This film grossed over 700 million dollars, was celebrated by the trade press and horror fans alike and is already available for little money as well as in a streaming subscription: We are talking, of course, about the remake of Stephen King’s “ES”.
When it was announced that Stephen King’s legendary tale “ES” was to be remade, many fans of the iconic, if not outstanding, 1990 adaptation were sceptical. Until then, Tim Curry was Pennywise, just as Robert Englund is the one and only Freddy Krueger (the Nightmare On Elm Street remake showed how such a recasting can go wrong). But fiddlesticks! With 2017’s “ES”, a horror epic was created that is second to none.
The film rose to become both an audience and critics’ favourite (a film without superheroes & Co. first has to achieve that) and grossed an incredible 700 million dollars worldwide. More than any horror film before or since. But if you want to see the film today, you don’t have to dig (extra) into your pocket to further increase the box-office takings:
Because “ES” has recently become available on Netflix. And that’s not all: with “ES: Chapter 2” you also get the sequel! This means that on one and the same platform you not only get the first half of the XXL Stephen King adaptation, but the complete horror epic with a running time of over five (!) hours. Unabridged.
If you haven’t subscribed to the streaming service with the red “N” and don’t want to change that, you can also get it for a small penny as video-on-demand, for example at Amazon Prime Video*. And of course on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray*.
“IT”: ONE OF THE BEST KING ADAPTATIONS EVER
Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff) and Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs) live in Derry, where not only do kids their age regularly go missing, but adults suddenly disappear off the face of the earth. And one summer, the young friends tragically discover the dark force behind the mysterious events.
It is a monster who usually travels as the diabolical clown Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) and can transform himself into the worst nightmares of his victims in order to lure them into his clutches one by one. But the kids are tired of hiding and decide to destroy the creature for good. Bill in particular has a personal score to settle with the demon – after all, it also killed his brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott)…
Shocking spikes of violence that are never used as an end in themselves, suspense sequences that get under your skin, effective sound design and first-class sets make this disturbing coming-of-age story from the pen of Stephen King an intense, epic and highly entertaining horror blockbuster.
The FILMSTARTS review of “ES” gives it an excellent 4.5 out of 5 possible stars and a recommendation for all fans of atmospheric horror stories – because “ES” is not only better than the TV adaptation from 1990, but also one of the best King adaptations of all time. And there were many of them…
