Let Me Tell You About "IT"

Over the weekend, I was able to go watch the new Horror movie IT. The film is a loose adaptation of Stephen King's terrifying novel IT and a readaptation of the 1990 miniseries of the same name. The movie stars Bill Skarsgård as the dancing clown Pennywise. IT is an evil shapeshifting alien who emerges every twenty seven years to wreak havoc in a small town in Derry, Maine.

What makes him an interesting villain is his ability to use one's fear against them. IT was an interesting movie to watch. I really loved this film. The main cast of young actors did a fantastic job and made the movie highly entertaining. The main protagonists of these individual stories (which eventually converge and come together) are The Losers Club, which include Billy, Richie, Eddie, Stanley, Mike, Ben and Beverly.

For a horror film, this movie IT was a surprisingly hilarious movie. The jokes did not feel forced at all. I'll admit to cracking up at most of Richie's (Finn Wolfhard) dialogue and his interactions with Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer). The entire cast had great chemistry and gave the movie a pleasantly surprising charm to it.

Furthermore, the movie had moments of suspense and thrill that you would expect in a horror movie, but for a movie made for its horror, there wasn’t much of it. Although I did find the scene in which Pennywise emerges out of a refrigerator distorted disturbing. Now fear is subjective and what someone finds scary might not be the same for every individual person, but this movie horror felt a bit cliche and used common horror tropes such as jump scares and noticeable CGI. There was a scene in which The Losers were talking and it was too obvious, visually, there was a green screen involved.

The music score was generic but it helped set the tone well as it was sprinkled strategically throughout. What I enjoyed was the carnival/clown themed music that played throughout the film. The cinematography of the movie was visually appealing and shot well. It fit the tone fantastically and gave the film a fitting “80’s” vibe. The many scenes in the sewer were shot well which added to the suspense of the movie.

Overall, where this movie succeeded was in the interaction of the characters and great chemistry of the young stars. Skarsgård’s tremendous, yet creepy portrayal of Pennywise was quite successful and I am looking forward to seeing his performance in the inevitable sequel. IT does a good job in respecting and embracing the source material while also doing its own thing. It is not going to revolutionize the horror genre, but it sure is an entertaining movie.

I give this one 8.5/10 dancing clowns.