Review of It (2017) by Spangle — 11 Sep 2017

Joining Get Out, Baby Driver, and Wonder Woman, as solid but wildly overhyped films, Andy Muschietti continues to prove that he is a horror director who has no idea how to direct horror films. Excelling when it comes the childhood relationships on display and the mystery regarding the town of Derry, Muschietti directs the horror scenes like an amateur and has to rely on jump scares to actually conjure up any scare or any sense of atmosphere. Had the film lacked its heart - the kids - then Stephen King's It would have been a film that could have been tossed on the pile of other disappointing King adaptations. As it stands, it is a film that is far funnier and endearing than scary and, as a horror film from Stephen King, it should manage to be all of three of these things. Unfortunately, Muschietti's failure to conjure up any scares that have a lasting impact leave It as nothing more than above average film that fails to live up to its considerable hype.

What makes the film's scares so dull and uninteresting is two-fold. For one, they are predictable. As the camera pans around a bathroom past Beverly (Sophia Lillis), it is obvious what will be in the corner of the room right behind her. As the kids walk through the Well House, it is obvious where the clown will be and what it will do. As the Jewish kid looks at the painting and the picture is gone, take a wild guess what is now behind him. It is a film that never shocks the audience. There are no chances taken. It is by-the-numbers horror filmmaking, putting Pennywise exactly where he is expected to be and then acting that it is scary anyways just because Pennywise makes some creepy face and sprints at the camera. Rarely does this work and Muschietti would be well served to keep his audience guessing, instead of giving into our every inclination. The best horror films hint at the evil lurking around the corner, but never show it unless the timing and anticipation is just right. For this film, it believes Pennywise to be such a compelling horror figure that it just has to rush him out immediately. Often times in film and in It, the horror is scariest when off-screen. Here, when other kids go missing without their disappearance being shown, the film is laced with a great sense of dread. Unfortunately, all too often, Muschietti gives into temptation and sprinkles Pennywise quite liberally throughout this film. By the end, the result is a clown that does not lurk in the shadows, but out in the open and right behind you every single time.

The other element that holds back It's horror impact is its reliance on jump scares. Going hand-in-hand with its predictability, It relies on jump scares or Pennywise running at the screen as his head violently shakes far too often. Gross-out horror and gore are also relied upon at times with similarly minimal impact. Rather than taking the time to build anticipation and an overwhelming sense of dread, Muschietti instead relies upon cheap tricks to steer this ship. Unfortunately, for horror films, reliance on cheap scares is what often undermines their quality and what can make so many quite disposable and forgettable. Though It has a lot to love and some smart themes, it is not really one that can be described as scary. The closest it gets comes as the kids walk around the Well House looking for Pennywise which carries considerable dread and is loaded with classic horror moments that elicit panicked "don't go in there"'s from the crowd. Unfortunately, Pennywise will always pop up right where he is expected to via a pair of jump scares, rendering the scene one with a great build-up but no actual punch. In essence, It not only lacks any imagination for how to elicit fear, but when it does elicit fear, it does so cheaply and in a fashion that rarely actually scares.

The film's cliche ending further disappoints. After two-plus hours of the kids coming together to fight bullies and urging one another to stick together, they do just that in facing off with Pennywise. Unfortunately, the scene not only lacks any tension, but it lacks any originality. Pulling off his mask to force this supernatural being to realize that he has no power anymore due to the lack of fear in the children's hearts, the film really sells its own villain short in the process of delivering a cliche, kill the bad guy as a group type of ending. By reducing Pennywise to being nothing more than a physical representation of fear, the film winds up undermining all of the ominous historical development it showed and turns the character into a rather pathetic one. Lacking the menace, horrifying unpredictability, and inevitability of the very best horror villains, Pennywise is a character who is easily defeated once controlled. Though smartly including this to bring the film's themes regarding fear and how to not let it consume you, it really makes for a lackluster villain in a film that needed his menace.