NEW YORK – When the original adaptation of Stephen King's book Carrie hit theaters in 1976, it became a horror genre landmark. Nobody ever thought about prom the same way again. Almost four decades later, director Kimberly Peirce is bringing Carrie back to life – and into the present day.

"I didn't take anything from [Brian De Palma]'s movie," Peirce told a packed house at New York Comic Con on Saturday. "This is such a fantastic story and I need to bring it to life, and I need to bring it to life in a modern way."

To do so, she's brought along Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) as the eponymous character and Julianne Moore as her controlling freaky mother, Margaret White. She also brought in a crap-ton of blood – some 1,000 gallons of it by her estimation. And in a short teaser shown to the Comic Con audience, Moretz wears it well.

"I just got used to going home every night covered in blood," Moretz, who looked downright hellacious in the teaser shown during the panel, told the crowd.

>"I just got used to going home every night covered in blood." — Chloë Grace Moretz

In 1976, Carrie was famously portrayed by Sissy Spacek, and when asked if she was conscious of that iconic performance while tackling her role, Moretz said she tried to make it her own and avoid comparing every scene to its previous incarnation.

"You have to be confident in what you're doing, otherwise you'll tear yourself apart," she said.

Following an audience question about the recent attention given to bullying amongst young people, Peirce acknowledged that as being one of the factors that figured into her thoroughly modern Carrie, even if it's just how teachers in the film react to Carrie's situation or what happens in social media in the film. "I think perhaps what's been happening in the culture makes the film more relevant," said the director, who scored a critical hit with 1999 drama Boys Don't Cry.

Moore agreed. "We're not making a polemic," she said, adding that King's story was giving them a chance to reflect on the flawed natures of both bullies and the bullied rather than provide an answer.

But if it did, that would be one bloody lesson.

Carrie hits theaters in spring 2013.