It Review
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It
Warner brothers
R. 135 min
No disrespect to Clive Barker Ann Rice or even his Kid Joe Hill no other living writer of horror novels has occupied the throne of the genre for as long as Stephen King.
Certainly not all of his novels nor every film based on them have been masterpieces but there are certainly enough to impress anyone especially taking into account the sheer volume of work.
In film horror and comedy offerings rarely get the respect they deserve and that holds true for novels as well. Probably because the bulk of his work is scary stuff many critics might mistakenly forget that Stephen King is one of America’s greatest authors. The reason for that, in my opinion, is the many and varied human interactions and secondary stories entwined around the main idea in many of his novels. The movies often strip those smaller subplots out in order to focus on the main idea for a two hour film and that’s too bad.
IT, as you recall, was a very popular 1980s era novel and was made into an equally popular 1990 mini series. 27 years is a long time, at least long enough for most people to a forgotten much about the original except for the visage of the gruesome Pennywise the Clown. Clowns are a little bit creepy to begin with but this guy really takes it to a whole new level. Besides the fact that there’s a whole new audience for old stories in the case of horror or science-fiction 27 years has seen an explosion of computer graphics and special effect technology.
And just in case you didn’t remember this horrid being in the form of a clown visits the good people of Derry Maine at regular intervals. Guess how long? Well in the book and the screen versions somebody figures out this seems to happen every 27 years. And the original version was, yes you guessed it 27 years ago. This particular offering is a period piece set in the same time as the book end miniseries.
So just for the record at the end of the film a graphic comes up on the screen and says it chapter one so we are assuming a sequel is in the works, not surprising given the absolutely monstrous box office so far. And forgive me for speculating but I’m going to guess it will be less than 27 more years
As I’ve mentioned it King’s books are wonderful because of the smaller side stories then the actual goon itself. And this is no exception. There are basically two forces going on here, one the series of gross-out sequences and horrific scenes and the other the relationships between a handful of misfit kids, the losers club, who find friendship and strength as they team up to combat the demon. I enjoyed those segments much more than the ones that were supposed to be frightening. King does a good job with kids, as with STAND BY ME, and I liked all these kids as they battled with not only the evil clown but with school bullies and a few terrible parents. Not that the scary parts were second rate like the Jason and Freddy and other slasher flicks (they were actually well-above-average has horror sequences go) but because really, who cares? I’m a lot more scared of crazy people and the devil then run-of-the-mill monsters.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown has a mission to fulfill every 27 years when it brings the macabre circus to town. He snatches a few kids, traps their souls in some kind of horrible Purgatory while he feeds off their fear. (I think I recall a Star Trek episode a little bit like that)
So there you have it folks Halloween will be here soon enough and it is one of the classier horror films you will see especially after I sat through a slew of previews for the ones coming up next month. I won’t get specific but let’s say it’s the same old sh….
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WSS -
Here you are a Dutch.
WSS
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Here you are a Dutch.
WSS
Here you are a Dutch.
WSS
Been a long time since I've been as excited for a movie to come out. Since I'm not a comic book/superhero fan, the chances of something ELSE coming out this hyped is slim anymore.
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Ha. I always look forward to Superman and I'm usually disappointed.
WSS
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Just got home from seeing 'It'.
So good. So damn good. They nailed it... well, the first half of the story. Can't wait until the second half comes out.
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