“I always wanted to be one of the shiny, happy people.”

Justin’s rating: A legacy sequel before anyone coined that term

Justin’s review: Perhaps the greatest impression that my ’90s video store clerking career made on me was the importance of a good poster or cover art. I spent a lot of time looking at VHS and DVD cases, and certain images remain burned in my mind of films that I never intended to see yet couldn’t stop thinking about their covers.

As you might surmise — you wily reader you — The Rage: Carrie 2 was one of these arresting images. Sequels are always going to get my attention, and the more so when you’ve got a tattooed goth lighting up the world with angry pyrotechnics. And since I finally got around to seeing the original Carrie a few years back, I figured I’d finally put a plot to the image that I’d known for so long.

Plus, the late ’90s to early 2000s was a weirdly magical time for the teenage horror flick. There was so much creativity being pumped into going beyond mere body counts, with underrated classics like The Faculty, Disturbing Behavior, Urban Legend, Final Destination, Cherry Falls, Idle Hands, Jeepers Creepers, The Craft, Ginger Snaps… I could go on. So does this one deserve to be on that list?

Rachel (Emily Bergl) is a foster kid with a non-contractable case of telekinesis that she keeps on the down low (we find out she shares the same dad as Carrie, which accounts for the mutant gene). She’s best friends with Mena Suvari and goes to a school where Sue Snell (Amy Irving) from the first movie is the guidance counselor. It’s also home to a group of loathsome jocks who literally compete for “scores” on girls, which results in an early suicide for a humiliated teen.

If the first Carrie was about how utterly cruel girls could be to other girls, the sequel examines the flipside with the unfortunately real issue of guys treating girls as nothing more than objects. And despite her knowing better, Rachel falls into the trap of being wooed and admired by one of them (Jesse, played by Out Cold’s Jason London).

Aside from the tenuous connections to the first film and this role reversal, the remainder of the film plays out as you might expect. Rachel’s barely controlled psychic powers go haywire when she finds herself targeted and mortified by her classmates. Cue a late-film makeover and some karmic payback.

I thought that Emily Bergl gave us a truly likable protagonist, a swirl of edgy and sweet. Unlike most teen slashers, the killer isn’t the bad guy but rather a highly sympathetic figure put into an unbearable pressure cooker. I guess that’s the Carrie model.

While there are some light telekinetics sprinkled throughout this film, it takes a while to get to where we know it’s going. I found The Rage to be far less quippy than its contemporaries and far more dark, thematically, than expected. And because this revenge story saves all of the good stuff for the last 15 minutes at a house party, it can be excruciating getting there.

It’s an interesting movie and a mixed bag — better than it is worse, but not without a fair bit of cheese (including every single one of the unnecessary Carrie flashbacks). I know The Rage got bashed a lot in the years following its release, but I’ve also seen some people come back around on it, too. It’s an imperfect sequel with a great lead actress and some genuine care put into the story.

Intermission!

• The Rage was pulled from theaters early in its run due to the tragic events of Columbine that same year.
• You’re being very sloppy with that red paint
• PAINT TO THE FACE KID
• High school montage with a ska soundtrack and handheld camcorders? Oh we’re so in the late ’90s.
• “Aw man, who’s car was this?”
• “Doesn’t it bother you that some girl offed herself yesterday?” “Why, she wasn’t anybody.”
• Poor Walter!
• If you go into a diner with your shirt spattered with blood, you’re gonna get looks
• Her mom was committed to Arkham? Is she a Batman villain?
• “I know. I know what you did to her.”
• Coaches can make you de-pants in front of your team
• “What’s your favorite scary movie?”
• Dang Rachel has amazing sunglasses
• “Come on Trace, you’re caviar and she’s Cheez-Whiz.”
• This is one of those psychiatric hospitals where they let all of these disturbed patients mill around unsupervised in the hallway
• 73 people died in the prom scene of the first movie
• They never bulldozed the burned-down school? They just left it there for decades?
• Let me bring you to the place where a girl with psychic powers killed 73 people to tell you that you need to be studied by a lab! That’s a good plan! She totally won’t freak out by that!
• Football players REALLY love shaving their heads like Nazis or something
• What is UP with the goofy soundtrack when the asylum breakout happens?
• Getting dressed while driving does not seem safe… and makeup?
• The tattoo beating and growing is a really cool effect
• CDs make for good murder discs
• Yup, go right for the spearguns. And flareguns.
• So many Dutch angles and black and white shots
• Don’t wear glasses around a telekinetic
• This house is very selective where it burns