Why the Remake of Stephen King's IT Could Be Interesting...

Hi Creepy Crew!

I have been slacking on the video front, this is mainly because I've been poorly sick (feel sorry for me please?) So I thought I would write you a lovely blog about something that I am SO excited for, and that is... The new adaptation of Stephen King's IT.

I'm not going to lie, I have got coulrophobia (the fear of clowns) and I have been freaked out by anything that is dressed up and in a mask - I remember going to a water park with my then boyfriend (now husband) and I tried desperately to avoid a large cuddly dolphin who was accosting people to have pictures with. However, these people can smell fear and actually CHASED me down to give me a cuddle. Oh my god. I tensed up and Mr Scary Movie Sunday had to rescue me ASAP before my brain shut down with fear.
 

We... HE laughs about it now but it is times like that which I dread.

So why the hell am I excited for a movie about a mighty morphin' killer clown you may ask?

I like scary stuff, is the answer!

I was first told about IT by my late father, who was told the dolphin story and said, 'You like Stephen King, and hate clowns, you should read IT.' So me thinking that maybe it would help me get over this ridiculous fear - I did just that.

I would like to point out, I still haven't gotten over the fear, I nearly pushed myself through an elevator wall just to get away from a terrifying clown wearing a tutu one halloween evening.

I read devoured the book two times and had the faeces scared out of me - so I of course wanted to see the original 2 part series and see if it was even half as scary as the book. In short...

It wasn't.

Now, don't get me wrong, if I had just watched the film / teleseries I would have been more scared. But there are things that I really REALLY hope are in the new adaptation, and I shall post some of these things below.

There may or may not be spoilers below this point. You have been warned.

1. The New Pennywise the Dancing Clown

You may or may not have heard that the new cast is beginning to form, and most importantly, that the role of Pennywise has been given out. Bill Skarsgård is taking on this iconic role and I'm glad to see that a couple of quotes that he has given regarding this role take on the fact that Bob Gray isn't your average murdery whacko.

Tim Curry most definitely made this role his own, terrorising children and adults the world over, but unfortunately, due to this being the 90's, CGI and SFX were nowhere near as good as they are today. Which means that his awesome acting skills weren't supported as well as perhaps they would have been today.

Yoohoooo!

2. This Particular Scene...

If you are one of the lucky people who have read the book, and were as affected by it as I was; there are bound to be a couple of scenes / chapters that will have stood out in your mind. For me, this was the library scene.

The last adaptation of IT had a library scene, but it was nowhere near as terrifying as I had expected it to be - so for that reason, I was slightly disappointed.

Beep Beep Richie!

This is how Pennywise was displayed when taunting Richie Tozier (who by all accounts was a loud mouth) and it somehow didn't have QUITE the same effect as what SHOULD have happened...

In the book, Bob Gray is above Ben Hanscom (NOT Richie) and he turns into a vampiric being who chomps down on his own gums with teeth made of razor blades. Mr King is so vivid in his description that this is the number 1 thing that I was looking forward to, and now I'm looking forward to seeing whether they do this in the new version.

I'm a fan of American Horror Story (which you might be too, so yay!) and there is one scene in the 5th season 'Hotel' that really brought back to me how revolting this scene could be if done properly.

Man I hate toffee.

See?

3. The Fact that this will be 2 Movies

As mentioned previously, the last live action version of this book was a tele series, which was then released as one movie. This new adaptation will be separated into 2 movies - which although may look good, I'm not sure it will work out. I'm open to it though, as most directors / producers will want to try something new - I still think a mixture of old story and new story would have also been a good choice to explain how the adults have become who they are.

For example, Eddie Kasparak (the weed of the Loser's Club) had a mother who I believe had Munchausen's by Proxy, and she would make sure that he was 'prescribed' an inhaler (which was no more than flavoured water) and he would be kept out of activities because he was "too unwell".

When he is older, Eddie is shown to have a huge cabinet just full of all kinds of medication - which I think if you show this kind of detail across two movies (which let's face it will be released at least 12 months apart) it will be lost, and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. There are other examples of this kind of detail but I shan't bore you with them (!)

I guess the obvious reason that this will be split into two movies is, it will be easier to understand. These children go through what they do as children, and then Mike Hanlon (who stays in the town of Derry after all the others have gone) calls them back as adults saying, 'It's back.'

Unfortunately I think this will make the second movie feel more like a sequel rather than part of the same story, I hope there will be flashback scenes etc to help tie everything together.

4. The Time Setting

The original story where the Loser's Club are children was set in the 50's which I think was a great time setting, however to bring the new invention of this story will be brought up to date, with the children being terrorised in 1989. This will be really interesting for me as a Millennial - I was born in 1987 so it will really feel like this story took place in my own lifetime (the active time of It happens every 27 years in the story).

I hope there are a lot of relevant refences to the time periods both in the 80's and 2016 to make this movie more involved and relatable as I really enjoy that when a director does that. I don't know why but it makes it scarier when everyday processes /items/ references are made. I liked this particular trick when watching Hush You can see my review here.

5. New Reincarnations of Bob Gray

If you have read the novel and watched the original movie, you will have been presented with new forms of It. The clown thrives and 'feeds' off the fear of humans so therefore goes into their innermost thoughts and feelings to really terrorise them. Director Andy Muschietti has confirmed that to keep viewers and book readers on their toes, he is going to change all of these monsters.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this, as the versions of Pennywise that the kids are scared with are integral to their own personal story - so I hope that the script will flesh out why these particular monsters are created.

I'd like to point out, I'm not an expert on this book in any way shape or form (lol, relevant comment) but I really enjoyed the original monsters and I am apprehensive yet excited for the new ones!

Just for you, please see below some pictures of the original Boo Scary Scaries

I got some hair caught in my teeth.

Why do kids say they want their mummy?



Come for a swim Ben!

Have you got any concealer on you love?

Eye see you!

So there you have it, 5 reasons why I think this new version of It could be interesting!

I must admit, I really cannot wait and I'm a a little over excited for something that may be over a year before I even get to set my eyeballs on it.

Are YOU looking forward to this film?

What are you looking forward to the most?

And remember,
Have a Scary Movie Sunday!