Courtney Balcombe

News Editor

clb6264@psu.edu

Stephen King is the man, the myth, the “king” of horror movies. He wrote “It” in 1986 about a killer clown that would kidnap children every 27 years from their small town of Derry, Maine.

While the book is 1168 pages, the movie was split up, the first movie was It, 1990, which was just over three hours long. However, in 2017, there was a remake for the 1990 version which was shorter than the original by an hour. Then in 2019 “It: Chapter II” was released, this one was longer than the prequel at almost three hours.

“Things we wish we could leave behind. Whispers we wish we could silence. Nightmares we most want to wake up from. Memories we wish we could change. Secrets we feel like we have to keep are the hardest to walk away from.” – It: Chapter II

How do these “losers” play out in each film though?

Casts     1990     2017           2019

Pennywise Tim Curry Bill Skarsgård Bill Skarsgård

Billy Richard Thomas Jaeden Martell James McAvoy

Richie Seth Green Finn Wolfhard Bill Hader

Eddie Dennis Christopher Jack Dylan Grazer James Ransone

Ben John Ritte Jeremy Ray Taylor Jay Ryan

Mike Tim Reid Chosen Jacobs Isaiah Mustafa

Beverly Emily Perkins Sophia Lillis Jessica Chastain

“It” (1990)

In this film, Pennywise the Dancing Clown is played by Tim Curry, probably most known for his role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

The film follows the closest to the way Stephen King wrote the book, however, it’s also a bit more slow and boring compared to the 2019 adaptation. The movie doesn’t really show too much “horror” in the beginning as the 2017 version, but it also makes it seem like Bill didn’t really like Georgie either.

With this film, it goes back and forth from their childhood to the present in their 30s, it kind of makes the movie a bit harder to follow along to the time period they’re in. Pennywise isn’t as scary as he is in the remake, but he still looks creepy.

“It” (2017)

In this adaptation, Pennywise is played by Bill Skarsgård, according to New York Gal he obtained this role when he showed up to the auditions as the only one in full clown makeup.

While the film does not follow the book, it adds more of a prequel to where the book opens. The cinematography helps add suspense to the horror that is Pennywise. This can be seen through various scenes such as Beverley’s bathroom with the blood, Bill’s garage and the projector, and even the ending with the well.

Seeing this film start with children and then move to the adults in “It: Chapter II” gives more details into how the 1990 film, as well as the book, come to life.

“Swear it. Swear if It isn’t dead, if It ever comes back, we’ll come back too.” – Bill, It

“It: Chapter II” (2019)

This picks up right where the prequel left off, but we skip forward 27 years when Pennywise comes back and kills a new child.

The first victim to Pennywise is a gay man who isn’t from Derry, after showing how the people here are not progressive and that bullies still exist when you’re 20 to 30 something.

When the group returns back to Derry, all but one returns to defeat Pennywise, but nonetheless who knows if he is really gone. The best part about this one might be seeing Stephen King play the store owner in Derry who sells Bill his bike back.

“See, the thing about being a loser is, you don’t have anything to lose. So be true. Be Brave. Stand. Believe. And don’t ever forget, we’re losers, and we always will be.” – Losers Club, It: Chapter II