Review of It (2017) by Charlie P — 29 Mar 2018

When a supernatural clown named Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) starts murdering children in the small town of Derry, Maine, seven children including the brother of one of the clown's victims, Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) seem to be the only residents who know about this demons appearance and his true purpose....

Stephen King has had one of his busiest years in terms of film adaptations of his books, with last month's The Dark Tower finally coming to the big screen even if the results were mostly regrettable and the upcoming Netflix re imagining of The Mist, just to name a few. However, after previously receiving a TV adaptation in 1990 with Tim Curry as Pennywise the evil Clown, King's 1986 novel IT proves to be not only one of Mr King's most ambitious adaptations, but also a rare example of a great film for the declining horror genre.

Although some of the pacing is a bit iffy when compared with it's extremely long source material, the decision to split the novel into two films, with this film focusing on the Loser Club as Kids was a wise decision. Screenwriters Chase Palmer, Gary Dauberman and Cary Fukunaga take influence from Stand By Me and The Goonies in giving each of the seven children their own motivations and personalities with the scene stealers being Finn Wolfhard as Bill's wisecracking friend and the adorable Jeremy Ray Taylor's Ben. However it's obvious that the casting of Jaeden Lieberher as Bill Denbrough was only made because of the actor's physical resemblance to the late Jonathan Brandis who played Bill in the previous adaptation, as he doesn't give much emotion with a character that's supposed to be a traumatized older brother of one of the clown's victims.

Speaking of the clown, Bill Skarsgard, while not as memorable as Tim Curry's manic take on the murderous Pennywise, does manage to portray both the creepy and evil sides of the character as depicted in the book in his own way, being more quiet and manipulative than Curry's loud bombastic performance.

In conclusion, the first IT film may have even sillier moments than the TV film, but the great acting, chilling atmosphere and heartwarming chemistry between the young actors is what helps this film avoid the mistakes of last month's Stephen King film.