When it comes to horror movies, it is hard to deny that Andy Muschietti's IT seriously has the "it factor" (pun 100% intended). The film has not only become a critical and commercial smash since its September 8 debut, but it has also taken on a life of its own in the online meme landscape. In fact, a police department just dropped at A+ IT picture on social media, and it's a fantastic send-up of this instant horror classic. Take a look at the post below to see for yourself.
You have to love a good Pennywise the Clown meme (particularly when the department chose to opt for the classic Tim Curry version of the diabolical villain), and this one from Lincoln, California's police department is pretty great. The concept of Pennywise using ridiculous things to lure people into the sewer has recently become one of the most meme-able aspects of IT since the film's marketing campaign took off, and the prospect of a cop being lured into the sewer with donuts (coupled with the other officer's trying to stop him) makes perfect sense.
This social media post is actually not the first great IT-related meme created by a police department. Just last week another department posted a similar photo of a red balloon tied to a sewer opening and announced that it tasked a special, clown-specific investigative team to handle the job of tracking down the vandals (and possibly even Pennywise himself).
So we can pretty much agree that the biggest takeaway from these memes is that you should stay the hell away from sewers, right? You never know what type of evil clown might live down there.
Aside from how fun these IT memes have become over the course of the last few weeks, they also arguably show just how mainstream Andy Muschietti's film has become. By their very nature, horror movies tend to cast a somewhat narrower net for audiences. However, in this case, mainstream viewers seem to have turned out in droves to check IT out. That (coupled with an absolutely fantastic critical reception) has translated into some serious box office cash flow, and IT has handily become one of the most successful horror movies of all time -- and its box office run is not even close to finished yet.
IT is now in theaters, so if you have not already checked it out, make sure to catch it while it is still in theaters. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, take a look at our handy guide to horror movies that we are still dying to see, and check out our 2017 movie premiere guide for more information on the big screen debuts that this year still has in store. Above all else, remember: we all float down here.
