It: Welcome to Derry Season 1

Creator(s) - Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman, It: Chapter Two), Andy Muschietti (Mama, It), and  Barbara Muschietti (Mama, They Will Kill You)

Starring - Taylour Paige (The Toxic Avenger, Brothers), Jovan Adepo (Overlord, Watchmen), and Stephen Rider (Daredevil, Luke Cage)

Release Date - 2025

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Go back to where IT all began"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've read a lot of Stephen King's work over the years.  His novels and short stories, along with Goosebumps, was one of the reasons I fell in love with the horror genre.  He's a titan in the horror and literary worlds but I would be lying if I said I was an expert in his work.  Sure, I've read a lot of his work and watched many adaptations over the years but I can't verify how close these adaptations are to their source material.  What I can say is that a lot of his written work and their adaptations are a lot of fun.  Sometime back I was sent word that IT, specifically Andy Muschietti's two films starring Bill Skarsgard, was getting the television treatment.  I didn't follow it closely but I knew I would eventually be checking it out.  Fast forward to a few weeks back and I was lucky enough to get the blu release sent over for review.  I wasn't able to get to it right away but made time for it as soon as I could.

     The series takes place in the town of Derry in 1962 where a young boy went missing.  Several months later three more were brutally murdered in a theater where only one girl survives.  One of the theater's employees, a black single father, is arrested for the murder.  His daughter, the lone survivor, and two other students start looking further into the missing student and the blood soaked history that Derry shares where they uncover the truth about Pennywise.

      I know I paraphrased a lot with the show but it throws a lot at us without over doing it.  It did take some time to gain some traction with me and it wasn't until episode 3 or 4 that I actually started getting into it but once I did I was really hooked.  The acting in this is great for the most part.  Some of the characters are very unlikable and it's not because they were written that way.  The cast is really dedicated to their role and deliver some seriously impressive performances especially from the young cast.  As the series progresses we have some intense performances that shows why everyone was cast in their respective roles.  The story for this season serves as a prequel of sorts to It and It: Chapter Two.  We get a lot of insight into some of the previous feeding cycles of Pennywise along with why he took on the appearance of the clown.  We also get a lot of social commentary from the early 60s mixed in with the character development.  It's very well written and works well but my biggest issue with the show was how long it took to get going.  The first three or so episodes could have been condensed to give the viewer more to grab onto.  Finally, this series doesn't hold back with the visual effects.  I know practical effects can be pricy especially when you have a show with eight episodes   However, a good deal of the visual effects look like shit.  They are very noticeable which was good for a laugh the first few times but they do become eye rolling as the show moves on.  Overall, It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 was a great continuation of what the 2017 film and it's sequel established.  While I can't remember exactly how accurate those films are to the written work, I can safely say that I enjoy it very much.  I do hope we have a season 2 eventually but until then I highly recommend checking out season 1.