I'm sorry, but I loved this movie.....

I loved this movie, too; but I think you really have to buy into the premise.

Here's my take: After the trauma of being raped by Dad, Betsy has a psychotic "break" and in that state, awakens a poltergeist consisting of an entity split off from her psyche, which gets its power from her, herself. All of the paranormal activities in the movie are the result of telekinetic powers from Betsy, which is why casting Sissy Spacek as mom is a feat of pure cinematic genius, because this is also the story of CARRIE. The "ghost in the swing" is Betsy herself, as we discover. The fact that this vision of herself sickens and dies when touched symbolizes her loss of innocence. In the end, mom sits by in mute assent as Betsy euthanizes dad, because he's become such a danger to the family. He's completely toxic, and has indeed cursed himself through his own sins. He experiences no final moment of redemption, which is a darkness in this movie, and courageous on the part of the filmmakers.

When I was a juror on a rape case where the victim was a 7 year old girl, I learned that the feelings of a raped child are not those of an adult. Just because she's raped doesn't mean she has completely lost her innocence, she's going through deep emotional upheavals. Based on my experience on that trial, I believe that in the confused, pained mind of a child, being raped feels like dying. Her self-image, her ego, feels as though it has died. So, for me, this movie hit a profoundly true emotional note.

But the camera work was too hammy by far.

Don't be sorry, this is a great film! I'm shocked and disappointed at the low score. It's one of the few "scary" movies that actually scared me at all and it has a great story, script and direction behind it. It probably has a low score because people went into it looking for another cheap mindless fast-paced horror flick.

Also, I wouldn't say John was portrayed as a "great" guy. At the very beginning we see him in court and he's even criticized for charging an interest that goes against the church. So we see it's in him to do wrong. And like jlfratilla mentioned, it's often the seemingly good guys who turn out to be sex offenders. Just look at "To Catch a Predator", half those guys were married, with kids, and no one would have suspected. Lots of bad men know how to hide it.

In that time she was mature, it still would have been rape/incest but she was mature.

I liked the movie until it got revealed that the whole movie was just because a woman lost her virginity.
Seriously?

If it really would have turned out to be a curse from Kathy Bates after all it would have been so much better like if John Bell would have trialled for witchcraft and put her burning at the stake.

That would have satisfied me.

"Gar nicht so übel, du kleine Schlampe. Man sieht sich immer zweimal, Kleine."

It was quite good, and I like the actors in it - all good and good performances - but I feel like I have seen this type of story too many times now. So what should have been a strong 7, is delegated to a 5.5. Sorry.