I was 2 articles in the month before I remembered that it is Women In Horror Month!! So, my posts for the rest of the month will be dedicated to the women who’ve contributed and made their marks in the horror genre. For today’s post, I’m putting the 1976 and 2013 Carrie films head to head in my second Original vs. Remake challenge! I hope you enjoy and let me know which one you like more! (SPOILER ALERT!!!)

Ok, let’s start with our protagonists! I always considered protagonists to be the main good characters and the antagonists to be the main bad characters, so I’m running with it here. I know it’s definitely debatable on whether Carrie White was a good person, but I’m choosing to include her in the protagonists section. Now, both Sissy Spacek and Chloë Grace Moretz did fantastic in the role. I have to give the edge to Spacek however, because she was how the character was supposed to be: timid and afraid of everyone. With Moretz, she portrayed the character with more confidence, and she stood up to her mother almost immediately. I much preferred Spacek’s slow character development, where as her powers grew, so did her ability to stand up against her mother. Now onto Sue Snell. Now I’ll admit, when I saw the ’76 Carrie for the first time, I wasn’t sure whether or not Sue was in on the prank or she was genuinely apologetic. I love how it was changed with Gabriella Wilde’s Sue. From the very beginning, it was obvious that she felt truly awful about what she did, and when Chris accused her of faking guilt just to be able to go to prom, that’s when she asked Tommy to take Carrie instead. Speaking of Tommy, both Ansel Elgort and William Katt did great at portraying an entertaining and sweet character. I really don’t know if I could choose one over the other.

Now, we get to the antagonists of the story. Margaret White is such a devious and evil character, and Julianne Moore and Piper Laurie brought two entirely separate performances. Now, Laurie’s portrayal of the character was nothing short of iconic, no doubt! However, Moore sent actual chills down my spine. Her performance was much darker and I would actually be terrified to have her as a mother. Now onto Chris Hargensen. Portia Doubleday and Nancy Allen perfectly portrayed the spoiled brat/mean girl character. I do love how much sweeter her downfall is in the remake. Doubleday’s Chris really got away with a lot of stuff before finally being held accountable and it shows. With her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, I have to give it to John Travolta. Alex Russell plays a good and scary Billy, but Travolta had the charm tied in with his craziness. As for the rest of the students, the advantage again goes to the original. They all had their own personalities and were unforgettable. When it comes to the remake, I had to watch it a couple of times just to remember who was who.

Now that we got the characters out of the way, it’s time to discuss the famous prom massacre. Now for a while, I thought the original’s prom scene ran a bit long and got a little boring. Having said that, I think both films did a great job giving us a brutal and long awaited massacre. One of the reasons the remake doesn’t win this round is because when it comes to Carrie’s rage, it’s supposed to be an utter snap. In the original, Carrie was so filled with blind rage, she killed everyone around her, showing she had really lost it. With the remake, she only killed certain people and went out of her way to spare Ms. Desjardin (Judy Greer), showing she was more calculated and in control. It just didn’t feel the same. But all the death scenes were great!

Now, we’ve come to the endings of the films. The original’s nightmare scene and final jump scare were legendary and unforgettable. The buildup with the calming music and slow-motion walk was beautiful and a perfect way to bring audiences to a false sense of security. I’m glad that the remake didn’t just copy that scene, but I was hoping for something more memorable at least. I do love the final monologue in the remake but it didn’t strike a cord with me like the original scene did.

In conclusion, I absolutely love both films, but I have to declare the original the winner here. Although the remake put up a hell of a fight, the original film’s characters, special effects, story, and overall impact made it a pretty obvious choice.