Sunday Funday: Stephen King's It (2017) - Review

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Residents of Derry, Maine have a good chance of going missing - kids and adults alike.  When Bill's younger brother, Georgie, disappears and is presumed dead, Bill and his friend's, the self-proclaimed Losers' Club, begin to investigate the disappearances that have plagued the town for generations.  Before they know it, the seven friends are all faced by horrific and strange encounters with a clown calling himself Pennywise, a figure at the heart of Derry's curse.

To start off, It is based off of one of the few Stephen King books I haven't actually read.  I've read so many of his novels that I'm still surprised I haven't picked It up yet.  I've had it on my shelf for ages, but I think I know why I haven't read it before - and that's because I watched the original miniseries when I was far too young and it scared the crap out of me.  Tim Curry's take on Pennywise is absolutely terrifying.  That being said the trailer for this new film which covers the first half of the story looked like a must watch in the theater.  I have to admit, Bill Skarsgard's look as Pennywise certainly trumps the design of Tim Curry's - think deranged Ronald McDonald in comparison to Twisty from American Horror Story: Freak Show.  To top it off, Skarsgard's performance as the clown really stacks up - the new Pennywise is just plain terrifying , just wait for that slideshow scene!

I'd also like to mention that aside from being a horror movie also works really well as a coming-of-age film.  Every member of the Losers' Club is really well defined and each of them have their moments as they begin to face their fear head on.  The actors all do wonderful jobs with their roles.  I loved getting to know these kids and seeing them all come together.  They are the real heart of the movie (the sense of humor running through it is pretty fun, too) and that really reflects in their performances.  By the way, I even recognized some of our young actors - Bill is played by Jaeden Lieberher (Alton in Midnight Special), Richie is played by Finn Wolfhard (Mike from Stranger Things), and Henry is played by Nicholas Hamilton (Rellian from Captain Fantastic) - all of which I highly recommend if you haven't seen them already.

Overall, I didn't know if I was mentally ready for what I was about to see when I went in, but I ended up really enjoying the thrill.  It's really effective at building up suspense, delivering on the scares, and making you care about the cast of characters.  Come to think of it, I may even have nightmares!  Plus, I totally had Stranger Things, The Goonies, and Stand By Me vibes while watching  I'm looking forward to the next installment of It and I'll have my eyes on who is cast as the adult versions of these kids.

TL;DR:

Me waiting for the movie to start -

Me (and the audience) during most of the movie:

Me (and most of the audience) as the end credits were rolling:

Theater notes:  The movie theater this Friday night went all out in decorating for the film - not just posters and cardboard cutouts either.  They had red balloons all over the place weighted down with filled clown gloves.  One of the benches in the hallway had even been decorated to resemble that storm drain with bars, an image of Pennywise's face, and another one of those balloons!  Plus, all of the staff were wearing It related shirts.  I've never seen that movie theater do anything like that for any movie that they've shown!  By the time I got seated, about 15 minutes before the movie was due to begin, the theater was already filling up.  I like sitting up near the top at the back, but it was so full by then that I ended up sitting only 3 rows up from the floor (not counting the first three rows right up by the screen).  The crowd seemed pretty mixed from middle schoolers to senior citizens.  Trailers included The Snowman and Friend Request - I'm really surprised that I had no idea that the Jo Nesbo novel was getting an adaptation until now.

Check out the trailer for It here, if you dare.

Next up:

Do you have any plans to see Stephen King's It, or have you already seen it?  What's you favorite Stephen King movie or tv adaptation?  What movies do you hope to see next?  As always, thanks very much for visiting my blog, and perhaps even commenting down below?