This week’s choice for a film was kind of an obvious one considering that if you didn’t notice during the challenge that I am a huge horror fan. So, when I first heard that a remake of Stephen King’s It was going to be made, I just couldn’t wait for the next edition of Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween to see it. So I chose to watch the film It for this week’s Movie Of The Week which means we are all traveling back to the town of Derry, Maine for another horrifying experience. It’s the late 80’s and something weird is happening in the town of Derry as kids are disappearing, but that’s nothing new for this old town. Unfortunately for Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), the loss of his brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) has left him wanting answers. Bill soon finds out that his new band of buddies dubbed The Losers Club have also noticed some strange things going on like the appearance of a clown named Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård). So, they band together to battle this evil clown before he claims anymore victims. The film also stars Sophia Lillis (37) as Beverly Marsh, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) as Ritchie Tozier, Chosen Jacobs (Hawaii Five-O) as Mike Hanlon, Jack Dylan Grazer (Tales Of Halloween) as Eddie, Wyatt Oleff (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Stanley, Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ant-Man) as Ben Hanscom, Nicholas Hamilton (The Dark Tower) as Harry Bower, and the film was directed by Andy Muschietti (Mama).
Spoiler Alert: There is going to be some information leaked in this article that could give away some details or all the details in the film. So either proceed with caution or do not read any further, but you were warned. I am going to have to go back and rewatch the original film just to compare it, but what I remember from it was that it was very choppy because it was a made for TV thing when It came out. This one is not choppy at all and they go above and beyond just to try and scare the living crap out of you. I think another element that you can capitalize on is the fact that technology is a lot better today then it was then and it’s a Rated R film which means you can do more. I have to be honest in saying that while Tim Curry played an excellent Pennywise, they turned it up a notch in my opinion with this one. He was super creepy and some of the scenes were pretty intense from the basement scene with Georgie to the scene where the photos keep changing. They pretty much gave the actor a full license to just be super creepy and I loved it. All of the kids did an amazing job in the film at being who their characters are and even the kid who played Henry Bower was intense. He was so sadistic and insane that he made the original 1990’s Henry Bower (played by Jarred Blancard) look like a complete wimp.
There is one big but in there and that is because there are some things that might tick you off. So, I am going to give you a few examples to better explain what I mean. Number one and most important is that the film takes place in the 1980’s and not the late 1950’s. That is your reason for number two which is that Ritchie’s character is not as charming verbally as the original Seth Green (even he was a little too much at times). The film is long at 150 minutes, but it honestly did not feel like that to me when I was watching it. This may end up being one of the best horror films of the year as long as you can get over the fact that they changed some dialogue to update it to the 1980’s. They also have admitted to not using every detail that the 1000 plus page book has given us because some are just not OK to show on the silver screen. They did stay true however with certain symbols that you should look out for in the film like a turtle because they are symbolic of what’s to come in part 2. Now we just have to wait for the next film to finish the story, but I definitely think that this is one that you shouldn’t ignore. I am going to give the film an A for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 