Leia Granger | Reviews Editor
Holly Cochrane | Special Featurette
27 years after the original movie was released, director Andy Muschietti decided it was time to revisit our old friend Pennywise, ‘the dancing clown’. The name and concept of ‘the dancing clown’ seems very innocent and heartfelt, however Pennywise is anything but that.
My initial thought the first time I saw Pennywise was curiosity, as he has a very distinct look for a clown. Albeit the well-known features of a ‘killer’ clown he shows some attributes of an immature infant. His pale skin and red hair compliment his devilish smile he wears on his face – along with the potential to cause nightmares.
The setting of the movie takes place in the summer of 1989 in a town called Derry, Maine, where a series of unfortunate events take place every 27 years. When a group of children begin to go missing and later found dead, a band of 7 friends come together to discover that the killer is not a man but in fact an evil, shape shifting clown. While doing so they use light-hearted, childish humour to bereave the tense mood.
Pennywise carries the ability to change form into your greatest fear and use this against you. So, the only way to weaken him is to overcome your fear. These fears can vary between Mysophobia (the fear of germs), Encavmaphobia (that of burning alive) and of course, coulrophobia (fear of clowns). These are all shown throughout the entire movie following Pennywise’s bloodthirsty instinct to kill.
Towards the end of the movie the characters single-handedley conquer their worst fears and use this against Pennywise as he becomes weaker due to his lack of food intake (humans). However, this does not kill him, as we are left with the group of children promising to return back to the town if IT ever did. This instigates that he very may well return to his killing spree in the town of Derry. At the end of the movie we are left on the edge of our seats as the director suggests that there is more to follow as the words CHAPTER ONE fill the screen.
The movie IT has proven to be wholly fearful, as we are slightly intimidated by his appearance – yet softened by the children’s humour as it lifts the mood while attempting to destroy Pennywise. We are excited to see what CHAPTER TWO has in store and what IT will bring…
