Rachel is a teenager either ignored or bullied by the in-crowds at school. She lives with uncaring foster parents after her mother was committed to Arkham Asylum (a nice reference to the works of H.P. Lovecraft) when she was a small child. A group of American football jocks play a ‘game’ whereby they keep running-scores on their sexual conquests with the girls. Jesse wants nothing to do with this. When he takes an interest in Rachel over one of the in-girls this riles the jocks and the ‘clicky’ cheerleaders. The couple get together when Jesse helps Rachel get her dog to the emergency vets after it is run over. The others decide to ruin this attraction by setting-up an elaborate trap of embarrassment and lies at a party after the big game. But they hadn’t bargained for Rachel’s deadly secret. She is the half-sister of Carrie White, and also has extraordinary powers of telekinesis that emerge at times of pain, stress or anger. Something tells me the party won’t end well...

This is a very nice 1080p HD Blu-ray presentation, by British distributor 88 Films, of the 1999 film The Rage – a sequel of sorts to the 1976 Brian DePalma adaptation of the Stephen King novel Carrie.

The original made quite an impact on the mainstream and horror film circuits. This film was a long time coming, arriving 23 years after the original. However, rather than a rehash – as many sequels are – it manages to both update and flesh-out the old concept by telling an original and then-contemporary story, whilst maintaining links to the backstory which are tenuous and so unobtrusive.

Emily Bergl is very good as the isolated and outcast teenager. You believe her situation and her initial acceptance of always being on the fringes. When her only friend commits suicide after being sexually disrespected by one of jocks, this proves to be a catalyst for the involuntary development of her abilities.

The plot seems simple but is told very well at the hands of director Katt Shea, best known for Poison Ivy. Opinion seems to be divided on this film, but I think it makes an impact. If you care about the characters it’s doing the right thing, and the sign of a good film can be how quickly the running time passes you by. The epilogue has a nice shock sequence, changed from a cut scene. The film also has a very nice and varied soundtrack; one minute Metal, the next Sixties-sounding keyboards, and a little bit of Acid-Bath-Hippy-Hop-in-the Garage for the hipster scenes.

Extras include: Deleted scenes, an rather nonsensical Alternate Ending, two Audio Commentaries, and a Limited Edition Collectors’ Booklet.

8

Ty Power