‘IT: WELCOME TO DERRY’ is a prequel series set before the respective chapters of the 2017 & 2019 ‘IT: CHAPTERS ONE & TWO’ – It follows a surge in the disappearance of kids in 1962 after a couple & their son move to the town of Derry, only to realize not all is right in the town.
Returning director Andy Muschietti spearheads the pilot, one of the best episodes of TV in years – a glorious setup for the series, a welcome return to Derry & as you’d expect, a barbarically twisted one too with both the opening & final 10 Minutes being mental torture with an utterly jaw dropping close you simply won’t see coming. Pennywise is back & he’s not messing around.
Speaking of whom, though you don’t see him in his infamous clown form as much as you may be expecting too, it’s a delight to have Bill Skarsgard back under the makeup. He’s a diamond talent constantly serving great performances & a horror icon who the series would simply miss greatly had he not returned as Pennywise.
Across the episodes we were granted access to, those being the first five, the series builds tension masterfully, there is of course jumpscares tucked into the horrifying sequences but they’re made as effective as they are due to the exaggerated tension & twisted nature of IT present beforehand. It’s nail-biting & milks all it can from you before giving you its big scare, very much like how Pennywise exudes the most amount of fear from his victims before serving the final blows.
Our new losers club this time around comes in the form of several characters who each have their moments to say the least. And though not the Losers Club we come to know, they each have their share of defining characteristics. I wasn’t entirely sold on the young actors at first but they ultimately end up more than proving their worth the more you see of them & the more situations they find themselves in. Clara Stack is a specific standout especially in the second episode of the season.
Aside from the new roundup of losers to follow, another storyline in ‘IT: WELCOME TO DERRY’ explores the Military in the midst of the cold war hunting a weapon they have little detail about but understand its ability to cause fear. They believe hunting it down & securing it would result in them winning said war before any weapon has been fired from the opposite sides. And though interesting & a chance to sit with some of the newer cast & character, at times it can feel like a shoehorned side plot but at others it’s clearly the vehicle being used to canonize & expand upon IT’s cosmic backstory directly into this adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.
Additional flowers worth giving to ‘IT: WELCOME TO DERRY’ & the crew behind it lies within its gorgeous production value & technicalities. Visually the show is without flaw, it’s lit exceptionally well, framed great & the 1960’s approach taken for the story is brought to life through strong set design & a vibrant pastel colour grade.
To divert to the weaknesses of the series & while to me there personally aren’t a great deal at all, there is reasonable justification for why some may find themselves growing tiresome & a little all too familiar of the jumpscares & horror sequences. They’re very similarly structured to how we’ve seen them in the movie incarnations of this version of IT – Drawn out & all ended in similar fashion with lights being turned on, others stepping into the scene, etc. & some are surely set to be unhappy with how little we see Pennywise in his clown form – at first, seeing as though that is his most iconic look.
Regardless of what some may perceive as it’s flaws, ‘IT: Welcome To Derry’ is a tense, thrilling & twisted return bordering on mental torment to Stephen King’s most haunted town. Featuring horrifying sequences, strong performances & exciting expansions of the lore we’ve come to love, it superbly lays an exciting foundation for Andy Muschietti’s Three-Season vision.
‘IT: WELCOME TO DERRY’ streams from October 26 on HBO MAX.
