IT (1990): Part 2

Cheating? Yes. But it was split with one part on the 18th of November, and the second part on the 20th so my timing works! (Except for the month obviously.)

I know a lot of people say the second half is the weaker part of the mini-series, but honestly I enjoyed it a lot more and felt it told a better story. So finally we get all our grown up kids to Derry, and though they don't really plan on facing Pennywise from the start I don't mind. This half had a lot to enjoy and I noticed something that I hope the new movie captures, a lot of it is focused on the grown ups spending a lot of time with each other, reminiscing, and just enjoying each other's company, it really does seem like these actors have known each other for years and they just got the band back together. I like that nostalgia angle they play, and I'm sure Stephen King wrote those interactions wonderfully in the book. I can fully accept that these characters are what the kids would grow up to be, they play their parts very well! We get a tiny touch more of Pennywise and he is way more funny in this one. I love the way Tim plays It, but he made me more laugh than freak out whereas Bill Skarsgard can make me laugh but also creep me right the hell out sometimes accomplishing both att the same time. However, I love the evocative Lovecraftian vibes it gives with this entity, this creature being the eater of worlds and of children, this whole cosmic horror thing is played well...until the end. The problem with cosmic horror is these entities cannot be comprehended by human minds, so what do they look like? Pennywise says that their tiny minds can't fully see him and are only seeing what they can, so how does the giant spider thing work? It can't be it's true form cause that goes against the Outer God view that they have of It, and you can't deceat such a creature even if you do cowtip the thing and rip it's heart out. I simultaneously love that idea but also hate it, I love it cause I dig that Cthulu standpoint on the character but I hate it because it just doesn't add up to how it appears and is defeated. Even lesser beings in the echelon of Outer Gods can't really die by mortal hands, but Stephen King has made his own intricately woven web of lore so it is entirely possible that this is the end for Pennywise. So yeah, this is a definite improvement on the first part for me and I'm infinitely intrigued by how the new movie will handle this. It's funny, for the mini-series the first part was eh but the second part was pretty good, but with the movie the first part was excellent so how will the second part hold up? Well if it has that good character interaction, the proper buildup for the fight, and ties the loose ends up in a satisfying and well executed way, not to mention just tell the story in an intriguing and entertaining way like this part of the mini-series, then we'll have a great horror duology. But that comes for a later time. If you actually enjoyed the first part then no doubt you'll want to see how it ends, so all I can do is give a thumbs up to this second half of a pretty out there but fun story.

And so we wait for the new movie. Don't you want it?

IT (1990): Part 1

Well how else are we supposed to start September?

Now I will freely admit I've never seen this mini-series before, so I have no nostalgia or childhood fears from it, so how does the beginning chapter of this story hold up? It's okay, it's not amazing nor is it horrible, I mean it's a difficult task to adapt any body of fiction but Christ I would hate to be the director to bring a 1,000 page book to life. And I think because of that and plus the barely hour and a half runtime makes the story a little choppy and rushed throughout. Flashback is our main way of story telling cause we begin in Derry when all our protagonists are grown up and a slew of child murders has been going on leading Mike, the newest kid to the town start ringing up his old friends to tell them that a figure they've met before has returned. And I can safely I like all the performances from our adult and child actors, though I did notice the adult versions act more like kids than the actual kids, with Ben and Bill still being my favorite characters. True the flashbacks gets old but I understand the reason why they had to do it, and it gives the adult actors some real moments to shine as these memories they would sooner forget start creeping back into their minds. It's mostly just getting to know these characters in their daily lives dealing with this horrific stuff, and I can appreciate that character development but what you see is really what you get. But let's face it and just be real for a second, you watch this movie for Tim Curry. Don't lie to yourself, unless you are a hardcore Stephen King fan you pretty much come to see Tim Curry. And I hate to say it but he's not in it very much, to the point where I completely forgot there was a child eating clown in this movie which you would think would be highly difficult to forget, but it's true! He's barely in the first half, but I relished the time he had on screen. I know this is pretty much the single handed reason why people don't like clowns today, and I kinda hate this movie for that reason. I quite like clowns! They are entertainers and good company to be around, stop it. I'm sure Tim Curry would have scared me off my rocker when I was younger, but really anything could have scared me back then that was even just a tiny bit intimidating, so he doesn't freak me out. I found him funny in places but I can still see him as a threat, you can see the dread these kids feel at times and the scene where they resolve to deal with this entity is easily the best scene in I'm almost willing to say the whole mini-series. I think it's just the lack of music, the emotion Bill has which then gets supported by his friends is really damn good! I almost say watch it just for that scene. The music is nice, the direction has some nice shots here and there, the editing is a bit hokey but you can roll with it. I just kinda give it an average 6/10 for the first part, maybe the second will bring me more enjoyment since it'll be more payoff than build up so we shall see. I didn't go out to hate on the movie so don't wring my neck if you don't like the rating, I know this mini-series holds good ground with other people but it was just adequate to me and I say you should see it (ha ha ha....) at least once. Oh God please don't let the second part suck.....

Halloween III Season Of The Witch

Final treat for today before we go off to celebrate Halloween.

I don't care if there is no Michael Myers in this movie, this is a friggin' awesome movie! That's right there is no Michael Myers, no Dr. Loomis, no Laurie Strode. All original story. The movie involves witchcraft, amazing special effects, creepy music, a foreboding atmosphere, and a truly sinister villain. The story follows a doctor investigating into the death of a factory member which soon leads to the uncovering of a cult hellbent on returning Halloween back to it's dark and bloody roots. Tom Atkins is our hero in this movie, and I really enjoyed watching him but Dan O'Herlihy steals the entire movie as the gentle owner of the factory who is the mastermind behind the whole witchcraft scheme. He is just one malicious bastard. And the best scene in the entire movie is when he explains the history of Halloween and it is genuinely creepy and chilling to hear. And the ending....my God you won't expect it. Truly memorable and haunting. Well I am probably never going to surpass this many reviews in a single day and on that bombshell it is time to end. Thank you so much for reading and as always, have a very happy Halloween.