I literally just finished watching this remake of the 1976 classic (well, I think it's a classic) about ten minutes ago. We all basically know the plot and what happens at the end, so I'll skip straight to my take. I'll warn you, mostly I'm going to compare it to the old movie. Just to be on the safe side, I'll also warn you of a few potential spoilers.
Angela Bettis and Sissy Spacek are very different, but both portrayed Carrie brilliantly in different ways. Spacek looked more mousy and innocent, while Bettis looked angry and disturbed. But all of these things were part of the actual character Carrie; they just don't surface at the same time.
Most will say Piper Laurie was scarier than Patricia Clarkson as Margaret White, but I disagree. Yes, Laurie was meaner at first glance and didn't seem to care about her daughter at all, and Clarkson looked nice and only did a few mean things to her daughter. But think about it: Every single time Clarkson lashed out at Carrie--when she smacked her, poured tea on her, dragged her off to the closet, and pushed her underwater--it was sudden and made you jump. She was unpredictable. In my opinion, this is what makes her scary.
The gym teacher in the original version was definitely friendlier, while the one here was a little bit of a psycho bitch. Also, Sue was sassier to the police in this one than the squeaky-clean Sue in the original. However, one thing that separates this from the original is Billy. The Billy in the remake will give me nightmares. The way he killed that pig, and threatened Chris--aah! And John Travolta's character in the last one was just a smartass. But other than this, and the considerably changed ending that I won't give away, the remake isn't much different than the original. This made-for-TV movie is definitely worth checking out, and so is the original with Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie.
Angela Bettis and Sissy Spacek are very different, but both portrayed Carrie brilliantly in different ways. Spacek looked more mousy and innocent, while Bettis looked angry and disturbed. But all of these things were part of the actual character Carrie; they just don't surface at the same time.
Most will say Piper Laurie was scarier than Patricia Clarkson as Margaret White, but I disagree. Yes, Laurie was meaner at first glance and didn't seem to care about her daughter at all, and Clarkson looked nice and only did a few mean things to her daughter. But think about it: Every single time Clarkson lashed out at Carrie--when she smacked her, poured tea on her, dragged her off to the closet, and pushed her underwater--it was sudden and made you jump. She was unpredictable. In my opinion, this is what makes her scary.
The gym teacher in the original version was definitely friendlier, while the one here was a little bit of a psycho bitch. Also, Sue was sassier to the police in this one than the squeaky-clean Sue in the original. However, one thing that separates this from the original is Billy. The Billy in the remake will give me nightmares. The way he killed that pig, and threatened Chris--aah! And John Travolta's character in the last one was just a smartass. But other than this, and the considerably changed ending that I won't give away, the remake isn't much different than the original. This made-for-TV movie is definitely worth checking out, and so is the original with Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie.