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Rage: Carrie 2 (The) AKA Carrie 2 (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - 88 Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (22nd March 2019). |
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The Film
 It was the sequel that they said could not be done right - and yet the 1999 shocker THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 proved to be a remarkably riotous and highly-rated follow-up to the classic Brian DePalma original. Directed by an old horror-hand in Katt Shea (POISON IVY), and starring Emily Bergl (television's SOUTHLAND) as a bullied schoolgirl who possesses a largely unexplored link to the telekinetic terror of Carrie White - the scares come thick and fast in this fan-favourite instalment - which also pays respectful homage to the abjection and atmospherics of its ground-breaking femme-on-fire predecessor, including a recurring role for DePalma starlet Amy Irving! Twenty years later and THE RAGE is back to remind a new generation that scary movie sequels do not need to suck - and 88 Films is proud to present this high octane example of Hollywood horror in ghoulish HD!
Video
Over twenty years on from Carrie (1976) Sue Snell (Amy Irving) is now a school councillor. Unfortunately for her, she has the misfortune to have to deal with another badly treated young telekinetic (Emily Bergl) who's powers come to fruition when her best friend (Mena Suvari) commits suicide due to a macho prank. Ultra slick, surprisingly enjoyable sequel to the better than ever Brian De Palma original. Director Katt Shea does an excellent job with the very average script but she can do only so much; Shea continues to promote strong female roles in her films and have a distinct female viewpoint ... very much the case here. She also has a nice cameo as a sympathetic DA. Good performances with Bergl, Irving and boyfriend Jason London (Mallrats,1995) being of special mention but the whole cast does good work. In the end this is yet another slick, studio horror film from the '90s so it's pretty gory (albeit still only 15), has a spectacular SPFX climax, a soundtrack filled with rock songs, some decent characterisation but is fairly predictable and formulaic in it's basic beats. Still, well worth a view. A shame this bombed at the box office; it's underrated. Image quality is stunning and beautifully encoded throughout. Grain is fine and plentiful never becoming course and I could see no signs of any digital tinkering. This has a very rich colour palette that a few years latter would've gone the way of the dodo as digital colour correction would give film makers greater control over the look of their films and so horror film makers generally adopted a bleached out desaturated, grim look for their genre work. Thankfully not so here. Black levels and contrast are as good as can be given that this is probably an older master and 88 Films have made the absolute most they can out of it. There's no print damage nor is there any obvious digital tinkering; this is a very pleasing presentation. 1080/24p / MPEG-4 AVC / 1.85:1 / 104:52
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English HoH A robust, florid very active 5.1 track with great depth and fidelity. Lots of depth, ambiance and surround activity. No distortion and dialogue is always clear with the score and sound effects effectively using the sound field well. Subtitles are accurate and welcome for the hearing impaired.
Extras
Audio commentary with director Katt Shea and director of photography Donald M. Morgan, moderated by David de Coteau It's interesting to hear how Shea's voice has changed and deepened over the intervening fifteen years between. Director de Coteau moderates this track very well; this was Morgan's first commentary and consequently there's a focus at times on cinemtaogrpahy and the intricacies of lightening. Everyone discusses plenty of detail about the production. Sadly, there are sound dropouts at various junctures on this track where it goes suddenly quiet where bits edited out at the request of MGM the longest is about 20 seconds. Audio commentary with director Katt Shea Shea's vintage commentary from 1999 is excellent; adds a lot of context and appreciation for the film. She's very intelligent and has so put so much thought into the film. Lots of colour coding and hard work on the characterisation. I like the way she makes the jocks not entirely cardboard alpha male jerks. They're as much victims of their circumstances and background. I think this will be a film to go back to. Alternate Ending: Before / After Special Effects Sequence clip with mandatory audio commentary with director Katt Shea (1:05) A silly alternate ending shown with in both animatic form and early CGI mapping wireframe form. The Shea commentary is forced as it was on the Shout BD. On the old DVD it was optional. Deleted Scenes (7:26): - Rachel and Mom in Mental Hospital (3:16) - Are you a Dawg? (1:24) - Bowling and Dinner Date (2:44) Some decent standard definition deleted scenes that could've been left in the film as they're all added character depth. Disappointingly, the Shea commentary which was optional on 1999 DVD and mandatory on the Shout BD hasn't been ported across. Low grade quality from a workprint. Theatrical trailer (HD) (2:06) Slick, fast trailer typical of a studio horror production from the late '90s. Limited Edition O-Card slipcase [First Print Run Only] This wasn't provided for review.
Packaging
Keep case
Overall
A fine release of Katt Shea's worthwhile '90s sequel. Good picture and sound from an older master but it's well encoded. Most of the extras have been ported over from prior editions with a commentary on the deleted scenes being the only casualty. Recommended.
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