Wednesday, January 17, 2018

‘Blu-ray or Bust’ - IT



‘Blu-ray or Bust’
IT (2017, R, 135 minutes, WARNER BROTHERS/KATZSMITH PRODUCTIONS)


Any Stephen King fan will tell you that, while the author has written several books that they consider masterpieces, one stands above them all as the ultimate in his canon of epic terror: the 1986 tome “It”.

It is a book I have read multiple times; I will go through a phase every two years or so in which I feel the need to re-read every King novel that I love.  We’re talking about a man that has published over fifty novels, and hundreds of short stories, so this “task” keeps me busy for a while.  Occasionally, I’ll skip a few; there are a few ardent King fans who will insist on reading his works in a certain order to ensure one has grasped the full scope of how the majority of the books tie in to each other.  We all know I’m a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic, but my devotion to The Master of Terror doesn’t delve that deep.  (Okay, it goes pretty deep, but everyone has their own methods, right?)


The biggest problem with bringing King books to the big screen—and there have been a literal smorgasbord of attempts—is that interpreting his tales of horror and the macabre visually can be a tad difficult.  The director that did it best may be Frank Darabont, who gifted the world with THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE, and 2007’s moody and terrifying THE MIST.  Now we have Andy Muschietti (MAMA) to add to the list.  Working with a screenplay hashed out by three writers, he offers up a visual representation that not only captures the terrors, dreads, and triumphs of childhood that King so masterfully captured in his epic novel, but raises the bar for anyone else that thinks they can bring his works to life.


For those not familiar with the tale, a group of kids in the town of Derry, Maine, take it upon themselves to rid the town of an evil which has plagued it for generations.  Children are disappearing, and it is up to this mixed bunch of adolescents to save the other youths of the small town from the clutches of this evil—most notably represented by a maleficent doppelganger named Pennywise the Dancing Clown.  The entire cast of kids is great, but most effective are “Stranger Things” alum Finn Wolfhard as wise-cracking Richie Tozier, and Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh.  As the comedic relief and the conscience of the story, this would be an entirely different film if those roles had gone to other actors.  Also notable is the fast-talking Jack Dylan Grazer as the “frail” Eddie Kaspbrak, whose delivery and acting ability solidifies the group in a way the character in the actual book never did.  This is one of the nuances of this interpretation of the source material that marks this film as a marvelously executed compliment to the book.


There are some differences, of course; the film is set in the eighties, whereas the first part of the book takes place in the fifties.  The childhood scares have changed a bit, as well—with the changing of times, so changes the fears of generations.  But the themes (first love, looming adulthood, bullies, and the unbreakable bond of young friendship) remain the same.  Smart and creative moves on the parts of the screenwriters, and vivid visualizations by Muschietti, make this an intelligent and affective tale.  There are new scares here, and some of them are downright chilling.

And then there is Bill Skarsgård (“Hemlock Grove”) as Pennywise. When I first saw this film, I was not totally sold on his performance—and I totally blame myself for that.  I went in swearing to not compare what I was about to see by what I had read so many times before, and I was successful in that endeavor.  But my first thoughts upon seeing him in the makeup?  “He’s no Tim Curry.”  Yep, fell right into the trap I was so consciously trying to avoid.  While the first attempt to capture the book was a decent attempt that fell well short, there was one standout in the TV miniseries from 1990, and that was Curry as the evil shapeshifter.  And while Skarsgård may have felt he had big shoes to fill (apparently that’s what I was thinking, deep down), his is, like the film itself, a different interpretation of the source material.  And he excels at it.  He is just as good in the role as Curry was, and at times, even creepier.


The special features help flesh out just how much he physically encapsulated the character; there is no CGI added to what Skarsgård looks like on screen; from the drooping lower lip to the crazy eyes, he makes Pennywise his own. The special features include interviews with the child actors, and the Master himself, Stephen King, talking about his epic masterpiece and this latest Hollywood attempt to capture the fears and terrors he so effectively puts on paper.

This is a two-part film; the second half will deal with the kids all grown up and having to battle Pennywise once again.  Which is kind of how the book goes.  The movie is slated to be released next year, and Muschietti will helm the second “chapter”.  For once, I find myself looking forward to the second film in a horror series.  And I promise not to read the book again until after I see the next one… 

Film Grade: A
Special Features: A
Blu-ray Necessary: Abso-freakin’-lutely

-- T.S. Kummelman

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