Thursday 14 September 2017

It - The scoop and digest

Nameless antagonist awakens every 27 years.

TV miniseries was released in 1990.

You do the math.

Let's see if Andy 'Mama' Mushietti's reboot was Derry good, or Derry bad.

Jaeden Lieberher - Bill
Jeremy Ray Taylor - Ben
Sophia Lillis - Beverly
Finn Wolfhard - Richie
Bill Skarsgård - Pennywise
Nicholas Bowers - Henry

October 1988.

Ignoring different year, opening scene largely mirrors principle of what happens near the start of 1990 counterpart.

When attempting to retrieve homemade boat from storm drain, Bill's younger brother George falls foul to Pennywise 'The Dancing Clown'.

June 1989.

Social outcasts Bill, Ben (not the Flowerpot Men), Richie etc are bullied by Henry Bowers and his goons.

Just like book, stuttering Bill rides 'Silver', a rusty old Schwinn bike.

Abused by her father, Beverly befriends Ben and joins the group.

Pennywise begins campaign of terror by becoming what children are afraid of most, with prey ultimately surviving each encounter.

Newspaper archives reveal town has been prone to unexplained tragedies and children mysteriously disappearing for centuries.

Ben informs 'The Losers Club' that before going into hibernation, It awakens every 27 years to feast on children for x amount of months.

After concluding sewer system is preferred mode of transport, evidence points that It resides at dilapidated hovel of 29 Neibolt Street.

Unsurprisingly, It isn't feeling hospitable.

Friends are separated and Richie is trapped in a room filled with clowns.

As Pennywise emerges from coffin, you can spot a mannequin dressed like Tim Curry.

Beverly stabs It through the head with fence post, forcing clown to retreat.

August.

Pennywise delivers Henry his missing switchblade and with mind manipulated, father's throat loses argument with sharp object.

Next target, the Losers.

Before Pennywise kidnaps Beverly, she knocks father out when sick fuck tries to rape her.

You go girl.

Here or thereabouts, Beverly wakes up inside underground lair and It exposes her to Deadlights.

At Neibolt Street, an insane Henry attacks Mike, but is pushed down the well.

The rest find area containing an avalanche of children's clothes, circus props and the floating corpses of missing children.

A kiss from Ben returns a catatonic Beverly back to normal.

(Shakes head).

Losers give Pennywise a beating and effectively starve it of power by showing they're no longer afraid.

With that, It begins to dissolve and sinks into a pit, bringing children back down to earth.

So are they now alive?

We don't know.

In September, Beverly reveals that while under It's spell, she had a premonition of group fighting monster as adults.

A blood oath is made vowing that if It comes back, they'll make thing wish it never did.

Before Beverly leaves town, her and Bill pucker up.

Cultural references

George's bedroom displays posters of Gremlins and Beetlejuice.

In local arcade, Richie plays Street Fighter.

Now showing:

Batman, Lethal Weapon 2* and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child.

*Wasn't released until July 1989, but features in June section.

Tut tut.

Hotchpotch

Running time is faithful to original source material, but if like I, was expecting horror, you'll be sorely disappointed.

Fused with Stranger Things, this tries to be the supernatural version of Stand by Me.

The main difference from previous adaptation is this doesn't show that experience still haunts adults.

Painting based on the works by Amedeo Modigliani was reasonably effective, but 'Super' Pennywise and charred headless corpse giving chase were just plain stupid.

Furthermore, Pennywise charging looks fucking awful.

Richie is given comedic responsibility and lines miss rather than hit.

I'm confused why 'scary' scene(s) suddenly become funny ha ha.

BULLSHIT!

Performances are its saving grace.

Youngsters score highly and although Skarsgård shouldn't be compared to predecessor, he did a great job.

One of 1990 film's most iconic scenes is balloon exploding inside sink.

New interpretation goes all J-horror, as Beverly pulls clumps of blood-soaked hair from plughole.

That's okay, but gratuitous blood geyser basically rips off A Nightmare on Elm Street.

To be fair, Glen's famous demise was inspired by The Shining's blood elevator.

Perversely, dream invader nearly made a cameo appearance.

Freddy vs. Pennywise?

Not even Hollywood would stoop that low.

Towards the end, It attempts to trick Bill by assuming the guise of George.

Brother doesn't buy deception and opens fire.

While Losers are tearing Pennywise a new asshole, baddie cycles through each fear.

Different circumstances yes, but both sequences scream of the T-1000.

Maybe you need reminding.

Liquid metal imitates Sarah to fool John.

Waist deep in molten metal, we briefly see advanced prototype morph into previous subjects sampled by physical contact.

The prosecution goes for a pint.

Proceedings will be concluded in 2019 and a different approach must be taken.

Ideally, an extremely dark one.

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