I had a week off the Original vs Remake post last week while I contemplated which one to look at next.
I decided that this week would be about the 2017 remake of Steven King’s, IT (1990) and its sequel, IT: Chapter Two (2019).
I’ll start by saying that I’ve never read the book, or any Stephen King book for that matter (the endings are all rubbish anyway right..?) I have however seen a few movie adaptations of his books over the years and one of the best I can remember is the original IT.
In 1990 I was about 10 years old so you can imagine what affect a film like that had on me (it might actually explain a few things). It has a great story, well developed characters and was, at the time, scary as hell!
If you've somehow never seen it, this is what it's about according to the internet:
"Seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine, are about to face their worst nightmare -- an ancient, shape-shifting evil that emerges from the sewer every 27 years to prey on the town's children. Banding together over the course of one horrifying summer, the friends must overcome their own personal fears to battle the murderous, bloodthirsty clown known as Pennywise."
Although a bit dated now the original is still a great watch. It benefits from quality 90s storytelling and some genuinely scary moments courtesy of Tim Curry, but it falls down on some overly dramatic performances and ropey of-the-time special effects, particularly during the finale.
The film was originally released on TV as a two-part mini series, then later on VHS and DVD etc as a full movie. It goes back and forth between present day and thirty years earlier in a series of flashbacks where we get to see the main character’s first encounters with IT as kids. Tim Curry plays Pennywise the clown (IT) and is brilliantly terrifying. He’s also probably responsible for a lot of my generation’s fear of clowns now I come to think about it...
The remake took a different approach.
The story is told over two movies with the first focussing on the events that happen when the main characters were kids, and the second, 27 years later when they’re forced to reunite as adults to once again face IT - hopefully, this time for good.
The story itself stays pretty true to the original (they're both based on the same book after all) but with a few differences. There are also a number of things added to bring it up to date with current times, and also to (I guess) freshen it up a bit.
It develops the characters really well (especially in the first film) and benefits greatly from modern day special effects which is where the original fell down slightly.
I did feel feel though that by Chapter 2 Pennywise had lost a lot of his scare factor due to the fact that he conveniently manages to kill anyone who isn’t a main character with relative ease, but is seemingly easy to defeat in various confrontations by the main characters. I know we wouldn’t have a film if he picked them all off at the start but still, it all gets a bit predictable by the second movie.
In the remake Pennywise is played by Bill Skarsgard (a role that almost went to Hugo Weaving who was a final contender for it) and he does an excellent job. The young cast are also very good, as are the actors who play their older selves. Just the likenesses alone are impressive.
Final Verdict:
This is a tough one. I’m gonna say in this case that the remake wins, but it’s kind of by default. It had the advantage of two movies to tell the story over, and to go into more depth with the characters. The special effects of today are also much better than those available in 1990 which also makes a big difference to the finale.
The original does have a certain magic and re-watch quality to it though, as do a lot of those 90s era movies. It's certainly worth a watch if you haven't seen it, and actually, it would probably depend on what kind of mood I was in as to which version I'd choose to put on.
What do you think? Am I right?
Have any of you read the book? If so how does it compare to the films?
Let me know in the comments.
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