It’s always hard to know what a horror film remake is going to bring to the table. It seems like remakes are a dime a dozen these days and rarely does the new product do anything to surpass the quality of the original.

While director Kimberly Pierce managed to update the scenery and setting of the classic “Carrie,” the 2013 remake doesn’t offer moviegoers anything more inventive or appealing than what the original 1976 version offered.

The movie tells a story of high schooler Carrie White, a girl who has long suffered bullying at the hands of her classmates. Carrie (played by Chloë Grace Moretz) is an outsider in the cruel world of her school’s halls where it is widely known that her mother Margaret (played by Julianne Moore) is a religious fanatic with a poor reputation in their small town.

Carrie is as abused at home as she is at school. When she comes home from school one day after being taunted by classmates in her gym class, Carrie is locked in a closet by her out-of-touch mother. Enraged, Carrie screams to be let out and to the surprise of her and her mother, a crack forms in the door, revealing that Carrie has telekinetic powers.

While the latest adaption by Pierce isn’t bad, it just isn’t overwhelmingly good either. The story remains largely the same — painfully so — and watching the 2013 adaptation after having seen the 1976 movie just seems unnecessary. If you’re expecting the writers and director have found a way to discover hidden elements in the plot, you’re in for a disappointment.

You can tell Pierce’s intentions were in the right place, that she thought a present day reimagining of the story would somehow be edgier, or would offer something new.

I was left thoroughly unmoved by the famous (or infamous) scene where Carrie, having just been crowned prom queen as a set-up by bullies, has a bucket of pig’s blood dumped on her. Sissy Spacek, who played Carrie in the 1976 adaptation of the film, will forever be remembered as the iconic image of a blood-drenched Carrie, preparing to exact her revenge.

It wasn’t all bad. Moretz and Moore both gave fantastic turns as Carrie and Margaret, a dysfunctional mother-daughter duo for the ages. They were standouts in a cast that boasted a lot of unfamiliar faces and forgettable performances.

If you ask me, I’ll tell you to forego 2013’s “Carrie.” Instead, go vintage and watch the original 1976 flick for an overall better quality experience.

Rating: C