Also prominent is a younger Dick Hallorann (
Chris Chalk), who was a key character in another King novel,
The Shining, whose supernatural gift becomes a major part of
Derry. “For us, it was a no-brainer,” Muschietti says of bringing him into the mix. “Dick was an outstanding character, not only because he’s in
The Shining but also because [his] power is definitely ingrained in the story.”
James Remar,
Stephen Rider,
Madeleine Stowe, and
Rudy Mancuso also star, and, of course,
Bill Skarsgård reprises his role as the razor-toothed supernatural entity that’s the source of all of the gore.
Unlike the previous adaptations, where It preyed upon the personal fears of his victims, Muschietti drew upon the time period itself for inspiration. “There’s a new set of horrors, a collective fear, which is very tied to the era,” he says. “[In] ’62, America was in the middle of a Cold War, and people were very aware of the nuclear threat…. There’s a whole genre of movies from the late ’50s, which have the radioactive creature that mutated and turned into a monster, and also all the drills in school [for], ‘What do we do if there’s a nuclear attack?’ So I think kids were terrified of this thing.”
Other fears are generated by Muschietti’s own imagination. “Some are based on things that are more universal and things that are more particular, and the particular ones are the ones that creep me out.” Without spoiling what those are, let’s just say fans should brace for some very extreme body horror in the early episodes.
mcfarlanetoysstore.com
