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Mika Boorem, Summer Glau, Morgan Fairchild, Joanna Garcia, Ben Ziff
OK, I’ll admit it, I have a soft spot for this new TVM, although a better title probably would have been Sarah 2: The Rage, since this movie almost takes the exact spin that Carrie 2 did (a movie I totally loved). The original Sarah, an awesome MOTW from 1978, featured the excellent Key Lenz as the waifish wallflower with uncontrollable powers. Here, Mika Boorem plays her as a as a semi-tough smartass with uncontrollable powers. This time out, Summer Glau as Sarah’s sister is the quiet one desperately trying to join the popular sorority house, probably much to the chagrin of Morgan Brittany, who played sis as a more bimbo with a heart of gold. And the extra lovely Joanna Garcia takes the reigns that Morgan Fairchild held so fabulously. She’s very good as the evil sorority bitch, even if it’s a bit by the book (ed: and she looks like a fully-formed Jonbenet Ramsey, which doesn't hurt). Frankly, there really isn’t anyone in today’s times that could compete with Ms. Fairchild’s brash smokin’ hot bitchiness anyway, so why bother? Luckily, Morgan makes an appearance as the girl’s mother and she’s as wholeheartedly fervent as ever. Ah Morgan, how I love thee! So giving Sarah a backbone and twisting the tale is not a bad way to introduce the movie to a fresh audience who probably never heard of the original anyway (and if they did, I’m sure they’d complain about the bulky turtlenecks anyway), but Sarah manages to succeed and fail at the same time.

First off, the original Sarah is a quietly heartbreaking film. Sure Shelly Winters is the Monster of Scenery Chewing, but Lenz’s understated performance makes Sarah the kid of girl we all feel like and inevitably root for. And let’s not forget when that those MOTWs weren’t afraid to kill off main characters. I mean, the original Sarah took no prisoners, and now it gallantly turns the anti-hero into a gothy Superwoman, completely to my dismay. And let’s face it, the first hour of the remake is a rough ride. It’s not boring, but it does take its time kicking into action. Sarah whittles away at a Scream meets The Craft route with the same old tired humor young teens have had hurled at them for the last decade. We watch the supposed hilarious antics of Sarah getting hit on, we watch Sarah unwittingly break things, we watch Jennifer Tilly act all spooky and we watch the white hot Joanna Garcia act all white hot. That’s OK and all, but it’s really the second half where Sarah kicks into gear with some nice witchery, an interesting ‘Losing Your Virginity’ scene (on ABC Family no less!) and more white hotness from Joanna Garcia, who might not reach the Godlike qualities of Morgan but is a lot of fun in her straight faced performance. Oh yeah…and she’s hot…did I mention that? Add a nice twist that actually works for once and you’ve got a pretty good modern TV Movie. What sealed the ‘I am ashamed but I actually liked it’ deal was that the remake held the same mantra the original did – Big hair rules.

Reviewed by the fabulous Amanda by Night