Review of It (2017) by Scealavery — 05 Oct 2017

It has seen an unprecedented amount of attention. You would think that something seen in all the marketing and ads makes the movie something different, that it does something revolutionary, that it improves upon previous horror movies while paving the way for more terrifying adventures led by loveable kid characters. Well you would be right, to some degree.

The story features a collection of teenagers living in the small American town of Derry. At the beginning of the movie we are shown the younger brother of their leader, Bill being brutally murdered by Pennywise the clown who dwells in the sewers. This sets off a chain of frightening and creative scenes where each member of the losers club is faced with Pennywise taking the form of their greatest fear. They then make the collective decision to pursue the clown and kill it once and for all.

The story says relatively uncomplicated which means there aren't too many times where you find yourself confused. There are also plenty of scenes where the characters are able to bond with one another and grown their relationship. Each actor gives an outstanding performance and work the personality of their respected character flawlessly. There is no sugar coating with the characters who all have social, domestic and school related problems. This makes them easier to connect with given that they all have problems they cant outrun much like ourselves. Bill Skarsgard also gives Pennywise a quirky yet demonic personality which differs only slightly from the performance given by Tim Curry. They both relish in terrorising these children but Skarsgard proves noticeably more sinister and serious. I am not saying having a more serious Pennywise is a bad thing but it only makes him more similar to hundreds of other serious faced, emotionless bad guys from other horror movies. But Pennywise wouldn't be anything without his fearsome talent.

It has scares by the dozen and each one is as creative and spine-chilling as the last, each one manages to connect with something deeply feared by their corresponding character wether it be Bill seeing Georgie decay before him or the Leper chasing Ed, a child with OCD. Rarely is any blood shown which only highlights the situation and effects when it does make an appearance. But for every scare the kids are faced with there is a real life problem to go along with it, this makes the idea of conquering pennywise represent tackling our own fears and problems in real life, and the best way to do it is as a team. It is not a flawless movie. The story has many moments and details that feel quite useless and add nothing to the story, this wouldn't be so bad if they added to the humour or added more depth to the characters but they don't which only drags the movie on for longer. As I have said before I am quite fond of the scares in the movie but they are also guilty of jump-scares, a notoriously cheap way to scare the audience. About seventy percent of times you will hear a scream from the audience because of a jump, a mistake the movie also makes is how surprisingly well the kids seem to deal with life with Pennywise. Every time a terrifying scene concludes we see the characters doing something completely normal where they appear unaffected. This manages to lessen the impact of any scares and makes Pennywise seem like a nuisance than a threat.

So in conclusion, It is a fresh and uniquely scary take on the Stephen king novel and one that is well worth your money and your appreciation.