Welcome to “Is It Worth the High?”, where our writers see newly released movies, listen to the latest album drops, and try other experiences while high to determine whether they’re worth your time, money, and most importantly, your cannabis buzz. This week, Dante Jordan determines if we all actually all float down here (or whether we’re just feeling effects from really, really good bud) by checking out the blockbuster adaptation of Stephen King’s It.
Products Enjoyed: One Swisher Sweet of Sour Diesel
High Experienced (1-10): 8: I wasn’t so high that I fell asleep, but I was definitely high enough to smash out three hot dogs and a box of pretzel bites without loathing myself.
Don’t hate me for going against the common opinion, but I didn’t find It to be all that scary. Maybe that’s due to the fact that I remember watching the original in a dark hotel room when I was nine years old and was so frightened that I had to go sit in the sunlit hotel lobby until my parents returned, so I wanted the new It to restore that feeling, but I can only remember one or two instances where I jumped or felt any true sense of terror.
Plus, Pennywise was never really ’bout that action like he wanted us to believe. He might’ve caught a couple bodies here and there, but for the majority of the movie, he’d run up and get super close to killing someone, then some random happening would cause him to fall back. That shit had no effect on my goosebumps whatsoever.
However, I cannot say the same for everyone else in the theater. The lady sitting next to me was acting like OUR lives were in danger. She even grabbed my hand once, and I was like “Yo ma, chill, I don’t know you like that.” (Pro tip: never see horror movies in theaters if you don’t have to. The crowd reactions may ruin your experience.)
Though I wasn’t scared, I do feel as though the new It did a great job in honoring the old It. When it comes to remakes, my only ask is that the new is better than the old, or at the very least just as good. I hate when a remake is so trash that it disrespects a classic (PLEASE LEAVE SPACE JAM ALONE).
But I didn’t feel that from It, which actually felt like a new and improved version of the 1990 miniseries. Though terrifying in action, Tim Curry’s Pennywise always looked like he was ready to whip you up a balloon dolphin at a moment’s notice. Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise, however, looked like he was out for blood and mayhem from the very start. That makeup; that costume; that creepy-ass voice and laugh. Everything about his character was done so well. If I were an innocent child watching this adaptation movie for the first time, instead of a 27-year old cynic, I could definitely see it making me feel as I did at age nine.
Is It Worth the High? Is It what all the critics and hype made it out to be? I wouldn’t say so, but in all fairness, is anything ever? From a terror standpoint, it was a dud for me personally, but I still very much enjoyed seeing It and recommend you fill your soul with THC and go see it as soon as possible. The movie was well-made, not too long, wasted no scenes, and the characters were all awesome. You find yourself genuinely caring about their well-being. Plus, it was also unexpectedly hilarious. I’d almost call it more of a comedy than a horror flick. In fact, from this moment forward, I demand all movies find a place for Finn Wolfhard to act as comic relief, because his character had me dying from opening to closing credits. That kid is a star.
