IT: Welcome To Derry SPOILER FILLED Review

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.

My SPOILER FREE First Impressions Of It: Welcome To Derry

Usually when a horror movie becomes so successful that it spawns a TV show the film was nine times out of ten a slasher film. However the same thing cannot be said for this show as it was based on a book and film that are in the supernatural horror genre and yet even so we still have a pretty cool looking first episode with it being proven that Alien: Earth isn't the only good new horror show to be based off of a film and so then join me as I give you MY SPOILER FREE first impressions of the show that takes us back to Derry with the show in question being called simply just "It: Welcome To Derry" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is four months after there friend disappears a group of kids all start hearing the song that he was listening on the day that he disappeared and set out to find there friend once and for all. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode 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 episode was in all honesty really good with this episodes plot being a whole lot more better then what it really had any right to be as by all rights this episodes plot should have been the basic set up of the show type of plot and really nothing more then that but nope that's not what we get in this episode infact we know just as much about what the main shows plot is going to be about coming out of the episode then what we did coming into it with the episode really just telling it's own unique plot which was honestly really refreshing to see as now we the audience have more of a reason to check out episode two of this show with the plot of this episode being as strong as it was was ever going to be given the fact that it's the first episode of a new show and while yes this episode plot does fall into the same trappings that all first episode plots of a new show have to fall into but because of the fact that this show is a prequel to the 2017 It movie it doesn't have to set up the world that it takes place and because of that the plot of the show is allowed to be this really strong plot with the plot of this episode 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 episode is Taylour Paige as Charlotte Hanlon , Jovan Adepo as Leroy Hanlon and James Remar as General Shaw. Also starring in this episode is Stephen Rider as Hank Grogan , Matilda Lawler as Marge , Amanda Christine as Ronnie Grogan , Clara Stack as Lilly Bainbridge , Blake Cameron James as Will , Arian S. Cartaya as Rich , 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 , Rudy Mancuso as Pauly Russo , Dmitry Chepovetsky as Rabbi Uris , Finley Burke as Don Uris , Eli Katz as Mrs. Uris , Thomas Mitchell as Colonel Fuller , Chad Rook as Staff Sgt Masters , Mark MacRae as Young Father , Zoë Barrett-Wood as Young Mother , Audrey Wellington as Teen Daughter / Arlene , Lochlan Miller as Little Boy / Ray and Brittany Spiteri as Bert The Turtle.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode 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 episode was in all honesty really good. With this episodes acting being alot like it's plot in that it's so much more better then what it had any right to be as by all rights this episodes acting should have been really flat and wooden with all of the actors still trying to figure out and find there respective characters and yet there's very little to none of that in this episode with all of the episodes actors turning in some really good performances with it being helped that this episodes director and one of the shows executive producers Andy Muschietti really does know how to get a good performance out of all of his actors a skill which he showcased in both of the It movies and does so again in this very episode with the best actor in the whole entire episode really being very hard to say as really all of this episodes actors could make that claim and it would make total sense with even the episodes kid actors not being as annoying as you'd think that they would be with Clara Stack having a bright future ahead of her should she want to continue acting but if push did indeed come to shove i'd  say that the best actor in the whole entire episode is Clara Stack as she really is the glue that holds this episode together and is just so good to watch in this first episode alone with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes 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 raise the over all quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

Character wise this episode does rather rightfully fall a little bit short as the characters aren't the best characters as they all do come across as being very one dimensional. This is very understandable at this point in time as this is after all only the first ever episode of the show with alot of the characters showing alot of promise and room to grow as characters however therein lies the problem as the foundations for these characters are rocky at best and so it doesn't matter how good that they end up being because of the fact that the foundations for these characters aren't good with the first impressions of these characters being weak at best but to be fair tho these types of shows do usually have weak characters in them as it's doubtful that any one will be remember any of the main characters names from either Friday The 13th: The Series or Scream: The TV Series which does mean that it makes sense for this episode to have weakly done characters as well and to be fair to this show it does seem like the makers of this show have watched other horror shows before now and learnt what not to do when it comes to there characters as the makers of the show do indeed take steps to show that the characters can be interesting and who knows might be good characters come the end of the season and while you always want to lead with your best foot forward here it does seem like it might be worth waiting until about the fourth episode before we get a really good handle on who these characters as people as this episode really doesn't give us a whole lot of backstory when it comes to quite literally any of it's characters.

Just incase you all don't know whilst it might easy to assume that this show is a prequel to original book it's actually a prequel to the 2017 It movie. Which to be fair is a really good idea as we don't really know what Pennywise was up to prior to the start of thar movie nor do we know what Derry itself was like prior to the start of that movie either but at the same time tho whilst is set in the world of the movies it is based on an interlude from the original book what that interlude is I can't say as i've not read the book nor do I intend to due to a certain scene involving the character of Bev but it is great to see that two pieces of media can come together and inspire a new piece of media and tell  a story that really hasn't been told before now and while yes this show could very easily fall into the same pitfalls that really all prequels tend to fall into when they have a character appear in the prequel that we know for sure is alive and well in the original here tho it is something that only time well tell if they do indeed fall into that and if so it is something that could make this show feel pointless as afterall who would want to watch a show where they already know the outcome of it but here in this episode it does seem like that the makers of the show won't be going down that route as there basically telling two origin stories at the same time the first of which being the origins of the town itself which is a really intriguing story and the second one being the one that alot of people are coming to this show to see that being the origins of Pennywise with both stories set to play out over the shows three planned seasons with each season taking a step back further into time itself.

This is an episode that really should have been alot more worse than what it actually was as usually in first episodes they spend alot of time on setting up the main story of the show and in setting up the shows main characters. Whereas here with this episode they send all of five minuets in setting all of that up before getting right to the action and when it gets to the action it doesn't let up which is what a horror show let alone one that's based off of a film should do as we already know how this world works thanks to the 2017 film and this was something that was huge issue with the debut episode of Alien: Earth as it took so long to get going that it made the episode feel more boring then what it actually was as it was to busy setting up the story , characters and the world when it really didn't need to set up the world that the show took place in because we already had the Alien movies that did all of that for us and yet here even tho it more get going quite quickly it does feel like that it's missing something like things that should have been mentioned during the episode just weren't for no reason whatsoever with this being something that whilst it doesn't effect people's overall enjoyment of the episode it is something that could effect the show the further that this first season of the show does indeed continue and while there are alot of things to talk about n the first episode alone all of those things are sadly spoilers and this post is going to remain as spoiler free as possible but in saying that tho there are things that do work for the episode like the fact that it does have some rather subtle social commentary which granted really wasn't needed in the episode but it is something that would have been present when this episode was taking place in and it was something that was handled rather well.

This is a show that is meant to have a mystery element to it as the characters do have to work out what actually happened to there friend Matty. However much like with the characters the mystery element doesn't really work as well as it might do when all of the other episodes are taken into account due to the fact that the episode really doesn't give us any clues as to what's actually going on other then the fact that it might involve the towns Army Air Base and that's really it which is fine for a first episode as you do have have to give us the audience something to make us come back and watch episode two which thankfully this episode does do a good of doing exactly that but at the same time tho that does seem like a rather obvious place to go to when we the audience know that Pennywise is going to be involved in the mystery to some degree and so all we are left doing is basically just waiting for what we know is going to happen whilst watching these characters run around trying to play catch up with us the audience when we should be with the characters interms of what they know and this is where announcing that Bill Skarsgård is coming back as Pennywise is a bad idea as it right away robs the show of any tension and surprise that it might have had had that been kept as a surprise as then you could have had that big shocking reveal that you want to have when something has a mystery to it as that then could have been the perfect cliffhanger ending to one of the episodes and would then have made you wonder just where the series is going to be going next and whilst we do still get that as not much is revealed about the shows main plot that big shocking moment of finding out that Pennywise is in the show is now spoiled.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty three minuets and forty five seconds. Which to be fair to this episode does seem like a solid running time to have with the episode having just about the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place with the episode making the best use of it's running time that it could possibly have done by getting the plot moving right away but in saying that tho this is an episode that really doesn't use it's running tom all that wisely as it doesn't really develop it's plot all that well which granted might be because all of that plot development is going to becoming in the later episode of the show but at the same time tho given the events of this episode it is something that really does make you wonder just why the makers of the episode isn't take the time to start that development now as they've only got seven more episodes to do all of that and still tell a really good story as well with the episode not really taking the time to develop it's characters either which again is something that's completely understandable as this sis the first episode of a new show and it would be foolish to expect the characters to be that well developed after the episode but again given what happens in this episode it would have made some form of sense if some of the characters got some character development as that is something that will make them more memorable as characters and not the kind of characters that your going to forget about five minuets after the episode airs but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is a horror show that really doe mean that I gave to actually talk about the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very episode 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 episode was in all honesty really good. With this episode being worth watching just for the kills alone as there both that good and are that creative with them both really taking as full advantage as they possibly could do of the fact that this show is airing on HBO and HBO Max as there's alot of blood and gore in both of this films kills with both of them being really creepy in their own right with one of them showing what can best be described as a slow decent into madness and the other is basically watching a storm that you know is going to be very dangerous come slowly towards you and yet they both work really well with both of this films kills being the best kills in the whole entire episode with the first kill only just being ever so slightly ahead which even then is just due to the attention to detail with the killer in that first kill with that first kill being the ne that's more important to the overall plot of the season but in saying that tho the second kill is just pure chaos in all of the best ways possible which is something that really does make it a really good kill with both of the episodes kill scenes being really creepy in their own right which is something that does make this episodes kills as good as they were ever going to be as by all rights this episodes kills had no right to be as good as they were ant yet for one reason or another the makers of this episode went above and beyond in making this episodes kills not only really gory but also really creepy as well and it is something that does make them both some really good kills in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this is an episode that really is worth watching just for it's kills alone as they really are a true highlight of the episode with the episode also having plenty of good acting and the plot being one that is really intriguing as you don't know what's going to happen next thank god we won't have to wait that long as HBO is releasing the next episode this Friday online with it then airing on Sunday as usual which just goes to show you just how much faith HBO really does have in this show 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 post and with this only being my first impressions of the show but should I still be watching the show when the final does indeed air then I will then do a review of the show as a whole.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this vey post 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 post from Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this episode being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this episode 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.