Are you ready?you ready? Are you really, really ready?
I don’t think anyone can be truly prepared for the experience of “IT,” a truly terrifying roller coaster ride—full speed straight down—into the world of the damned.
Two weeks ago, this writer had to endure the silly and sappy antics of “Annabelle: Creation” which billed itself as a “horror” movie.
Folks, “Annabelle” doesn’t come close to the sheer terror I felt when watching “IT,” which clawed its way out from the pages of the maestro horror writer, Stephen King.
Offered as the first of two-parts (the second coming in 2018), today’s offering takes the viewer back in time to “Derry, Maine in the summer of 1989, where a group of outcast preteens known as “The Losers Club” fight against an immortal, shape-shifting entity responsible for the disappearance of dozens of children in their town, and are forced to confront their own personal demons in the process.”
Okay, that was the official version. “IT” lurks in the darkest places where the nightmares of all parents reside—when one afternoon your young son or daughter disappear—never to be heard from again. At least not alive.
“IT” originally came to the small screen (TV) decades ago with the legendary Tim Curry (“Rocky Horror Picture Show”) as Pennywise The Dancing Clown, which in reality is an ancient, trans-dimensional evil that comes to “life” every three decades. Why a clown?
Because “IT” feeds (quite literally) on the souls of the children ensnared into its lies and uses the friendly faces of a smiling clown to ensnare our young ones.
Bill Skarsgård (“Atomic Blonde”) stars as IT/Pennywise and being tall and lanky, fits the role of Pennywise to a “t”; a fresh and original approach to Curry’s more “clown like than monster.”
On portraying Pennywise, Skarsgård stated, “It’s such an extreme character. Inhumane, IT’s beyond even a sociopath, because he’s not even human.
He’s not even a clown. I’m playing just one of the beings IT creates. Skarsgård described the character further, saying, “It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt.”
He also commented, “What’s funny to this evil entity might not be funny to everyone else. But he thinks it’s funny.” On Pennywise’s design, Skarsgård stated, “It’s important that we do something fresh and original for this one.
It’s purposely not going toward that weird, greasy look.”
He also commented on being compared to Tim Curry, stating that, “(Curry)’s performance was truly great, but it’s important for me to do something different because of that.
I’ll never be able to make a Tim Curry performance as good as Tim Curry.” As the children of Derry start disappearing by the bucket-loads and a city-wide curfew begins, we are introduced to “The Losers” who are anything but.
They are: Jaeden Lieberher as “Bill Denbrough” The leader of the Losers’ Club, who, with the help of his friends, vows to get revenge on the monster for the death of his young brother, Georgie. Jeremy Ray Taylor as “Ben Hanscom” Hanscom being overweight earns his place in the Losers’ Club, but like all of the Losers, there are underlying facets that define him far more than his weight.
Sophia Lillis as “Beverly Marsh” The only female member of the Losers’ Club, who forms a strong bond with Ben Hanscom.
Beverly’s Losership wasn’t defined by the fact she was abused but by her poverty.
Finn Wolfhard as “Richie Tozier” The bespectacled best friend of Bill Denbrough, also known as ‘Trashmouth Tozier’ due to his foul language and loud mouth that often gets him into trouble.
Wyatt Oleff as “Stanley Uris” A Jewish germaphobe with a stronger belief in the pragmatic whose bird book and his calling of the birds is the only magic he really allows himself to believe in.
Chosen Jacobs as “Mike Hanlon” An African American autodidact of history, who relays the incidents of Derry’s past to his friends.
Jack Dylan Grazer as “Eddie Kaspbrak” Kaspbrak is the epitome of the hypochondriac, overly exaggerated by the immense amount of objects in his medicine cabinet; a sickly boy who only feels truly well when he is with his friends.
One rainy day, after little “Georgie” is sucked down into Pennywise’s clutches and down into the sewers of Derry, it’s up to these “Losers” to confront “IT” in the film’s conclusion which sets up the continuation in 2018 when we once again will meet up with the Losers, now approaching middle age, when a rash of disappearances of young children once again pulls them back to Derry.
And “IT!” “IT” is a descent into pure evil and not for the faint of heart. Just get ready. Really, really ready for the thrill ride of your life!
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