Advance Review: IT: Welcome to Derry Won’t Leave Everyone Screaming This Spooky Season

HBO is posed to premiere their new series, IT: Welcome to Derry, this Sunday, October 26. Based on the novel by Stephen King, and serving as a prequel to the 2017 and 2019 IT films, this new series serves as an origin story of sorts for the well known evil clown, Pennywise (portrayed once again, and deliciously by Bill Skarsgård).

Created by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, it’s 1962 in Derry, and life couldn’t be better for the residents in their little suburban town. However, that all changes the night a young boy, Matty (Miles Ekhardt), goes missing. After last being seen at the local theater, the town begins to believe that it was the theater’s projectionist who is behind the disappearance. His daughter Ronnie (Amanda Christine) though believes someone else is behind Matty’s mysterious disappearance. To prove her father’s innocence, Ronnie teams up with her fellow classmate, Lilly (Clara Stack), to uncover the truth. But sometimes the truth is more horrifying than we tend to believe, and the kids are now faced with the trying to survive against the living embodiment of fear.

All the while, newly transferred Air Force Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), his wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige), and Will (Blake James) are dealing with the impact of moving to a prominently white town in the throws of the Civil Rights movement. His transfer though is another story in itself. The base where he is stationed is conducting a secret military project that the people of Derry are completely oblivious about, which seems to be a running theme for this town.

The premiere episode itself is a bit misleading when it comes to what fans can expect from this new series. The episode itself is filled to the brim with so much shock and gore that by the time the credits role, any viewer will be left feeling exhausted. It’s a literal punch to the gut, that is left untaken care of in episode two. Any sort of adrenaline rush created in the premiere episode is left to simmer so the story can actually build it’s story on the second episode. It’s this episode where the foundation for the series begins to be built, but the writers should have found a way to balance the horror with the story building. Unfortunately, this trend remains the case as the series progresses.

And to be honest, as someone who likes horror films, the horror felt chintzy and forced at some points. Maybe it had to do with budget, but the beauty of previous iterations of IT was the psychological horror the shapeshifting clown puts it’s victims through. The horror was told in way where where the audience was along for the ride from start to finish. The horror in this series didn’t have that same oomph. Instead, it leans heavily on the slasher/gore side of the horror genre that became longwinded at points. The visuals used for some of the forms of Pennywise were also laughable at points. But what did stick were the subtler horror moments, like when a citizen of the town would flash that iconic deranged smile or when the music would heighten the tension to the scene. The focus should have been more on those types of horror moments. I also would have loved to have seen the Muschietti’s opt to never show the villain, but the let the audiences mind feel the growing tension alongside the characters..

IT: Welcome to Derry will definitely be a must see for some this spooky season. With Stephen King easter eggs sprinkled throughout each episode and a very charming cast of young kids, it will be a good watch for some. However, if you are looking to be reminded as to why clowns still remain one of the most horrifying scares of all time, this circus might not be for you.