Mike Flanagan’s Carrie: Fixing The Mistakes Of Past Adaptations

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Mike Flanagan, a highly acclaimed horror director known for his work in both movies and television, is adapting another Stephen King story. This new project gives him a chance to correct a long-standing issue with a previous adaptation. Many consider his TV series to be among the greatest ever made.

Mike Flanagan has worked on both original TV stories and adaptations of existing material, but he’s become particularly well-known for turning Stephen King’s novels into visual media. He’s directed adaptations of titles like Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, and The Life of Chuck, and now he’s adapting another Stephen King book as a television series.

Mike Flanagan is adapting Stephen King’s Carrie for a new series on Prime Video. While Carrie has been adapted for film and other formats before, Flanagan believes he can correct a significant error present in previous versions.

Mike Flanagan’s Carrie Can Focus On The Story’s Psychological Horrors

Published in 1974, Carrie introduces us to 16-year-old Carrie White, a high school student living in Chamberlain, Maine, who is severely bullied. She’s teased for being overweight, her clothing, her shy personality, and her mother’s very strict religious views. Carrie’s mother, Margaret, is intensely religious and has subjected Carrie to a lifetime of physical and emotional abuse.

Margaret harshly punishes Carrie for even minor offenses, claiming she’s committing sins. These punishments range from physical beatings to being locked in a closet for extended periods. As a result of this abuse, Carrie slowly develops the ability to move objects with her mind. She eventually uses these powers to retaliate after being targeted by a particularly mean and embarrassing prank.

The scariest parts of the story Carrie aren’t necessarily the supernatural events, but rather the emotional and mental anguish Carrie experiences due to her mother’s extreme beliefs, the trauma she endures, and her feeling of being unloved. Director Mike Flanagan is known for his skill in creating truly unsettling psychological horror, as seen in shows like The Haunting of Hill House, and he can bring that same focus to this new adaptation of Carrie, emphasizing the internal struggles of the character.

The Carrie Movies Missed The Point Of The Stephen King Story

The story of Carrie has been made into a movie four times. There was the original in 1976, a television film in 2002, and another in 2013, plus a sequel called The Rage: Carrie 2 in 1999. The 1976 film, directed by Brian de Palma, is famous and often considered a classic horror movie. However, the 2002 TV movie and the 2013 film weren’t successful.

However, the film adaptations, including Brian De Palma’s version, missed the core message of the novel. They largely concentrated on Carrie’s emerging telekinetic abilities and the resulting mayhem at the prom, with some versions even exaggerating the violence compared to the book.

Although Carrie’s powers and her revenge at the prom are significant to the story, the novel is primarily about the lifelong psychological trauma she experienced. Without that trauma, she wouldn’t have developed – or used – her telekinetic abilities in the same way.

Previous movie versions of Carrie emphasized the scary moments over the story’s deeper psychological horror, but with Mike Flanagan directing a TV series, there’s an opportunity to explore those important themes more fully.

Why Mike Flanagan Is Perfect For A New Carrie Adaptation

Mike Flanagan, like any director (particularly in the horror genre), has had a few projects that weren’t huge successes, but overall his work is consistently high quality. He’s especially skilled at adapting the stories of Stephen King, doing justice to both the scary and more emotional tales, such as The Life of Chuck.

Mike Flanagan has consistently delivered excellent adaptations of Stephen King’s work, making him an ideal director for a Carrie TV series. More importantly, he’s a skilled creator of genuinely scary, psychological horror, and avoids relying on cheap jump scares – a perfect approach for telling Carrie’s story.

Flanagan’s upcoming film, Carrie, is predicted to be a fresh, updated take on the classic story, building on his success with previous adaptations. By prioritizing character development and emotional resonance within an episodic structure, he aims to give Carrie White and her terrifying experiences the in-depth exploration they deserve.

Mike Flanagan’s upcoming adaptation of Carrie has a lot to live up to, but any changes he makes to Stephen King’s original story will likely be improvements. I’m confident he’ll emphasize the psychological horror elements, and it will be fascinating to see his take on the iconic prom night scene.

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2025-12-04 22:21