Killer clown returns to the screen

For those just joining our programing in progress let it be known that I have a huge affinity for the writing produced by the master of horror author Stephen King. Also clowns have always scared me stupid! Kings has written an alarming novel about an evil killer clown.

In theaters now is the remake of the Stephen King story “IT,” a tension-filled, creepy movie about the fictional town of Derry, Maine (most of King’s stories take place in his hometown of Maine). In this new movie we learn that something is terribly wrong in Derry. Every 27 years a collection of people are killed and this time around it is the children of Derry who are most at risk. In the sewers under Derry township a monster lays in his lair. King’s killer clown is terrorizing his multiverse and Madera Cinema is the place to see him.

The new film based on the King of Horror’s 1,100-plus page tome, featuring Pennywise the Dancing Clown as a shape-shifting monster known as “It.” It has returned and this time he is on the big screen. Add to the scare factor it has been exactly 27 years since the debut of the 1990 television mini-series of the same name. The clown’s last appearance on film was played brilliantly by the late Tim Curry. He is credited with creating a whole generation of coulrophobes, which are people with a fear of clowns.

Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise has big floppy clown shoes to fill and he is more than up to the task. The crazy things he can do with his face and especially his eyes are not computer generated. Like some people can wiggle their ears, Skarsgård can roll his eyes in opposite directions and stretch his face in freakish dimensions according to Entertainment Weekly.

In the book it is 1958. In this updated version of the story the year is 1989 and right on schedule kids are disappearing and being killed. Residents in the town of Derry are living in fear. Even a 7 p.m. curfew isn’t enough to keep the children safe.

Enter stage left a band of seven teenage misfits who call themselves the Losers’ Club. Each of our juvenile heroes has escaped the clutches of the fiend through luck and nerve. The monster eats the stolen children and feeds on their fear. The members of the Losers Club come from highly dysfunctional families that prepare them to fight the monster.

This time around the movie has access to massive special effects unavailable in 1990. The film is a mix of jump out of your skin scary and rolling in the aisles laughing. The audience gets to know the characters and becomes emotionally invested in their fate.

At two hours and 15 minutes this film is only the first half of the epic story. Part two, set 27 years in the future, has yet to be made. The ultimate fate of It and the Losers Club was said dependent on the success of this chapter. As of press time the movie has garnered a record-breaking $127 million at the box office on Its debut weekend. Chapter 2 can’t be far behind.

For local show times, visit moviesmadera.com.