You could call it a product of its time. You could call it a bad attempt at a sequel to a classic horror film of the 1970s, that needs no sequel. But, I call it a decent film that is both, bad attempt at a sequel we didn’t need and a product of its time.
The Rage: Carrie 2 for me, was almost an event movie. We were a couple of years away from the 2000s remake cycle and with the mid-90s teen horror movie craze, it was time to make classic Brian DePalma film relevant with a sequel made in the vein of Scream…kinda.
SYNOPSIS:
When her closest friend commits suicide after being manipulated by the popular crowd, quiet and bookish Rachel Lang (Emily Bergl) decides to get back at the guilty parties. Although Rachel falls for sensitive football player Jesse Ryan (Jason London), she remains determined to punish his callous friends. When Rachel discovers that she has superhuman abilities, it ups the stakes for her revenge, echoing a supernatural incident that occurred decades before.
One could argue the Rage is ahead of its time. If you look at sequels coming today, Halloween, Scream and others. It tries to usher in a new cast of characters, while paying respect and bringing in old characters and storyline. But it does have the weakness of the 1990s films like Jason Goes to Hell or Freddy’s Dead of making this about family. Rachel Lang, out main character being the half sister of Carrie White from the original film. It sounds like Carrie’s father may have had a few kids running around the the telekinesis gene comes from him. This is of course explained to us by none other than Sue Snell (Amy Irving) from the 1976 film.
Aside from those issues, The Rage deals with some serious issues, like bullying. Carrie had to deal with some of the biggest bitches in film history and this time Rachel loses a friend to bullying and her entire life gets turned upside down. She even nearly loses her dog for God’s sake.
While this is not a carbon copy or a Star Wars type sequel, you know The Force Awakens. It tries to differentiate itself from the original film, which is a breath of fresh air. I remember seeing this movie after an aggressive TV spot campaign with Rob Zombie’s “Dragula” playing the the trailers. I went to the theater and damn it, I enjoyed Carrie 2. It seemed to me there is a good movie here, with plenty of shit characters, but some really good characters too.
There are some things to be wanted in this movie, but, I don’t think the Rage was well made and could have and maybe should have been a direct to VHS film rather than a theatrical release.
24 years later. I look at the Rage: Carrie 2 as an underrated Horror film. Mostly due to the fact it was ahead of its time dealing with issues prevalent today. It fits right in with the latest craze of sequels coming 20 to 30 years later. Maybe there is another Carrie sequel somewhere. God knows we don’t need a third remake.
Anyway, not a terrible film and you should give it another shot.
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