Support NeoGAF

[Cmagus]

Considering the giant projector Pennywise, they can use that face again. But mainly because I just love the design of that Pennywise version, so I just want to see it again

The projector scene was so bad ass and just the way the projector kept going dark and re-appearing when he was crawling towards the kids was awesome. I liked this version of Pennywise the most I just kind of wished they did more with him instead of just throwing him in there for some jump scares. When he confronted the kids in the house and was actually talking and interacting with them it was so good and I felt the film needed more of that.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Considering the giant projector Pennywise, they can use that face again. But mainly because I just love the design of that Pennywise version, so I just want to see it again

I said this earlier in the thread, but I think it got lost in the shuffle: this "feeding" Pennywise reminds me so much of Steve Bissette's concept work for his aborted Rawhead Rex adaptation. Love it!

http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=87460

Painting Lady was obviously CG, but it still maintain that it's the most disturbing imagery in the entire movie.

It 100% made my skin crawl. Like hearing a ghost story that freaks you out so much that the hair on your neck stands up or something.

Loved the first appearance of the Painting Lady, but the second outing was a little less effective - but by that point it felt like Pennywise was being less subtle and just throwing everything It could at the Losers, so it didn't bother me too much.

 

[Aaron D.]

I do think the Painted Lady was obvious CG, and the Lepper was sort of uncanny valley for me (it looked like a practical effect with computer touch up, but I'm not even sure what was real and what wasn't, it just looked off).

Painting Lady was obviously CG, but it still maintain that it's the most disturbing imagery in the entire movie.

It 100% made my skin crawl. Like hearing a ghost story that freaks you out so much that the hair on your neck stands up or something.

Not sure why CG is now a bad thing. Sure it can be overdone (just like any other film technique), but it can also be used to great affect.

Strange, but that's one the the things I noted when leaving the theater with my wife...how the restrained use of it with Pennywise enhanced the alien nature of his character, without being overdone and losing his sense of authenticity.

 

[Kyleripman]

Do you guys think that the lobster/spider claws during the finale that Pennywise briefly employed were meant to be a reference to

Spoiler

Its spider form

, or a reference to cut content (like the appearance of the mummy in the same scene might've been)?

 

[Doctor Bat]

Do you guys think that the lobster/spider claws during the finale that Pennywise briefly employed were meant to be a reference to

Spoiler

Its spider form

, or a reference to cut content (like the appearance of the mummy in the same scene might've been)?

It seemed more like a classic monster reference, specifically the legs/pincers of the giant radioactive insect thing in countless '50s B-movies. There's one in the Goosebumps books too.

EDIT: Like so.

 

[Buckle]

Do you guys think that the lobster/spider claws during the finale that Pennywise briefly employed were meant to be a reference to

Spoiler

Its spider form

, or a reference to cut content (like the appearance of the mummy in the same scene might've been)?

I was wondering that. Seemed out of nowhere.

He seemed to be going after Bill (or Ben, not good with the kids names) with that so it might be a reference to something he fears?

The headless phantom seemed to be a spur of the moment fear, he might have been drawing on something older there. That or yeah, its just abit of his

Spoiler

spider

form poking out as a weapon.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I thought it was an allusion to the former. There seemed to a few of them. Part 2 book spoilers:

Spoiler

On a couple occasions, It seemed to have this blotchy, pulsating skin breaking out from under the Pennywise shell. I think that and the legs are an allusion to its "true" (to the extent that humans can see) form.

Also, reminder to please tag spoilers from the book for story that has not yet been addressed in the film. (Potential Chapter 2 spoilers for the film.)

 

[groansey]

Anyone guess when we're likely to hear some sort of reaction from the director/studio and a sequel announcement or confirmation of an extended cut? I'm pinning my hopes on the latter based on us never seeing them draw the V on Eddie's cast, and referencing Silver but never using it.
Deadpool was announced pretty quickly.

 

[PeskyToaster]

Richie:

"What, can you like only see the clown if you're a virgin?

'Cause that would totally explain why I'm the only one who can't see him."

Man, that had the whole theater rolling.

Christ they nailed adolescent banter.

The beaver trapping line was pretty funny. Did not expect it lol. Straight from late middle school/early high school playbook.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Anyone guess when we're likely to hear some sort of reaction from the director/studio and a sequel announcement or confirmation of an extended cut? I'm pinning my hopes on the latter based on us never seeing them draw the V on Eddie's cast, and referencing Silver but never using it.
Deadpool was announced pretty quickly.

Eddie drew the "V" on his cast himself, though, so if there was a scene with the Losers drawing it on (was there one in the trailers?) it may have just been axed in favour of that one.

I think a Director's/Extended Cut would be well worth the studio's time though - I suspect there was a fair bit trimmed to make it hit the just-over-2hr run time, and I wouldn't mind seeing it added back in for the home release. I wouldn't expect any effects-heavy stuff, but extended interactions with Pennywise or more character-building stuff with the Losers or supporting cast would be good.

 

[GhaleonEB]

The beaver trapping line was pretty funny. Did not expect it lol. Straight from late middle school/early high school playbook.

I liked the realization that they should tone down those kind of jokes once Beverly was in the group. There was a moment with a joke like that where Beverly recoiled non-verbally and Ritchie and the others noticed. It was a nice touch to note the changing dynamic of the group.

 

[The Technomancer]

Anyone guess when we're likely to hear some sort of reaction from the director/studio and a sequel announcement or confirmation of an extended cut? I'm pinning my hopes on the latter based on us never seeing them draw the V on Eddie's cast, and referencing Silver but never using it.
Deadpool was announced pretty quickly.

Eddie is drawing the V on himself when he gets the phone call that it took Bev

 

[Kyleripman]

It seemed more like a classic monster reference, specifically the legs/pincers of the giant radioactive insect thing in countless '50s B-movies. There's one in the Goosebumps books too.

Actually mantis claws are probably closest to what it actually looked like to me, now that you mention it.

That or yeah, its just abit of his

Spoiler

spider

form poking out as a weapon.

I thought it was an allusion to the former. There seemed to a few of them. Part 2 book spoilers:

Spoiler

On a couple occasions, It seemed to have this blotchy, pulsating skin breaking out from under the Pennywise shell. I think that and the legs are an allusion to its "true" (to the extent that humans can see) form.

I'm hoping it's that, if only for accuracy to the book and the hopes that the final confrontation will play out faithfully in the end.

Thanks for catching that spoiler, wasn't thinking.

Anyone guess when we're likely to hear some sort of reaction from the director/studio and a sequel announcement or confirmation of an extended cut? I'm pinning my hopes on the latter based on us never seeing them draw the V on Eddie's cast, and referencing Silver but never using it.
Deadpool was announced pretty quickly.

I could be misremembering, but I thought we saw Eddie drawing the V overtop of the cast himself?
edit: beaten like Dorsey Corcoran

 

[Artanisix]

the CGI was pretty bad (dat leper and painting lady) but i really enjoyed the film anyways. my girlfriend, who normally abhors horror, was able to enjoy the film because of the loser's club interactions. i consider that a pretty serious win.

 

[More_Badass]

Given what we've seen of IT's true form, I expect it to be the spider form but mixed with The Thing-style body horror and endless rows of teeth. Maybe with the tattered skin of Pennywise's face still attached like Leatherface's mask

the CGI was pretty bad (dat leper and painting lady) but i really enjoyed the film anyways. my girlfriend, who normally abhors horror, was able to enjoy the film because of the loser's club interactions. i consider that a pretty serious win.

The flute player was a walking painting. Of course it looked fake. The leper though, I wish they had gone full practical instead of using CGI for that shot of the face

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

I'm sure there's a read of this movie that frames Pennywise's actions as a metaphor for horror film making in general.

I thought this after reading that post too. Wonder if it was intentional.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

I really liked Bev's interaction with the chemist (well, aside from his reaction making my skin crawl). She was shown to be clearly well aware of her effect on adults - or rather, on adult men - and her burgeoning sexuality, and was shown making use of it, but she was never judged for it in the film. That, plus the abusive relationship with her father and her interactions with the Losers - in itself relatively complicated, with her gentle, sweet scenes with Ben, the quasi-romance with Bill and her relaxed attitude to her body and apparent unawareness of the effect it was having on her new friends (versus her clear awareness of what her body meant to grown men) - made her a fascinating character.

Possibly also why the way she was treated as more of a damsel in the final act was so frustrating - she was clearly breaking out of the pattern of abuse she'd been trapped in through her interactions with the Losers and her confrontation with her father, then she cold-cocked and made a helpless victim all over again.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

ITs true form can be whatever the fuck they want it to be imo, if they ever opt to show it.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I'm trying really hard to NOT spoil the future forms It takes in the second part of the book and specifically

Spoiler

it's final form

since it's intended to be a big reveal at the very end. I feel like second part book spoilers should be tagged so we don't spoil that two years out from release for anyone who is introduced to this story via this film.

 

[The Technomancer]

Out of the whole cast I think I want to see the kid who played Eddie get more work the most. Well and the kid playing Richie, but we know he's going to anyway.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

I wonder if they took one of the later script climaxes out (because the finale in the film wasnt' in any of the scripts I read for this) and are saving it for part two?

It did involve giant eyes and spiders.

It was pretty fuckin' gross.

 

[Bloodporne]

He was the relatively best thing in the miniseries, and thus the best adaptation of Pennywise by virtue of being the only adaptation.

Plus, anecdotes from other threads makes me think that IT was basically The Exorcist for 90s kids, as in being the horror thing they saw as kids and leaves a huge impression on them. My mom can't ever watch The Exorcist again even though it's been 40+ years, and people in the other IT threads were saying how friends and family members were practically having panic attacks being reminded of Pennywise.

My mother absolutely refuses to ever watch The Exorcist again as well actually.

And you're spot on. IT basically did that to me as a kid, minus the part where I can't ever watch it again. The TV film looks hokey now, but everyone I know in my age range that saw it was utterly fucking terrified of it back then.

The fact it centered around a group of kids made it so much worse since my immediate group of friends all had King fever then and was reading it at the same time. It's like King looked in our collective heads and pulled out exactly what he knew we feared the most.

 

[groansey]

Ah, my bad regarding the cast.

 

[Brainfreeze]

He was the relatively best thing in the miniseries, and thus the best adaptation of Pennywise by virtue of being the only adaptation.

Plus, anecdotes from other threads makes me think that IT was basically The Exorcist for 90s kids, as in being the horror thing they saw as kids and leaves a huge impression on them. My mom can't ever watch The Exorcist again even though it's been 40+ years, and people in the other IT threads were saying how friends and family members were practically having panic attacks being reminded of Pennywise.

That makes a lot of sense.

Painting Lady was obviously CG, but it still maintain that it's the most disturbing imagery in the entire movie.

It 100% made my skin crawl. Like hearing a ghost story that freaks you out so much that the hair on your neck stands up or something.

Not sure why CG is now a bad thing. Sure it can be overdone (just like any other film technique), but it can also be used to great affect.

Strange, but that's one the the things I noted when leaving the theater with my wife...how the restrained use of it with Pennywise enhanced the alien nature of his character, without being overdone and losing his sense of authenticity.

CG isn't bad if it's subtle, but the Painted Lady was so obviously CG that she didn't look real and grounded, so it took me out of the movie. I liked the way she moved and everything, that was unsettling, but I think her face needed more work. I understand how it must be difficult to convincingly convert a 2D painting into a walking 3D monster though.

Considering the giant projector Pennywise, they can use that face again. But mainly because I just love the design of that Pennywise version, so I just want to see it again

I actually know somebody who worked on this movie in a friend-of-a-friend sort of way, and I understand they worked on modeling Pennywise and [BIG PART 2 SPOILERS]

Spoiler

his spider form

, so, as someone not familiar with the process, I wonder if all of their work was on It's prosthetics or if this monstrosity coming out of the projector is some sort of model that they worked on as well. Either way, very cool.

Do you guys think that the lobster/spider claws during the finale that Pennywise briefly employed were meant to be a reference to

Spoiler

Its spider form

, or a reference to cut content (like the appearance of the mummy in the same scene might've been)?

[FOLLOW UP TO PREVIOUS PART 2 SPOILERS]

Spoiler

I thought the same thing at this part,
and I wonder if I could actually find out the answer by finding out whether that friend-of-a-friend worked on those arms at all or not, which I'm sure they would have if they needed to be consistent with the final spider model.

Likewise, when I hear that they worked on the spider model, I don't know if that means they started some work on Part 2 before it was even confirmed or if it was just about mapping out what it may look like so it could be referenced for parts like this.

 

[More_Badass]

I think there's a big difference between Pennywise rushing at the camera here versus the typical jump scare in a lot of horror movies

For one, it was motivated by narrative rather than just being a scare tactic for the viewer. It was a predatory/hunting tactic rather than just jumping at the camera for no reason. You could say we're basically seeing Pennywise from the character's perspective in those moments, the lion's lunge after stalking its prey.

So often in (poor) horror movies, a jump scare is only for the audience's benefit. The camera will be off-set and then...boom, scare, even though the character should have been able to see what was offscreen. Or maybe characters aren't even aware that the scare happened; for example Sinister 1 and 2 had moments that the characters can't see or were not aware but just jump out to scare the viewers. But in IT, as well as many effective use of jump scares in film, we're in the character's shoes, just as tense and on edge as they are, and then danger and terror strikes.

That moment of fright is mutual between viewer and victim.

 

[nynt9]

I don't get the praise for the projector scene. It felt kind of rushed. I remember several blumhouse movies from the last 5-10 years that had similar scenes done better. And giant CGI penny wise at the end was just a jump scare and not very effective for me.

To me the scariest scene was the room full of draped clowns. But it was scarier when they were draped, and when the drapes came off it again felt like they rushed through the scare instead of building tension. In general I feel like a lot of the scares in the movie needed more time to breathe and grow suspense, but they just moved through the motions real fast and went to a jump scare.

 

[Kyleripman]

Did everyone see this quote:

”We are doing that. We'll probably have a script for the second part in January. Ideally, we would start prep in March. Part one is only about the kids. Part two is about these characters 30 years later as adults, with flashbacks to 1989 when they were kids."

I know I've read about them wanting to film additional flashbacks, but this kind of gives us some idea of a timetable, which is cool.

I actually know somebody who worked on this movie in a friend-of-a-friend sort of way, and I understand they worked on modeling Pennywise and [BIG PART 2 SPOILERS]

Spoiler

his spider form

, so, as someone not familiar with the process, I wonder if all of their work was on It's prosthetics or if this monstrosity coming out of the projector is some sort of model that they worked on as well. Either way, very cool.

[FOLLOW UP TO PREVIOUS PART 2 SPOILERS]

Spoiler

I thought the same thing at this part,
and I wonder if I could actually find out the answer by finding out whether that friend-of-a-friend worked on those arms at all or not, which I'm sure they would have if they needed to be consistent with the final spider model.

Likewise, when I hear that they worked on the spider model, I don't know if that means they started some work on Part 2 before it was even confirmed or if it was just about mapping out what it may look like so it could be referenced for parts like this.

That's enormously exciting. If you find anything out, let us know!

 

[More_Badass]

My mother absolutely refuses to ever watch The Exorcist again as well actually.

And you're spot on. IT basically did that to me as a kid, minus the part where I can't ever watch it again. The TV film looks hokey now, but everyone I know in my age range that saw it was utterly fucking terrified of it back then.

For me, it was Jurassic Park. The T-Rex terrified me. There used to be a cardboard T-rex head in my video store to promote The Lost World and I would have to turn my back to it so I didn't have to see it. I had the Making of Jurassic Park book and would carefully turn each page in case a picture of the T-rex would be next

Funny thing is I had no problem watching the movies and I loved learning about dinosaurs. But for some reason seeing that T Rex out of context and unexpected would be terrifying.

 

[Dany]

There wil be no sequel because the kids died of hepatitis by cutting their hands with a shard of glass. WTF.

That scene took me out of the film. Think of the potential infection risks!

 

[PeskyToaster]

I liked the realization that they should tone down those kind of jokes once Beverly was in the group. There was a moment with a joke like that where Beverly recoiled non-verbally and Ritchie and the others noticed. It was a nice touch to note the changing dynamic of the group.

Lots of cool little moments like that in the film that add up for me. Might be a good one for a re-watch. I'll miss the kids in chapter 2 though. They put in some work on the performances.

There was a point to Pennywise bum-rushing them, though. That was his method to seal the terror in his victims. As the kids came to fear It less and less, that started being less effective. During the last fight with Pennywise, he tries using that running shrieking attack on the group a couple of times and is totally miffed when it doesn't work. Pennywise visibly recoils, confused, when the kids don't respond with fear.

The ending fight exposed It as being overly reliant on the tactic, which has probably worked for ages, and when it didn't, It had no fall back. Which is why it turned to taking Bill hostage and bargaining for an escape.

So yes, the film uses It repeated charging the characters/camera in its attacks - but that's part of the story. The film does it knowingly and pays it off in the ending fight. Very different from say, Annabelle: Creation which uses repetitive scares without any self-awareness and keeps expecting them to work. The decreasing effectiveness here played directly into the story being told. It's actually a pretty clever metacommentary on that kind of thing becoming less scary over time.

I also really like this analysis of the film's scare tactics. Pennywise is the film (or horror cinema as a whole) and their goals are generally aligned. To scare people. Horror cinema has classic tried and true tactics that worked in the past but they have diminishing returns. How will horror cinema and Pennywise evolve to scare jaded filmgoers and adults when they come back in 27 years? Maybe Pennywise will get into found footage!

 

[Brainfreeze]

That's enormously exciting. If you find anything out, let us know!

To be clear, I've only met this person once, and literally all that I know is "they worked on X and Y" (the two things I mentioned). I don't have any details besides that, and I don't plan to seek any out because I don't want to get anybody in trouble (and I don't know if I could even get any info even if I tried lol). Plus this is my first real exposure to this story as well and I loved Part 1 so I want to keep it fresh for me too.

This person, just from what I know about them, was basically born to work on movies like this though, so it made me very happy to see their name in the credits. I can't wait to see their contribution to Part 2.

 

[Kyleripman]

To be clear, I've only met this person once, and literally all that I know is "they worked on X and Y" (the two things I mentioned). I don't have any details besides that, and I don't plan to seek any out because I don't want to get anybody in trouble (and I don't know if I could even get any info even if I tried lol). Plus this is my first real exposure to this story as well and I loved Part 1 so I want to keep it fresh for me too.

This person, just from what I know about them, was basically born to work on movies like this though, so it made me very happy to see their name in the credits. I can't wait to see their contribution to Part 2.

Oh yeah, no worries. Just was cool to hear that at least it was being considered at some point in production!

 

[Bloodporne]

For me, it was Jurassic Park. The T-Rex terrified me. There used to be a cardboard T-rex head in my video store to promote The Lost World and I would have to turn my back to it so I didn't have to see it. I had the Making of Jurassic Park book and would carefully turn each page in case a picture of the T-rex would be next

Funny thing is I had no problem watching the movies and I loved learning about dinosaurs. But for some reason seeing that T Rex out of context and unexpected would be terrifying.

I also had an inexplicably strong reaction to Christine. I saw the film version first, then read the book back then. That menacing looking car with its ugly engine sound rolling down the highway on fire still sends chills down my spine.

Whenever I see a run down classic car these days, it makes me uneasy haha.

 

[Gozer the Gozerian]

There wil be no sequel because the kids died of hepatitis by cutting their hands with a shard of glass. WTF.

That scene took me out of the film. Think of the potential infection risks!

Chill out, Eddie's mom

 

[Dany]

Chill out, Eddie's mom

Nothing hotter than a first kiss with blood on your face.

GROSS.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Chill out, Eddie's mom

To be fair that confused me too, they were freaking out about AIDS (it was '88) at the start of the movie lol

 

[LionPride]

Nothing hotter than a first kiss with blood on your face.

GROSS.

yo


that shit made me feel yucky

 

[SecondCitySaint]

I can see the Joker similarities in speech. Quiet almost childish half sentence, then a deeper more violent tone to finish.

Childish: " Its okay Georgie, I have your boat right here hehe"

Deeper "You just need to reach out and GRAB IT"

All caps for the part that would sound the most aggressive and deep.

But I don't think it was necessarily stolen from the Joker. Skarsgard just happened to play it that way. Excellent performance.

 

[Lord of Castamere]

Nothing hotter than a first kiss with blood on your face.

GROSS.

If you won't bath in her blood, then do you truly love her?

 

[Stiler]

IMO in regards to his "true" form.

Spoiler

They need to make it more cosmic/sci-fi. Like have it look energy based (lots of luminescence, which plays into it's deadlights and other themes), think of like say, a Cuttlefish and how they use their luminescence to catch prey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcpzubpIhtI

have it's movements look other wordly, basically like something that is vaguely in a spider'ish shape but otherwise doesn't look like anything of this earth. Also for the love of all don't make it just one shit-brown color.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

The Leper was CGI?

I thought that was real.............

 

[Aaron D.]

I've got two versions.

#1 - Saw Jaws at the drive-in (remember those?). This would have been 1975, when I was just 6 years old. I honestly don't know what the hell my dad was thinking.

When those scuba-divers were exploring that sunken boat and that disembodied head came floating out of the hole in the hull, I jumped in the back seat of the car. Was afraid of the ocean water for years following.

#2 - They were airing The Exorcist on TV of all places. Guess I was like 9 or so at the time.
The mattress scene where it was bouncing all over the place with the girl on top doing the same freaked me the hell out. Later in the movie when the possessed girl spun her head around 360°, I NOPED the hell out of the room and went straight up to bed.

Don't think I'll ever get that image out of my head either.

Funny, in my teens I loved all the slasher flicks (Jason, Freddy, Myers, etc.), but they were absolute peanuts on the scare-scale compared to Jaws and The Exorcist.

 

[bitbydeath]

To me the scariest scene was the room full of draped clowns. But it was scarier when they were draped, and when the drapes came off it again felt like they rushed through the scare instead of building tension.

I thought that scene was supposed to have Tim Currys IT in the corner, was looking but never saw it.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

I don't get the praise for the projector scene. It felt kind of rushed. I remember several blumhouse movies from the last 5-10 years that had similar scenes done better. And giant CGI penny wise at the end was just a jump scare and not very effective for me.

To me the scariest scene was the room full of draped clowns. But it was scarier when they were draped, and when the drapes came off it again felt like they rushed through the scare instead of building tension. In general I feel like a lot of the scares in the movie needed more time to breathe and grow suspense, but they just moved through the motions real fast and went to a jump scare.

The reason there was no tension cuz Richie quickly realized it was all BS. Him and Bev are like the only kids from the group that got over their main fear. His fear of clowns turned into annoyance.

 

[More_Badass]

I feel like without the context of the adult section, the pact seemed kind of random? In the book, it feels like destiny, something powerful that transcends their bonds of friendship. King had vividly established its importance through the events of the adult story before the pact actually happens.

But in the movie, it comes across as this kind of random act that could have just been like a handshake or "put our hands together". The group hug at the end had more of the right emotional impact than the actual pact scene IMO

 

[Dreamwriter]

I too wasn’t wowed by the projector scene, but that was in large part because I’d already seen most of it. They really shouldn’t have included that one in the trailer.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

I too wasn’t wowed by the projector scene, but that was in large part because I’d already seen most of it. They really shouldn’t have included that one in the trailer.

I'm so glad I didn't see one of the trailers that spoiled his appearance.

 

[Stiler]

I thought that scene was supposed to have Tim Currys IT in the corner, was looking but never saw it.

It did, the top left but it was hard to see.

 

[The Technomancer]

I too wasn’t wowed by the projector scene, but that was in large part because I’d already seen most of it. They really shouldn’t have included that one in the trailer.

See for me seeing the trailer with that scene meant it actually caught me off guard, I assumed it was over right before the giant Pennywise burst out of the screen

 

[The Technomancer]

SPOILERS SPOILERS for the book etc

Spoiler

I've always imagined Its final form sort of like this; http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=124313&type=card i.e weirdly muscular and also enormous, like fifty feet tall