“It: Welcome to Derry” is not pulling any punches. The prequel sequence set on this planet of Stephen King’s malevolent shape-shifting clown-monster opens with a disturbing sequence that construct and builds in the direction of a grotesque climax. The present is signaling from the soar that it actually needs to scare us, and I’ve to confess I used to be type of impressed. I am a giant Stephen King fan and I think about “It” to be King’s masterpiece. I additionally loved Andy Muschietti’s 2017 movie adaptation of the guide. Which meant my hype was via the roof for the follow-up, 2019’s “It: Chapter Two.”
Sadly, whereas “It: Chapter Two” did a very good job with reference to casting grownup variations of the Losers Membership, the movie itself was a little bit of a large number, edited in a chaotic trend that received on my nerves actual fast. So when it was revealed we had been getting a prequel sequence developed by Muschietti, his sister Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, I used to be barely apprehensive, each as a result of “It: Chapter Two” was such a disappointment and since the concept of a prequel TV sequence sounded little greater than a lazy approach to cash-in on brand-name consciousness (anybody bear in mind “Dune: Prophecy”? Anybody?).
So it is a good shock to say that “It: Welcome to Derry” is smarter and scarier than anticipated. It helps that the sequence has King’s guide as a guidepost: lots of the storylines that unfold listed here are taken straight from that large tome of terror. I’ve seen 5 of the primary season’s eight episodes, so there’s nonetheless an opportunity the sequence may collapse because it nears a finale. However primarily based on what I’ve witnessed to date, I am prepared to provide “Welcome to Derry” the good thing about the doubt. The sequence is grotesque, gory, and sure, scary. And like Pennywise the Clown himself (itself?), it has quite a lot of diabolical tips up its sleeve.
It: Welcome to Derry takes us again to the Nineteen Sixties
King’s novel unfolded over a number of completely different timelines, with two essential narratives happening within the Nineteen Fifties and Eighties. Peppered all through the story had been a sequence of interludes protecting varied historic moments within the cursed city of Derry, Maine, portray a wealthy image of Pennywise’s reign of terror. When Muschietti took “It” to the large display in 2017 and 2019, some modifications had been made. As a substitute of telling a parallel story of the ’50s and ’80s, Muschietti’s movies had been primarily set within the Eighties and in current day. As for these time leaping interludes, they had been disregarded totally – which is the place “Welcome to Derry” is available in to play. The sequence is getting the meat of its meal from these interludes whereas including new twists and turns to the combination.
“Welcome to Derry” takes us again to 1962, the place varied newcomers and lifelong residents of Derry discover themselves grappling with all kinds of unexplained phenomenon. Adorned pilot Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) has simply rolled into city together with his spouse Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and younger son Will (Blake Cameron James). As soon as there, he units up store on an area military base and discovers that some kind of top-secret mission is underway involving the psychic soldier Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk). Horror followers will instantly acknowledge Dick Hallorann as a personality from “The Shining,” however he additionally makes a cameo look within the “It” guide, so having him available for the sequence is sensible.
In the meantime, there’s additionally a bunch of native children navigating the horrors of the world: the specter of nuclear warfare hangs over the whole lot, and if that wasn’t dangerous sufficient, varied Derry children have a nasty behavior of going lacking. How the present handles its younger characters is stunning — I am being imprecise right here to keep away from spoilers, however let’s simply say the assumptions I made in regards to the present’s Nineteen Sixties tackle The Losers Membership didn’t precisely pan out as anticipated. Younger characters on this storyline embrace Lilly (Clara Stack), a woman with a traumatic previous, and Ronnie (Amanda Christine), who needs to clear the identify of her wrongfully accused father. Ronnie and her father are Black (similar to the Hanlon household), and the present’s concentrate on individuals of shade additionally ties straight into King’s guide. Whereas the movie adaptation had Black character Mike Hanlon as a part of the Losers Membership, it additionally jettisoned lots of the guide’s materials about Derry’s inherent racism. “Welcome to Derry,” in the meantime, tries to handle this head-on, though it is method is a little more delicate than King’s.
It: Welcome to Derry is loaded with new characters and new monsters
And what of everybody’s favourite sewer clown, Pennywise? It is no secret that Invoice Skarsgård is reprising his position from the movies, however it’s additionally lately been revealed that the character will not present up straight away — a minimum of not in clown kind. However those that have seen the movie or learn the guide will recall that Pennywise is a shape-shifting creature who can tackle varied completely different appearances to scare his victims (King goes as far as to have the monster take the form of pop-culture killers just like the titular character from “I Was a Teenage Werewolf,” “The Creature From the Black Lagoon,” “The Mummy,” and the shark from “Jaws”). This side of the character permits “Welcome to Derry” to get inventive, discovering methods to have Pennywise wreck fixed havoc with out having Skarsgård seem in each episode. This would possibly disappoint some hoping to get wall-to-wall Pennywise, however it truly enhances the present by rising the kinds of scares from episode to episode.
Sadly, “Welcome to Derry” additionally appears just a little too hellbent on explaining each single thriller. It is a drawback inherent to prequels on the whole: spelling issues out and answering questions that nobody was asking to start with. A part of the facility of a horror story like this includes holding issues mysterious; over-explaining issues kills the momentum. Talking with EW, Fuchs talked about that one of many targets of the present is to disclose the “origin” of Pennywise, however … do we actually want that? Is not the killer clown far scarier if he stays shrouded in thriller? He is a shapeshifting clown-monster — issues like that ought to defy affordable rationalization, should not they?
Whether or not or not “Welcome to Derry” over explains issues stays to be seen. One factor is for certain, although: the present is constantly bloody, with a imply streak that may catch some viewers off guard. Here’s a horror present that lays the horror on thick, embracing the shape-shifting nature of its monster and exploiting it for all its value (Does a pickle-jar zombie curiosity you? You are in luck! You need a scary model of Uncle Sam? You bought it!). Any horror present that unleashes a torrent of inventive ghouls on the viewer is commendable, and ties in properly with the neverending spookhouse horrors of King’s novel. For now, “It: Welcome to Derry” is a complete monster mash that ought to fulfill hungry horror followers.
/Movie Ranking: 7 out of 10
“It: Welcome to Derry” premieres October 26, 2025 on HBO and can be obtainable to stream on HBO Max.
