being another take on the same basic plot. I suppose you could also argue that the original has better mood, which it does.Yet I prefer the sequel because Rachel is a much more interesting character than Carrie in the original film and Jesse is really attracted to Rachel -- even loves her -- rather than Tommy just doing his girlfriend a favor and feeling sorry for Carrie in the original.Also, the thin plot of the original is clearly padded -- unimportant scenes are drawn-out to about twice the length they need to be -- and this makes the movie seem long at 98 minutes and some parts boring. "The Rage," by contrast, runs 104 minutes but it doesn't seem as long (or boring) as the original because the story and characters are more interesting and the film isn't padded. FINAL ANALYSIS: I encourage you to be openminded and allow yourself to enjoy a different take on the same basic plot of "Carrie." Both films have their strengths. In some ways "The Rage" is better than "Carrie." It's definitely not a weak or campy sequel; rather it's a strong late-90s updating and effectively showcases the joys and horrors of the high school years.The film was shot in Dallas & Charlotte, NC, and runs 104 minutes.GRADE: A