I first read Stephen King’s IT in paperback when it first came out. I called in sick to work so I could finish it in one sitting. Of all the King books I think this one is my favorite, in part because of the great relationship among the kids who feel like misfits, Most of us at some point shared the feeling of not belonging or of being scared so it resonates. I also loved the ageless horror of the monster and the way the book gave us history of it. All in all one of my all time favorite reading experiences.
In 1990 the book was made into a TV mini series.I was skeptical having seen enough adaptations fall flat. But a mini series made sens given the time needed to give the book a proper treatment. I ended up quite enjoying the production. Richard Thomas was great as were the rest of the actors who played the grown versions of the kids. The kid actors were pretty good too. Of course Tim Curry stole the whole thing. He has made clowns a thing of pure horror for a couple generations now. I also think where the production was filmed was pretty damn close to what I envisioned in my head for Derry. All in all nicely done.
So now we are getting a new version from director Andrés Muschietti for the big screen. It will be in two parts which as with the TV production makes sense. The first trailer is out (see below) and for my money it looks great. The people in the movie look good and seem to have a good feel for the roles. And visually it is stunningly even closer to what I saw in my head while reading the book. The shot of poor Georgie losing his boat is plenty creepy. I also love the growing horror during the slide show. And of course Pennywise looks even scarier. This has made pretty excited and I can’t wait to go see this in the theater.
