Popcorn

Hailed as a “scream queen”, a term described when an actor appears regularly as the victim or as much, the protagonist in the horror genre, Jill Schoelen plays Maggie, the main character in the 1991 film Popcorn ( Mark Herrier & Alan Ormsby).

Popcorn is a bitter sweet and often cynical horror comedy. The film comments on the lack of funding and under-appreciation in arts as lecturer Toby (Tom Villard) and his students organise a horrorthon at their local cinema to earn some respect and extra cash. The event is a showcase of 1950’s horror/ Sci-Fi themic environments like Projecto-vison, Odorama, or Shock-o-scope (electric buzzes embedded in the cinema chairs,  a’la The Tingler (William Castle 1959)).Besides all this, the cinema is faced with other problems. A killer is loose during the festival, killing crew members in self referential spectacles for the audience’s enjoyment. In one scene, he amps up the voltage of the tingling seats which the teenagers actually enjoy.

Popcorn becomes cluttered when the film delves deeper. We learn the back-story of the killer who was involved in a surrealist film cult who ultimately made films that were laughed out. Part of his vengeance on the audience was to perform the last scene of his film Possessor live, in which he kills his family. His unfinished business and vengeance resurfaces with the student’s horrorthon where he kills the crew behind the stage and manipulates the crew by wearing both the female and male victim’s faces to do his bidding. Adding another layer, or complication, to the narrative, we learn that the killer is Toby and is Maggie’s father. Popcorn crams in recycled homage to Leatherface of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper 1974) with its fluidity to gender, as well as tacking on the Freudian overtones of A Nightmare on Elm Street ( Wes Craven 1984) in Toby and Maggie’s relationship.

Although I did enjoy Maggie’s 90’s appearance, the finale resulted in Maggie being the pretty damsel in distress, as she is saved by her ex- boyfriend. Hence, a “scream queen” is different to a “final girl” (a masculinised character such as Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween (John Carpenter 1978). Because, you guessed it, Schoelen got this name for being pretty and screaming a lot.

Maggie, like Popcorn, was a letdown. I wished the mood and nostalgia were the film’s main focus. With a name like Popcorn, cheesiness and fun should have been its main priority.

Carrie

The best way to go into Kimberly Pierce’s remark of Carrie (2013) is with open mindedness. Not that the film is bad, but that there is no point in trying to compare what was great about the original to what is different to the remake. That is arbitrary. What I can say, is that it’s a re-interpretation. There are scenes mostly the same, and at times seem pointless to re-do, but then theirs stuff that is different and progressive.

Of course, Carrie is amped up. It feeds into a new audience different to that of the late 70’s, a new teenage demographic with smart phones. In the new Carrie, played by Chloe Grace Mortez visuals and social commentary is more pronounced. Sticking with the original shower scene when Carrie discovers her period, however, this time it seems Carrie is subjected to longer torment, when the girls throw pads and tampons at her.  Bullying has shifted on a contemporary level expressed through the main villain, Chris (Portia Doubleday) and her skills on the web. Apart from Chris being a bit pouty, slutty and overly villainous, her character provided an interesting exploration of social media gone viral (perhaps was one-sided and negative). Like the original, we feel empathic for Carrie, even though Mortez may not look as awkward as Spacek, but Mortez inhabits her role bodily. Julianne Moore as Carrie’s mother, amps up a monstrous female, fractured in religion practise and self pain. If we took this back a notch, we can see a person suffering from mental illness and a husband who left her.

The highlight was the character Sue (Gabriella Wilde) who was part of Chris’s gang but shows sympathy for Carrie. Sue makes boyfriend Tommy (Ansel Elgort) go to the prom with Carrie and stays at home with her parents. However, at times Sue appears aloof and manipulative which becomes symbolic when she looks at herself in the mirror (it is cracked). Regardless of Sue trying to ‘help’ Carrie’s chances of being crowned Prom Queen. This is of course is thwarted when Chris and boyfriend Billy (Alex Russell) arranges pig’s blood. The scene develops into a drawn out CGI post- apoplectic showdown where Carrie gets to punish the rest of the students and show off her talents in telekinesis. Although, we may embody this moment as Carrie’s victory, the scene became bland compared to the visceral engagement I had with the prior exploration into Carrie’s powers.

 It is interesting that Pierce (Boys Don’t Cry) branched out and made something new, given the film a different ending and possibility of a sequel. The further exploration into Sue’s character at the end, made me happy and feel satisfied enough not to compare this to the original or simply think of this as remake of Brian De Palma’s masterpiece.