Not a Review Necessarily - My 'Carrie' trailer reaction

Summer H. Howell as Carrie White in the upcoming miniseries "Carrie." 

Horror writer Stephen King's first novel, "Carrie," published in 1974, is getting a new movie. I don't know what to write that would best convey how unenthused I am. It's been done already. More than once. 

Well, it's not just a movie. It's a miniseries. And the trailer for this new adaptation of King's story dropped July 25th. 

I have to add that it seems Stephen King miniseries are more often terrible or mediocre at best. I think I can count on the fingers of one hand those that are actually good on the fingers of one hand. 

"Salem's Lot" from 1979 is one of the best vampire movies I've seen. "The Stand" from 1994 is also pretty good. And "11/22/63" is certainly worth checking out. My wife even liked that one, and she's no Stephen King fan. "Welcome to Derry" which is based on characters from King's "It" was alright. Not mind blowing but I tuned in to finish the whole series. I'll throw in the series "Castle Rock" which is based on multiple stories by King just to give the good list a solid five titles. The second season was better than the first. 

But it's easier to remember the awful ones - "The Tommyknockers" (1993), "The Langoliers" (1995), "The Shining" (1997) - the one with Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mornay was certainly underwhelming. And "Rose Red" was, as I recall, boring. 

"Carrie" is about a 16-year-old high school girl named Carrie White, living in Chamberlain, Maine, who has the power of telekinesis. She's mocked and ridiculed at school. And she lives with her overly zealous religious mother who thinks everything about her own daughter is an abomination before God. Fast forward to the infamous prom scene where some bullies dump pigs' blood on her, and all hell breaks out. Audiences have seen it over and over again, even if they didn't read the book. 

The first adaptation of King's novel, and the most well known in the horror genre, is director Brian De Palma's 1976 movie of the same name starring Sissy Spacek as Carrie. and Piper Laurie as her fanatical mother. John Travolta also stars in a supporting role along with William Katt.
In 1999, "The Rage: Carrie 2" was released as a direct sequel to De Palma's movie. Directed Katt Shea, the sequel stars Emily Bergl as Rachel Lang who is the younger half-sister of Carrie. Like her older half-sis, Rachel also possesses telekinesis. It was released in theaters and panned by critics. 

In 2002, a made-for-TV version of "Carrie" was released and premiered on NBC. It stars Angela Bettis in the lead role along with Patricia Clarkson as Carrie's mom. Like most other Stephen King made-for-TV stuff, it bombed. 

And then in 2013, a third adaptation was released starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianna Moore. I saw this in theaters when it was released. Despite the good acting, I found it poorly cast. Chloë Grace Moretz does not strike me as an unpopular girl at school. She has all the characteristics of being the kind of high school teen other students would be fumbling over themselves to vote for as prom queen. She doesn't seem like the kind of teenage girl who would have any trouble finding a date to the prom, neither. But she was cast as Carrie. Though her acting was great, the role didn't fit her. 

This new adaptation of "Carrie" is directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Summer H. Howell in the title role alongside Samantha Sloyan as her mother.

While the trailer looks like it'll be more of the same, all I really can say is that it better add something new to the prom, the likes of which hasn't been seen in previous adaptations. 

Maybe the acting will be phenomenal. Maybe as a miniseries, "Carrie" will be an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Still, based on the trailer, I'm not holding out for anything even partially mind-blowing. I don't know anything about Summer H. Howell, but I will say she does seem to fit the part of Carrie White. She certainly does way more so than Chloë Grace Moretz. 

Director Mike Flanagan is, I'll say, a decent director. He directed "The Haunting of Hill House" (2018) which I enjoyed. He also directed the Stephen King movie, "Doctor Sleep" in 2019 which is based on King's novel sequel to "The Shining." And I thought it was a well done! It's also not the only other King IP that Flanagan directed. He did "Gerald's Game" in 2017 which I watched but I don't remember much about it except the ending. 

And speaking of Flanagan's horror movies, he did the movie "Oculus" also in 2017. That was a pretty well put-together film. So, maybe "Carrie" will be a great series. I'm still not waiting with shaking anticipation to see it. Why? Well, it looks like more of the same.  

Too often, Hollywood producers, who are often too stupid to realize how out-of-touch they are, often mistake familiarity for demand. Just because audiences recognize the title and maybe have a nostalgic love for an IP like "Carrie" doesn't mean they're asking for another version of the exact same story again and again. But, as I said, Hollywood is painfully out-of-touch.  

Maybe I'll watch it should someone else recommend it.

The series is scheduled to premier October 7, 2026 on Amazon Prime. I'll probably be tuning in to something else.