Tuesday 11 April 2017

AtoZ2017 - I is for IT & Ian #AtoZChallenge


Welcome to Day 9 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter I. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

I is for 

IT

Okay, hands up who hates clowns! I have never liked clowns - ask my parents about the time they tried to take my sister and I along the front in Margate when we were small and both of us screams because they had big clown heads on polls.

It is a novel by Stephen King (one which I have never been able to finish), but I love the mini-series adaptation. Pennywise the Clown is played by the incomporable Tim Curry and he will scare the bejesus out of you.

The town of Derry has a shadow hanging over it. Every thirty years people disappear and there is usually some sort of disaster. In every instance, Pennywise is about. In the 60s he picks the wrong victim in Georgie Denbrough, brother of Bill, because Bill and his friends defeat Pennywise.

30 years later, however, Bill and nearly all of his friends are all successful people, but all childless and they are called back to Derry by the only one who stayed, Mike Hanlon. It is at it again. Able to shapeshift into other people and mosters, Pennywise is taking children again.

In the end Bill and friends find out that It isn't even really Pennywise, it's an ancient creature with what the heroes refer to as its deadlights, that is a powerful agent of evil.

I really hope the new movie will do It justice.

Werewolf of the Day

Ian (Howling VI - The Freaks)

So I'm guessing very few people will have heard of my next werewolf. Ian (Brendan Hughes) doesn't even get a last name and, although, a decent enough movie, Howling VI - The Freaks, is not very well known.

Ian is a drifter and takes a job in a small town helping to repair a local church. To those who give him the job and a place to live, he seems to be rather obsessed with the full moon.

Also new to town is a travelling carnival, run by R.B.Harker. People soon start to disappear. Unfortunately for Ian, R.B.Harker realises he is a werewolf and forces him to become part of the carnival as one of the oddities. The town, believeing he is the cause of their problems do not object, however, Harker has dark secrets of his own, which soon come to light.

This movie has a good script, but terrible special effects and a relatively low budget. If you like werewolf movies, however, it is worth a watch.

Many thanks for surfing by, I hope you enjoyed the post.
  • Which are scarier, clowns or rabid werewolves?
  • Do you find you can look past bad special effects or do they ruin a movie for you?
See you soon!

Click here and here to find other AtoZ posts.


12 comments:

  1. Clowns are definitely scarier than rabid werewolves. No competition. Also, who thought clown heads on poles would be a good idea? I would have screamed too. :P

    Bad special effects can be part of the entertainment. Especially in movies that don't take themselves too seriously.

    A to Z 2017: Magical and Medicinal Herbs

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  2. Yeah, clown heads on poles? That's enough to scar anyone for life, regardless of age!

    Didn't know there was a new movie of It, but it's not that surprising as stuff gets remade all the time, including King's books. Still need to watch the original though!

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  3. Hi Tasha - definitely rapid werewovles would scare the bejobblies out of me! Poor special effects - I probably wouldn't get to watch ... but fun read - thankfully I need do no more!! Cheers Hilary
    http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/i-is-for-ice-age-art.html

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  4. Clowns, being real, are definitely scarier. However, rabid wereclowns would be on a whole different level... I think I just came up with an idea for my next book...

    Depends on how bad is bad. I don't mind poor special effects that are done earnestly, but half-assed special effects - especially half-ass CGI - drives me nuts.

    I - Independent Republic of Manitoba

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  5. I love IT, the mini series - I have issues with the book, and I have an open mind about the new movies. Clowns are really, really scary.
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - Dragon Diaries

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  6. I feel like I have seen Howling but I don't really remember it. I recently saw the trailed for the new IT movie and I thought "yeeah... nope!"

    The Multicolored Diary: WTF - Weird Things in Folktales

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  7. Clowns can be really creepy, though rabid werewolves would scare me much more.

    I wouldn't want to see clown heads on poles either! I had to be carried out of the theatre when I saw Return to Oz, since I was so badly freaked out by the decapitated heads. It was even worse when I was forced to see Night and Fog, which had footage of real decapitated heads.

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  8. Clowns are way more terrifying to me than rabid werewolves. Clown heads on poles? - I can see how that might mark you for life. I'm steering clear of both films.

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  9. Clowns? Who likes clowns? They creep me out. I don't like circuses either. Oh, I probably shouldn't have read this at bedtime.

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  10. There's definitely something sinister about clowns. Remember the serial killer, John Wayne Gacy? He used to be a party clown for children. Pennywise sounds like a real piece of work, too. This is one Stephen King book I haven't read. Bad special effects would bother me, I think, depending on how into the movie I am. Not a horror fan, generally.

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  11. 'It' scared the crap out of my as a kid! I'm looking forward to the new adaptation...hoping they do it justice!
    ~Katie
    TheCyborgMom

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  12. In spite of having been a King fan for many years, I haven't read IT yet. But I know that the majority of readers think that's one of King's best.
    One day... ;-)

    @JazzFeathers
    The Old Shelter - 1940s Film Noir

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