Stephen King Sequel The Rage: Carrie Is Now Free to Stream on YouTube

Carrie is not the sacred text you might think. Stephen King’s first published book is still a cornerstone of horror canon, and the Brian De Palma movie that followed soon afterward is an almost flawless psychological thriller that holds up remarkably well. Anyone worried that Mike Flanagan’s new TV adaptation ruined Carrie should do a bit more research.

There have been three Carrie movies released since De Palma’s 1976 adaptation, and two of those were poorly received remakes consisting of a made-for-TV movie in 2002 and an ambitious retelling in 2013 starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. The third Carrie movie not directed by Brian De Palma is arguably the worst of the bunch. It is also the most important to consider in the wake of Flanagan’s plans to continue the story with additional seasons that stretch beyond King’s original ending.

An unlikely sequel

The Rage: Carrie 2 wasn’t originally supposed to be a Carrie sequel. Hackers screenwriter Rafael Moreu envisioned an original film titled The Curse, but when that project stalled, the story was reshaped into something Hollywood could sell more easily.

The 1999 thriller stars Emily Bergl as Rachel Lang, whom viewers might recognize as Susie Myerson’s sister on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. When Rachel is a child, her mother Barbara, played by Succession star J. Smith-Cameron, has a mental breakdown and claims her daughter is possessed. Barbara is taken to a psychiatric institution, and because the father is nowhere to be found, Rachel winds up living with a foster family.

Fast-forward to high school, where Rachel is an outcast goth. Her adoptive parents treat her terribly, and her only friend is Lisa, played by Mena Suvari. Tragedy soon strikes when Lisa takes her own life by jumping off the roof of the school, triggering an investigation into a group of jocks competing to see who can sleep with and then dump the most girls. This plotline, inspired by a real-life incident, makes Carrie 2 feel painfully relevant in a way the original story rarely does. Even Flanagan’s update, which explores bullying in the social media era, feels toothless compared to the events of The Rage.

The incident also unleashes Rachel’s nascent telekinetic abilities, setting up an inevitable violent climax just like the one in Carrie. This time, however, the chaos unfolds at a high school party at a rich kid’s mansion instead of the prom.

Eventually, it is revealed that Rachel and Carrie are half-sisters with the same father, suggesting their shared powers were passed on genetically. This clashes with Flanagan’s new series, but aside from this big and mostly inconsequential reveal, The Rage doesn’t have much in common with Carrie.

The studio reached out to original Carrie actor Sissy Spacek about returning for a flashback cameo. She declined but agreed to let them use cut footage of her from the De Palma film. The only repeat cast member is Amy Irving, who reprises her role as Sue Snell, the one high school student to survive the infamous prom incident. Sue now works as a guidance counselor and keeps a watchful eye on Rachel.

In an episode of the Blank Check podcast, Irving put it bluntly.

“I’m sorry I ever made that film,” she said. “Except they paid me a shitload of money.”

Biting podcast quotes aside, The Rage: Carrie 2 isn’t a particularly bad movie. It is nothing special, but it is a serviceable horror flick with some decent twists and an impressive ending. It is arguably a better follow-up to Carrie than whatever Mike Flanagan has planned.

Carrie season 2… The Rage?

Spoilers ahead for the ending of Prime Video’s Carrie season 1.

Flanagan’s take on Carrie changes the source material in several key ways. Most notably, Carrie White isn’t the only person in the story with powers. Instead, an entire network of women with similar abilities shows up just in time to witness the events of the prom, cover up the evidence, and rescue Carrie from the authorities. Season 1 ends with a clear setup for a bigger story about various women with the “Shine,” as one of them puts it, and Flanagan has confirmed in interviews that he has a three-season arc planned.

None of this happens in the original book or De Palma’s movie, mostly because King hadn’t yet begun to build out his sprawling, connected universe. However, it resembles the kind of thing King might have done if he had written his books in a different order. It is not an absurd leap to make, although it undercuts the show’s more complex message about mob justice and social media-inflicted trauma by dangling Easter eggs in front of the audience at the very last minute to secure a second season.

Whether Flanagan gets that season remains to be seen, but in the meantime, Carrie fans might want to check out The Rage: Carrie 2 for a unique take on where the story could head next. Flanagan probably isn’t basing his plans on this forgotten nineties sequel, but perhaps he should.

The Rage: Carrie 2 is streaming for free on Tubi, Pluto TV, and YouTube.

Source: Polygon