Whilst this has not been that great of a year of horror films with there being more misses then hits the same thing cannot be said for horror shows on TV where there have been more hits then misses. With the latest hit having just aired it's final episode as I not only covered this show back when it first aired it's first episode but have been watching each and every episode as it aired it only made sense that I review the show as a whole and so then join me as I give you SPOILER FILLED review of the show that has a shockingly catchy theme song to it with the show in question being called simply just "IT: Welcome To Derry" enjoy.
The plot of this show is one year after a kid is killed trying to leave Derry some kids find themselves in for the fight of their lives when they have to try and survive the latest attack from Pennywise meanwhile there parents have to stop the army from destroying the only thing that's stopping Pennywise from attacking the rest of America. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good with this shows plot being alot more better then what it really had any right to be as aby all rights a horror show that based on a film which in this case is also based off of a book don't usually turn out all that great and yet here because of the fact that the plot was so interesting as you genuinely had no idea where the story was going it makes the plot of the show be all the more better because of it as it would have been really easy just to have this shows plot be nothing more then a carbon copy of the 2017 IT films plot and that's it and yet because of the fact that the makers of this show wanted to make this a prequel it means that they have to think outside of the box and come up with something fresh and new and while yes there are episodes that could be considered filler episodes like for example episode six "In the Name Of The Father" as that episode really doesn't advance the plot of the show in any meaningful way it could also be argued that that episode is the calm before the storm as both episodes 7 and this episode are very plot heavy with alot of the earlier episodes also being very plot heavy as well with the plot of this show also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this show is Taylour Paige as Charlotte Hanlon , Jovan Adepo as Leroy Hanlon and James Remar as Francis Shaw. Also starring in this show is Stephen Rider as Hank Grogan , Matilda Lawler as Marge Truman , Amanda Christine as Veronica "Ronnie" Grogan , Clara Stack as Lillian "Lilly" Bainbridge , Blake Cameron James as Will Hanlon , Arian S. Cartaya as Rich Santos , Miles Ekhardt as Matty Clements , Mikkal Karim-Fidler as Teddy Uris , Jack Molloy Legault as Phil Malkin , Matilda Legault as Susie Malkin , Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann , Peter Outerbridge as Clint Bowers , Madeleine Stowe as Ingrid Kersh / Periwinkle , Rudy Mancuso as Captain Pauly Russo , Alixandra Fuchs as Teresa "Terri" Bainbridge , Thomas Mitchell as Colonel Fuller , Kimberly Guerrero as Rose , Joshua Odjick as Taniel and this shows executive producer Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise The Dancing Clown and Bob Grey.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. With the fact that this shows acting was as good as it was was quite frankly a complete and total surprise as none of this shows actors are big named actors and alot of them really haven't been in anything all that big prior to this show and therefor it would have been foolish to expect good performances in this show and yet that's exactly what we got with all of the shows young stars being shockingly good so much so that it's not hard o picture any of them making it big as an actor should they choose to continue acting as there all just that good with the same thing even being true for alot of the films adult actors as well with the best example being Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann as he is really good in this show with him brining both a naive edge and a certain world weariness that wasn't seen in The Shining and possibly even in Doctor Sleep as well with the shows best actor being Bill Skarsgård as he not only reprises his role from the films as Pennywise but then he also plays the person that Penny wise copied the form of and yet he has to make both characters feel so different from one another and he does so brilliantly with him making for a really good Pennywise as whereas in the 2017 film him being perhaps really two scary really hurt the fact that the character was a clown here him being really creepy is actually in keeping with the show and to the shows credit Bill really does play up that aspect of the character really quite alot in his very limited screen time in the show with the acting that's in this show really being helped by the fact that this is shows scripts are just so good that all this shows actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very show.
Doing the CGI for this show is Alchemy 24 , the legends and the greats that are currently over at Double Negative and Outpost VFX. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good with this shows CGI being alot more better then what it really had any right to be as by all rights this show should have had some really poor CGI and while yes there are some effects in the shows final episode that do look a little but wonky that's to expected given the fact that this show would have had to stretch out it's effects budget across eight episodes and to the shows credit when it gets it's effects right it really does get them right with the best example of this being the supermarket scene in episode 2 as that scene was just so freaky and the effects in it looked so good that they could have been the effects in a big budgeted movie and no one would be able to tell the difference in fact it wouldn't be all that surprising if this show got nominated for awards just based on it's effects alone as they are really good with the show only really using CGI when they have to like for example in the scene where Pennywise makes Marge's eyes burst out of head as that's of course something that you can't do for real and while the effect does look a little bit wonky it does show that the makers of this show are using CGI in the right way and aren't just using to create things that they could do for real like they very easily could have done.
SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whilst there are alot of nods and referenced either to the IT movies or to other Stephen King works the one thing that the final episode does is the one thing that the other episodes of this show doesn't do and that's include a cameo from a character from the 2017 IT film As we get Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh in a quick scene just before the end of the episode with us finding out that she had an interaction with an older Ingrid Kersh which was a nice way to connect this show back to those films even tho it really doesn't need to do that as it's very firmly set in the same world as the films are but it was a nice surprise with her cameo really being the only big cameo that we get from any of the characters from that 2017 film and yet it does feel oddly right that she appear here as it is something that does feel right for her character as her character was meant to be seen as the oddball of the town much like how Lilly was seen in the show however in the show Lilly was insane due to the fact that her father died whereas here Beverly was just visiting her mother with her abusive father just before her mother and heck given when Ingrid says to her it could also be seen as foreshadowing for what happens in that film as Ingrid does straight up say that no one in Derry ever really stays dead which is a creepy way to end this first season on and yet it's also something that does feel like it's setting up the events of that film as well and while she doesn't get any lines of dialog in the episode it was nice to see Sophia Lillis back again as she was solid as that character and yet whilst we don't understandably get any more cameos from any of her friends the scene really doesn't require them to be their and it wouldn't make that much sense timeline wise as she doesn't meet the characters that would become her friends until a year later.
Whilst the scenes with the kids are the more interesting scenes to watch in the show what can be very hit and miss are the scenes with the adults and the army. As alot of those scenes are just so repetitive as for a large portion of the show the adults don't believe that the kids are being hunted by something that's trying to kill them and then you just have the army keeping secrets from every body with really the only two interesting plots coming out from the adult side of things being the fact that Charlotte does believe that Ronnie's dad Hank isn't the killer that everyone in town seems to think that he is and so she sets about trying to prove his innocence and Dick and Leroy go on these missions for the army to find these pilers that are keeping Pennywise in Derry only they have no idea what it is that the army actually wants with them as everything else from the adult's side of things is just pointless stuff that adds noting to the show and heck even alot of the stuff with the army like the fact that there's some racist people in the army which historically is accurate but it also adds nothing to the plot of this show outside of giving the townsfolk more of a reason to burn down there hangout spot in a later episode and even then that's more due to the Hank plot line then anything else and yet when you get to the kids side things all of their stuff is needed and interesting to watch as it's all about them finding out and later finding a way to defeat Pennywise which is far more interesting to watch but to the shows credit tho it does know when to show us certain scenes with certain characters as it never hangs on plotlines for that long only advancing them as far as they need to be advanced before switching to another character which is something that does keep us the audience hooked.
This show does follow the typical TV show formular of having an episode that's basically the calm before the storm. As even tho episode 6 could be seen as being a filler episode it's also one big set up for the next two episodes as it's in that episode where we see the characters enjoy there last bit fun and piece and quiet before it all goes wrong and if you thought that this show wouldn't kill of a main kid character you are so wrong because right at the start of the following episode when the titular black spot is being burnt to the ground Rich put Marge in a refrigerator in order to save her from the fire and because of that he ends up dieing with that whole opening scene being very well done as alot of it is all done in one long take which is just really impressive to see done on a TV show budget with this one death telling us that any of the main characters could die and while that doesn't happen as we find out in episode 8 that Marge is actually the mother of Richie Tozier the very fact that the show was willing to kill of main kid character was still something shocking to see and while yes they did kill of a whole bunch of kid characters in he shows first episode none of them where the main characters and so whilst it was still shocking to see them die it doesn't really tell us that any character can now die and yet with the death of Rich that's exactly what it does do as we'd gotten to spend alot of time with him as a character so when he dies we the audience feel something as well with the only thing that lets this idea down being the fact that the show doesn't kill of any more of it's main characters as they while they couldn't have killed of Will they could have killed of either Ronnie or Lilly as they as don't have ties to the films.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and right minuets and fourteen seconds. Which is pretty much the rough running time for the rest of the show as well with this episode really needing that amount of running time as it does have alot of plotlines to wrap up and to be fair this episode does do exactly that whilst also kind of setting up things for the potential second season with this episode having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time with this episode using it's running time really wisely as due to this episode being the seasons finale it does have a fully developed plot with that being because of the fact that this shows plot was well developed across all eight of it's episodes and therefor when it came to this episode there really wasn't much need for any plot development to happen as it already would have happened in the previous episodes with the same thing even being true for the shows character developed as all of the shows main characters do feel really well developed but at the same time tho there could have been more time spent on developing the characters instead the show does seem more focused on developing other things and in setting up things for the shows potential second season but to be fair tho when the episode does spend more time in developing it's characters as not that many of the side characters are that memorable and while it understandable that alot of the main characters aren't that memorable as there not the main characters given the fact that this is a TV series and not a film there should have been some character development given to them but I really will admit that this show really does have some really good pacing to tit tho.
So now then as this is a horror show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. With this show bein just as gory as you'd think that it would be given the fact that the main killer is Pennywise as even tho he doesn't fully appear until the end of the fifth episode there are still plenty of fun kills to be had in the episode and in the show as a whole with it being made clear as day that the makers of this show did have alot of fun with coming up with some really creative kills for the characters with the best kill in the show being Rich not because it's the most fun kill because it's not but it is the kill that is the more emotionally effective as we have had a good amount of episodes to really get to know Rich as a character and while some of the more gory kills are more fun to watch sometimes the more character driven and plot important kills are the more better with the death of Rich being a prime example of this as it's during his death we find out that he really did love Marge and she clearly felt something for him as she named her son after him and while yes granted there are more better kills out there like for example the death of Francis Shaw as Pennywise just straight up eats him and the deaths of the kids in the episode Rich's death was the one that was more relevant to the plot of the show this is despite the fact that all of the shows kills were all really well down in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Overall if Alien: Earth didn't prove this already then this show really did as when horror shows based on films are done well then it is something that can work given the right creative team are working on the show now all we need is for HBO to greenlight this show for it's further two seasons so that we can get the full plan for this show as this show really is just that good and is more then worth watching in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very show in this very review and as such that really does mean that this show really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 out 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this show being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this show really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.
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