CARRIE White (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a shrinking violet, who has been sheltered from the harsh realities of the world by her religiously zealous mother, Margaret (Julianne Moore).

One afternoon after swimming class, Carrie gets her first period and classmates including Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde) and Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday) cruelly turn on Carrie in the shower, recording the young woman's distress on their smartphones.

While Sue subsequently feels pangs of guilt for her actions, Chris is unrepentant and is expelled by sympathetic gym teacher Miss Desjardin (Judy Greer).

The uncaring vixen then plots spectacular revenge on Carrie with the help of bad boy beau, Billy Nolan (Alex Russell). Meanwhile, Sue plans to atone for her sins by foregoing the forthcoming prom so that her boyfriend, Tommy Ross (Ansel Elgort), can take Carrie instead. Distinguished by committed performances from Moretz and Moore, Carrie is a lacklustre remake that resembles its predecessor too closely to justify an exhumation more than 25 years after Brian De Palma's gripping entry.

Pacing is sluggish and the climactic bloodbath fails to quicken the pulse. Working within the confines of Lawrence D Cohen and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's script, which slavishly follows Stephen King's text, awardwinning feminist director Kimberly Peirce is powerless to embellish the narrative with her own insights or brio.

All that distinguishes the two incarnations is the inclusion of video sharing as a means of bullying the titular character and a miasma of digital effects in the pivotal prom night sequence.

DAMON SMITH