IT: A Monster We Can All Believe In

by Seán McGovern

At some point in our lives, we all saw something that we weren't old enough to see. In the case of movies, they were ones late at night, at a friend's house, or when your folks were out. The 80s was a decade filled with monsters who bled into the 90s - Freddy, Jason, Thatcher - and their names and faces were etched into our minds. The 1990 two-part TV adaptation of Stephen King's novel IT was memorable more for Tim Curry's Pennywise, than for how good it actually was (and the less said about Part 2, the better). The fervour for Andy Muschietti's remake is not down to nostalgia, but to be reacquainted with a monster that really knows how to scare us...

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See "IT" With A Bunch of Clowns!

Chris here. Remember the Alamo Drafthouse's fabulous all-women screenings of Wonder Woman earlier this summer? Well, they are back to exclusive themed screenings again - this time it will be an all clown screening of IT. And we don't euphemistically mean an all bro screening. We're talking literal clowns.

As if the film didn't seem terrifying enough, why not see it floating in a sea of Pennywises? Alamo is making the screening have mandatory costuming, so it's unlikely to really give audience members the chills if they're active participants. Costuming for fans has gone by the wayside for audience members, with theatres posing guidelines for even Star Wars due to rightful concerns for safety. In an offbeat way, this feels like closer to The Rocky Horror Picture Show for its potential to give passerby their share of hilarious double takes. And with the film set for a big opening in two weeks, we can expect Pennywise to be the next staple of cosplay.

Would you brave IT while surrounded by clowns?

Review: "The Dark Tower"

by Chris Feil

The Stephen King resurgence continues with his epic genre mashup series The Dark Tower finally coming to the screen from director Nikolaj Arcel, and with the powerful Idris Elba in tow as the enigmatic gunslinger Roland Deschain. But this one isn’t likely to come ahead of the King-idolatry of Stranger Things or the upcoming adaptation of It, as it barely resembles his creation or any of the elements that make him one of our foremost pulse-quickeners.

The Dark Tower centers on Jake Chambers, a troubled teenager with visions of otherworldly cataclysm centered around the evil Man in Black, played with nonchalance by Matthew McConaughey. Jake flees across dimensions into Roland’s world and the two pair up to stop the Man In Black from destroying the titular Dark Tower and with it all of existence. When the film immediately forces its hero Roland Deschain to the background for its first two acts (and without building a mythos to capitalize on once he emerges), it’s the first sign that something is majorly amiss in this adaptation...

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There's Something on Spike TV: "The Mist"

Robert here! It looks like the poor citizens of Maine are once again at the mercy of supernatural horrors as Stephen King's The Mist is being adapted into a miniseries for Spike TV. The new trailer dropped yesterday and it looks like this adaptation has it all: creepy priests, commentary on the decline of western consumerism, Frances Conroy, and even a same-sex kiss (that doesn't turn out so well :/).

All of that being said, as much as The Mist is perfect fodder for the miniseries treatment, I'm left feeling a little apprehensive by the current prospects of this one...

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YNMS: the IT remake

Chris here. We may not be the most horror movie focused here at The Film Experience, but some new films do get our curiosity whether it's because of strong reviews, exciting new filmmakers, or the revamp of known properties. This week we got a first look at long-developing remake of Stephen King's evil clown epic It. Apologies to any of our readers who fear clowns.

While It's early-90s miniseries lives in the infamy and closely-held sanctity of shared childhood nightmares, I'd wager that here is an example of story worth retelling. Tim Curry's original Pennywise may be one of our greatest and most terrifying horror performances, but if you rewatch now, everything around him doesn't really measure up. Perhaps it's time to do justice to the massive novel beyond its demonic villain while our fondness for King sees another pop culture resurgence.

Take a look at the trailer and we'll run down the Yes No Maybe So as we peek through our hands after the jump...

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