The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999): Dir: Katt Shea / Cast: Emily Bergl, Jason London, Amy Irving, Zachary Ty Bryan, Dylan Bruno: Worthwhile sequel to Carrie dealing with inner madness opening with telekinetic Rachel witnessing her mother get institutionalized at a young age. Now in high school her best friend commits suicide. She was a pawn where a group of football buddies score each other on sexual acts. One of them had his picture taken with the victim and is under police investigation. Rachel meets Jason London after his dog is in an accident. He feels guilt after having participated in the football lunacy. Amy Irving returns as Sue Snell who learns of Rachel's powers and discovers her birthright. Stylish directing by Katt Shea who can be credited with the interesting prank subplot but its conclusion is disappointing. Emily Bergl does well as Rachel until all hell breaks loose in its duplicate conclusion. Jason London also holds strong as one of the jocks with a little more compassion. Irving unfortunately is wasted and her dismiss is pointless and pitiful. Zachary Ty Bryan plays one of the guilty football jocks in what is a more aggressive streak as compared to his stint on Home Improvement, but we know his destiny here. Other roles are more or less the subject to Carrie's rage where bad things happen. The result is a worthy sequel but hardly an improvement. Score: 6 ½ / 10

Sometimes in a bad movie I can spot a diamond in the rough. 'The Rage: Carrie 2' has one or two diamonds and a lot of ruffage. There really isn't any reason for the movie to be a sequel to Brian DePalma's classic 'Carrie' except to package and sell it under a brand name. A little trimming of the screenplay and the movie could have worked just as well.The movie stars Emily Bergl as Rachel who has a connection to the character played by Sissy Spacek in the earlier film which is so lame that I shudder to even reveal it. Rachel is a loner who lives in a rotten foster home and is very unpopular at school.One day her friend kills herself after being jilted by a jock in a cruel sexual betting pool put in motion by the football players. This event in itself would have made for a very real story but the movie isn't that understanding and we get a grinding instant replay of the events from 'Carrie'.Rachel is telekinetic (just like Spacek) and her teacher (Amy Irving reprising her role as Sue Snell) notices and grows concerned. She's seen this before and makes it a personal mission to keep it from happening again. The most popular boy in school asks Rachel out and really begins to fall for her even though his friends think that he is just playing game with her.Rachel tries to make trouble for Jesse who drove her friend to suicide and the football team reacts by trying to suck up to her so that they can invite her to a party and humiliate her. We know what happens next, the blood and guts climax with the kids screaming and trying to get away as objects fly through the air and land mostly in their heads (those that aren't lopped off anyway). But that isn't the dumbest scene in the movie. That gem goes to a completely pointless scene in which Irving takes Rachel out to the sight of the old high school and it's still a pile of burnt rubble.The movie has its merits. Emily Bergl is a very relaxed actress who stays focused on the moment. I looked at her several times during the movie when another character was talking; she wasn't reacting, she was listening. I hope to see her in a much better movie because I think she has real talent.I could imagine pieces of this story working without the guise of a 'Carrie' sequel. I can imagine the story of a girl dealing with the fact that a cruel betting pool among jocks drove her friend to suicide. I can imagine how the movie would deal with her friend trying to make some sense of all of it. I could imagine how a sensitive jock would start to have feelings for her despite his friend's objections. Just clear out the clutter in this movie's screenplay and you have a decent movie.I shouldn't think so much in a movie like this but a movie this routine gives me a lot of time to do that. Sorry

Rachel Lang finds herself in a fowl mood after her best friend commits suicide. So what can a faux 'goth' half-sister of Carrie White do? Let the telekinesis fly in this unnecessary belated (by a few decades) sequel to a iconic horror classic.This film might've fared better had it been a stand alone film rather than a sequel to a beloved classic. However this IS a sequel (a point that this movie with constant callbacks to the aforementioned classic NEVER lets you forget) This is one of the two main minuses of the film (the other being Zachery Ty Bryan acting quite poorly) All is not awful as Rachel coming into her full revenge in the third act is entertaining, although not enough to sit through the rest of the film in my mind. That being said, this film IS STILL a million times better than the theatrical remake of Carrie.

The first film was a classic. How it remained 'stand-alone' for so long is a mystery to me. I can't believe so bright Hollywood money-man didn't think of doing a sequel waaay sooner than twenty-three years later. And, as we all know, how many times are sequels even nearly as good as the original? Not many. But Carrie 2 doesn't totally disgrace itself.Carrie 2 felt a bit like a 'part remake/part sequel.' It was certainly good to see the one of the main actresses come back for the sequel - it helped bridge the gap quite nicely. The 'new' plot basically recycles the old one. If you don't know what happens - basically, bullied girl gets revenge on her tormentors through her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.Anyway, the film is actually pretty good. No, it'll never recapture the 'shock value' of the original as you basically know what's coming, but it's an enjoyable horror-yarn nonetheless. If you liked the original, you shouldn't feel too aggrieved at someone cashing in on the Carrie-name after two decades. And, if you haven't seen the first one, you should get what's going on without feeling you've missed out.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/