Tonight attendees of the SXSW Conference and Festivals were treated to something special: an exclusive first look at the teaser trailer as well as one full scene from the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s It. As you can imagine, expectations were pretty high, but if the audience reactions were anything to go by, the footage met those expectations and then some.

Unfortunately, there was no footage of Skarsgård speaking as Pennywise, but what we did see proved to be quite terrifying. As expected, we were not permitted to record anything while the footage was being shown, so here is a description of the teaser trailer as I remember it. You’ll have to forgive the prose, as it’s late and I’m rushing to get this up before my next screening, but here goes:

The trailer opens with footage of Bill Denbrough making a paper boat for his little brother Georgie. We then move outside, where Georgie is chasing his boat in a rainstorm as it floats next to the curb. Suddenly, Georgie runs right into a street barrier, which knocks him down on the ground. He then watches as his boat sails into a gutter. He runs to the gutter and tries to see if he can see his boat. As he looks deep into the sewers, Pennywise abruptly appears before the screen cuts to black. 

Then we are shown the members of the Loser’s Club meeting each other and realizing that they’ve all been seeing the same entity, before one of them finally says “The Clown.” Once that happens, the teaser then moves into its centerpiece, which shows the members of the Loser’s Club looking at pictures on a carousel slide projector that suddenly acquires a life of its own and begins moving through the slides at an increasingly alarming speed. The pictures are of Georgie and his parents, and each slide zooms in on Georgie’s face before cutting to his mother, whose hair is covering her face. As the projector moves from slide to slide, the hair moves out of his mother’s face, and her face is revealed to be that of Pennywise himself. 

The trailer then blows through a flurry of shots, as most trailers are known to do. The most striking image from this succession of shots is the unforgettable moment when blood flows out of Beverly’s sink, only in Muschietti’s film it spews out like a geyser and blasts her in the face. There is also a sublime image of Pennywise approaching two of the children (he has them cornered against a wall), but the shot is framed in a way so that only his long, bony fingers fill the screen. The children are in the background, out of focus but clearly terrified. 

The teaser ends with Bill walking down into his flooded basement, where Georgie’s ghost taunts him by repeatedly screaming “We all float down here!” before Pennywise rises from the water and rushes at him, in a moment that had the entire audience screaming. It is at this moment that the screen cuts to black and the word “IT” appears on screen.

Cue applause.

Now, I am fully aware that this is just a teaser trailer. It was maybe 90 seconds of footage, but it was a damn impressive 90 seconds of footage. The movie could still turn out to be terrible, but based on what was shown in Austin tonight, that seems highly unlikely. Director Andrés Muschietti did warn us that not all of the special effects were complete yet, but there were no unfinished effects that I could see in the teaser. As far as teasers go, it’s one of the best that I’ve ever seen. Apologies for the hyperbole (I know how much you all hate that), but we here at Bloody Disgusting believe in supporting what we are passionate about. We do not mince words. I won’t apologize for being blown away. It is one of my favorite novels, and I think that this movie may actually get it right. Unfortunately, there is no word on when this teaser trailer will be released online, but I can’t wait for all of you to see it.

We were also treated to a short scene from the film, which takes place right before Ben Hanscom is attacked by Henry Bowers and his gang. The scene shows Bill, Richie, Eddie and Stan at the entrance to the sewers in the Barrens, as they debate on whether or not to go inside. Before they make a decision, they are interrupted by Ben, who abruptly shows up, beaten to a bloody pulp. There wasn’t much to see here, but it did give you a good idea of the chemistry that the children will have in the film.  Their banter feels natural and it flows well. Again, it wasn’t much but it was a solid two minutes of footage.

Directed by Andy Muschietti (Mama), the two-part film will see the first segment released on September 8th, 2017. It is still a ways away, but if this footage is anything to go by, we have nothing to worry about. I certainly can’t wait!

It also stars Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the Clown, Owen Teague (“Bloodline”), Jaeden Lieberher (Midnight Special), Jack Dylan Grazer (Tales of Halloween ), Wyatt Oleff (Guardians of the Galaxy ), Chosen Jacobs (Cops and Robbers) and Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ant-Man).