Review of It (2017) by Jeremiah O — 29 Jan 2018
"It" tried to mask an absence of actual horror with special effects, makeup, and added gore. While both the novel and mini-series which so effectively frightened generations of children and adults included plenty of blood and gruesome imagery, they never felt the need to rip a kid's arm off in the opening scene before dragging him into the sewer. They correctly presumed that dragging a child into a sewer never to be sen again was scary enough. The director of this incarnation of It, on the other hand,made choices in cinematography and sound which made it very clear when something "bad" was about to happen, so I found myself waiting for the film to get on with it and move on to the next scene, rather than nervously anticipating what will happen next. These decisions baffle me. It seems to think the magic formula for "scare people" is dim, green-tinted lighting plus perspective change plus volume. It evokes the worst qualities of a cheap jump-scare horror film without actually making you jump at any point. The only truly scary thing in the film were the side characters showing all the worst traits of humanity. Removing the entire supernatural side of the film (which is the whole point) would have made a far more frightening piece, which tells me the director made some poor choices, as Pennywise is one of the most terrifying characters in the history of American horror, just not his version of Pennywise. After sitting through It, the only thing that stuck with me was the certainty that I just wasted 2 hours of my life.
The only bright spot in this otherwise dull film was the acting of Finn Wolfhard whose portrayal of Richie was both believable and humorous, which made him the only one I found myself genuinely rooting for.
Overall, It was a disappointing take on a horror classic which seemed to get too wrapped up in flashy, big-budget scenes to actually take the time to evoke fear into its audience. If you want a real scare, read Stephen King's original work or watch the miniseries from 1990.
This review of It (2017) was written by Jeremiah O on 29 Jan 2018.
It has generally received very positive reviews.
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