Pennywise returns for chilling prequel

When It landed in cinemas in 2017, it became one of the surprise hits of the year. Adapted from Stephen King’s doorstop-sized horror, this supernatural chiller from Andy Muschietti grossed $702million worldwide. Two years later, It: Chapter 2 arrived and then – rather like Pennywise, the malevolent clown that lurks in the sewers of Derry, Maine – it went dormant. Until now. It: Welcome To Derry turns the clock back to 1962, some 27 years before the 1989 setting of the 2017 blockbuster. The significance? Every 27 years, Pennywise makes an appearance…

Needless to say, the bulbous-headed, teeth-bearing freakshow (played by the ever-terrifying Bill Skarsgård, also an executive producer) is held back in the early episodes by Muschietti, who co-creates this HBO prequel with sister Bárbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs. But there’s so much else going on in the town of Derry, you’ll be too busy puzzling it all out to really notice. No question, this eight-episode series deepens the mythology of King’s novel with a note-perfect depiction of 1960s Americana.

Those looking for a pure fright night, however, will not be disappointed. The opening of Welcome To Derry‘s first episode sets the yuck factor, as runaway Matty (Miles Ekhardt) flees the local cinema and is picked up by a Portland-bound family-of-four. Bad decision, as the heavily pregnant mother experiences more than just labour pains in a shocking but sublimely executed sequence. Four months later Matty is still missing and the mystery deepens as fellow youngster Lilly (Clara Stack) hears the word “trouble” coming from her bathroom pipes – before another grim jump-scare.

With Pennywise famed for feeding off the fears of the local children, the kids begin to start hallucinating their worst nightmares (vividly realised, with some absolutely world-beating visual effects). “Monsters? Ghosts? It’s all mumbo jumbo,”  says Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James), the new kid in town who will soon be revising that statement. Of course, It aficionados already know that Will is the father of Mike Hanlon, who appears in the 2017 movie – and there are further delicious connections to the King-verse in store.

True, giving us an origin story of how Pennywise came to be runs the risk of ruining the mysteries of King’s cryptic novel. And to some degree, Netflix’s Stranger Things – which first arrived in 2016 – has cornered the market in kids investigating ghoulish goings-on. But what works well here is how Muschietti – who directs the first two episodes – widens out the socio-political context, exploring everything from Deep South racial tensions and indigenous land rites to mob rule in a narrative that has the potential to skip back in further 27-year increments.

Wisely, although the fate of the local kids still drives the plot, the adults are also given greater significance, including Will’s parents Leroy (Jovan Adepo), a military pilot, and Charlotte (Taylour Paige). There’s also Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk), a name that will be very familiar to fans of King’s classic The Shining. Ramping up the intensity, It: Welcome To Derry can best be described as precision-tooled prestige horror. So much so that when you see Pennywise’s notorious red balloon for the first time, you’ll get a shiver down your spine.

‘It: Welcome To Derry’ is out October 27 on HBO, Sky Atlantic and NOW TV

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