Many a horror fan will tell you that IT was the mini series that gave them thrills, chills, and more than a few bad dreams. It loos like the 2017 remake is going to be doing the same thing.
IT is about a group of kids, named the Loser’s Club, living in Derry, Maine. They notice that kids are going missing at an alarming rate. Soon, they come into contact with a monster they call “IT” which travels through the sewer system and looks like a clown. They must defeat the monster and save the rest of the town’s children from being devoured.
Bill Skarsgård plays the titular monster while the kids are played by mostly unknowns, save for Richie, who is played by Finn Wolfhard, aka Mike from Stranger Things. What is interesting to note is that the trailer only shows the children in the Loser’s Club, while both the book and mini-series show both the kids and the adults they become. I think not having the adult element lacks some of the punch of the narrative about change and fear, but it’s also hard to adapt this expansive novel into just a two-hour feature. However, a sequel has been soft-confirmed, so long as the film doesn’t tank at the box office, so that’s something to look forward to!
I will say that a lot of elements from the original mini series are present, like the design of the clown, the overall aesthetic, even the opening scene. It’s clear that it wants to pay homage to its predecessor while still updating the story in small ways. The trailer also has its fair share of scares and wisely keeps IT off the screen for too long, preserving it’s creepy nature for the big screen.
IT (2017) will debut in theaters on September 8, 2017.
