A creepy clown named Pennywise, an eerie town called Derry, and a red balloon. These are just a few small details included in the 2017 film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel “IT,” a story about a town where kids mysteriously disappear in batches every 27 years.
Many people view the original film adaptation from 1990 as a classic; it holds a title on many “Top Horror Movies” lists that I’ve seen, at least. Because of this, fans were weary at first of whether they’d appreciate a new movie or not when they enjoyed the original so much. However, it is clear that the re-make was intended to honor both the original film and novel rather than replace them. Whilst in film production, writer Cary Fukunaga declared that, “[They’re] definitely honoring the spirit of Stephen King, but the horror has to be modernized to make it relevant.” Instead of being concerned with making a “better” film, it appears that the larger goal of the new filmmakers was to simply adapt the film to modern times and thus entertain people with a story already adored by so many. Because this goal was kept in mind, it appears fans of both King’s work and the original film are not too disappointed with the new rendition.
While the movie was released on September 8th, it is still in theaters currently and has earned a high spot at #5 on the box office rate for the entire year of 2017. Not only has everyone been talking about the movie, but everyone’s seemingly gone to see it for themselves as well. In fact, some of my friends who hate horror movies with a burning passion were willing to face their fears just to see what all the hype was about for this one.
To avoid spoiling the ending of the movie, I’ll leave you with this: it’s certainly different from any other horror or thriller movie I’ve ever seen, and this isn’t a bad thing. There were some good jump scares as any horror movie these days has, but there was also a deeper psychological meaning to the entire premise that is hard to predict. I don’t regret seeing the film despite all the debate surrounding it to begin with, and have found that most others feel the same way. I guess you’ll have to go see it for yourself to really find out!