Carrie Meets A Nightmare on Elm Street

Kaleidoscope's latest on Universal's & Blumhouse's production of "Ma".  Directed by Tate Taylor, the movie stars Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, Allison Janney, & Luke Evans.  Rated 'R', it has a running time of 1 hr., 39 min.

Maggie (Silvers) & her mother Erika (Lewis) move back to Erika's hometown in Ohio after the husband/father leaves them.  At school, Maggie is befriended by a group  of students; they invite Erika to join them on a  drinking jaunt.  The group asks various passers-by to buy alcohol for them from a package store.  Finally, Sue Ann (Spencer), a veterinary technician in a vet's (a heavily made-up Allison Janney) office, comes by them.  Although no one else will get alcohol for the teenagers, Sue Ann accedes to their wishes.  From here, Sue Ann invites them to the basement in her house, 'if you really want to party'.  The frequency of the parties & number of attendees increases with every new gathering.  The film is interspersed with her memories of a childhood in which she was bullied & harassed by the other students in her high school.  After Act ! transitions, her interactions with students & the parents of the initial group increases in Acts II & III.

This is a film that is in search of a voice.  Director Taylor, who helmed Spencer in 2011's "The Help", is not quite sure of what he wants this film to be.  Scotty Landes's first foray into writing a feature film script does not help Taylor, either.  The overlong 1st act takes forever to set up the occurrences in acts 2 & 3.  When it does, is this a modern day 'Carrie' story of revenge against peers; is it a tale of a reverse Freddy Krueger with Sue Ann taking retribution on her now adult tormentors & their spawn; is it a hybrid of the 2--who knows?  This is a rare misstep by Blumhouse; I suppose Jason Blum could not resist working with an actress of Spencer's caliber or Taylor's pedigree.  Spencer seems to be having a good time as she chews up the scenery as the unrequited Sue Ann.  The audience can easily buy into the rage that Sue has harbored over the years.  Spencer is a superior actress who would have benefited from a better script.  Silvers is quite good as the innocent who becomes more steely as time quickly passes.  Lewis has aged into the mother role; she could easily have played Silvers's role a couple of decades ago.  Janney is her usual effective self in a role that is merely an extended cameo.  Gregory Tipis' score and Christina Ogress' cinematography are serviceable yet routine for the genre.

I give "Ma" 6 out of 10 nuggets.  It is a disappointing venture that should have been much better considering its lineage.  My recommendation is to wait for it to appear on streaming or DVD.