I’ve been obsessed with Stephen King’s It universe since childhood; the Losers’ Club felt like my own band of misfit friends.
So, when It: Welcome to Derry was announced, I cleared my weekend calendar. But wait!
After watching the pilot, I’m convinced the show isn’t haunted by ghosts from the sewers; it’s haunted by It Chapter Two.
Andy Muschietti, who directed both It films, returns for the pilot.
But instead of rekindling the spark of Chapter One, he seems to be wrestling with the same demons that drained the sequel’s soul.
The result? A premiere that flickers between brilliance and bewilderment.
The cold open had me gripping my blanket. An unsuspecting family picks up a lost boy on a foggy road: tender, almost sweet, until everything curdles.
The kids start tormenting him, the father ignores his pleas, and then the mother… births something winged and wicked.
It’s grotesque, it’s poetic, it’s pure horror gold until the CGI steps in and rips the tension to shreds.
Still, as a standalone short film, that scene could’ve gone toe to toe with Channel Zero‘s best.
It: Welcome to Derry Looks Beautiful But Feels Hollow
Visually, this show is a dream, or more accurately, a fever dream from 1962. The Americana aesthetic is painted with precision.
From neon diners to the undercurrent of racism and neglect, the town feels alive with secrets.
Every frame hums with nostalgia, while Joyce Harris and Nelson Riddle’s tunes twist the knife with ironic cheerfulness.
And the cast? Perfection on paper.
James Remar is reliably compelling, while Clara Stack and Mikkal Karim-Fidler bring that fragile innocence we cling to in a story this grim.
For a moment, I thought Derry might actually have something new to say.
But then the writing got in its own way. Jason Fuchs, the same pen behind Pan and Argylle, creates a script that’s ambitious but scattered.
The pilot juggles too many characters, losing emotional grip in the shuffle, as a viewer and lifelong Stephen King devotee, that hurt.
I wanted to fall into the story the way I did with It Chapter One: heart racing, eyes wide, believing in the terror.
Instead, I found myself mentally taking attendance of the ensemble, waiting for the real story to begin.
I won’t deny that the show truly shines when the story centers on the group of kids as they search for their missing friend and face supernatural threats.
Those moments capture the essence of It Chapter Two and create the most engaging, exciting parts of the series.
That’s exactly how I felt when the focus shifted to the kids. Derry wakes up. It’s the closest the show gets to recapturing that rare Stephen King magic.
When CGI Devours the Fear
To be honest, I flinched when that monster baby appeared. Not from fear, but from disappointment.
The tension, the buildup, the eerie lighting, all undone by a creature that looks borrowed from a 2009 video game cutscene.
Muschietti once made me terrified of a woman in a painting; now, I’m just squinting at cartoonish monsters.
The lampshade made of human faces should’ve been iconic horror imagery. Instead, when those mouths start twitching, I nearly laughed.
There’s nothing as unintentionally funny as the walking Paul Bunyan statue from Chapter Two, but sadly, nothing as nightmare-inducing as Mrs. Kersh either.
The Curse of Chapter Two Still Lingers
Watching this episode felt like revisiting a childhood home, only to find it repainted but still creaking in all the same places.
The bones are strong, that eerie small-town dread, the slow-burning pacing, the chemistry among the kids, yet something’s missing.
It: Welcome to Derry is not a bad show. It’s just a haunted one.
It has glimpses of greatness, the kind that make you sit up straighter, but they’re buried beneath uneven storytelling and hollow scares.
I kept hoping the fear would crawl back, that the sewer’s whisper would rise again. But instead of goosebumps, I got déjà vu.
I Have a Question for You
As a fan who still can’t walk past storm drains without side-eyeing them, I wanted to love this. I really did.
And while there’s undeniable artistry here, Welcome to Derry needs more than beautiful cinematography to earn its place in Stephen King’s legacy.
Horror shouldn’t just look good; it should linger like a bad dream. Still, I’m holding out hope.
Maybe Muschietti will shake off Chapter Two’s ghost and let Derry’s true darkness breathe again. So, what do you think?
Is Welcome to Derry cursed by its own past, or do you believe it can still scare us senseless? Drop your thoughts below!
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