Horror movie number three for October, the conclusion to Stephen King’s rather long It which got updated. If you forgot, the original story took place in the Fifties and concludes in the Eighties. In this take, the first part was in the Eighties and the story wraps up close the present time (for those reading this in the future, around 2017-19).
Again, we all know how the story goes thanks to King fans complaining about every adaptation made and ABC’s mini-series attempt in the early Nineties.
I did like how there were flashbacks to the past to fill in the gaps on what happened after the protagonists’ memorable Summer. The kid actors were pretty impressive given the material and how they had to grow up quickly in order to confront a monster. The adult versions were alright as half of them were just older dysfunctional versions. It was sad to see how the only female character fell into the same pattern of abuse by replacing her awful dad with a horrendous (yet wealthy) husband.
Here’s what I was bummed over. The sequel didn’t scare me much or get my heart racing as the first did. Am I numb to this? Or did the director dial it back? Who knows. Chapter Two felt too long. I found myself thinking, OK, I get it, we found the monster’s weakness, we know who loves whom, etc. End the movie already!
Still, I found Chapter Two to be a good film and a solid book end to what It started. With a little editing, this could be re-shown over two evenings on cable. The Hobbit proved how three parts was too much. Both don’t have enough material to justify a third act.
Alamo Extras: Bosko cartoon; a clown (Kracko) plugging cereal; some snippet of Spanish TV with a clown; a Japanese version of Candid Camera showing people being chased by killer clowns in a parking garage (pretty funny given how calm their society is); trailer for Blood Harvest and It, the Terror Beyond Outer Space; a Leo Sayer video (another under appreciated singer from the Seventies); a terrible clown/mime thing; Mini Bio about Stephen King; some Musov Shoko thing called “Clowns,” which is a toy going to a song I think; Stephen King plugging your local library; a History of Pennywise; and a clown montage.