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nIT (2017)
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nDirector: Andy Muschietti
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nCast: Jaeden Lieberher, JeremynRay Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer,nWyatt Oleff, Bill Skarsgard
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nEvery generation gets their boogeymannand it looks like this generation is getting Pennywise, The Dancing Clown. Yesnmy friends, this killer clown from outer space has earned his rank amongst thenhorror elite. Pennywise is the brainchild of Stephen King who first introducednhim with his hugely successful novel ‘IT’, which premiered way back in 1986.nThe book was then adapted into a television miniseries, where it frightened anwhole generation of 90’s kids (myself included) thanks in no small part to Tim Curry’s brilliantninterpretation of the title character. Now Pennywise has been resurrected via antheatrically released film. Considering how many terrible remakes we get on anyearly basis, I was hesitant to accept this one, as I always am when they wantnto mess around with a classic. Would Bill Skarsgard, the actor portrayingnPennywise do the character justice, or was he just going to clone Tim Curry’sntake on it? The same trepidation went for the director, Andy Muschietti, thendirector behind Mama (2003), which I’ve yet to see. Would he have what it takes tonmake a truly frightening movie or would this be another watered down “HorrornMovie” afraid to truly scare us?
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nIn case you’ve never seen thenmini-series or read King’s book IT is all about this town in which kids keep disappearingnfor no apparent reason. A group of nerds and outcast who call themselves “ThenLosers” notice what is happening and decide to do something about it. Their explorationsnlead them to a discovery: there’s a strange, evil clown kidnapping the kids! Cannthey confront this evil entity and stop the disappearance’s from happening?
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nMy big preoccupation with thisnmovie was whether it was going to be truly horrifying or not. I’ve grown tonlearn that in modern Hollywood, an ‘R’ rating doesn’t necessarily equalnintensity. Sometimes it’s just a hook to make you think the film you are aboutnto watch is going to be “edgy” then you realize you’ve been had. In the case ofn‘IT’ I am happy to say that this is a truly hardcore horror movie not afraid tonshock us. In the first ten minutes, the film really shows us its fangs and letsnus know it isn’t fooling around, if you stay, you are going to be horrified! Sonif you can’t take the heat, you better get out of that kitchen! The scares arenwell orchestrated, it is gory, it is intense and freaking Pennywise is anmemorable boogyman! A memorable villain! My hats down to Bill Skarsgard forndelivering a truly nuanced performance. Pennywise’s movements and facialngestures truly delivered a bone chilling villain, everything about him feelsnstrange or “off”, his evil is felt in every part of the performance. Loved thisnvillain, and I love the fact that he really goes for the jugular when the movienturns up the heat.
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nBut apart from a strong, memorablenvillain, which by the way I’ve been dying to see in a film for a while now, wenget a group of young characters who deliver believable performances that managento capture that innocent age when everything is new, when you kiss for thenfirst time, when you develop friendships that will last you a life time, andnwhen you first start standing up to your parents. I’ve always liked that about ‘IT’,nthat idea that this group of friends truly care for each other, that feelingnthat you’re with people you can really trust in. This of course is somethingnpresent in many of Stephen King’s stories like Stand By Me (1986) andnDreamcatcher (2003). King loves to tell stories of friends or a community comingntogether to defeat an ultimate evil, so he takes his time in writing situationsnwhere that bond, that love between characters is truly felt. Kudos to thendirector for seeing that and bringing it to the big screen. By the way, thisnfilm does something that all good remakes do, it gives us enough new elementsnso it doesn’t feel like we’re watching the same film over again.
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nWhat I loved the most about thisnadaptation is that it didn’t feel like a cheap horror film. It doesn’t feelnlike it was made by an idiot trying to scare us with cheap scares. Nope, thisnis a well-crafted horror film that looks beautiful, is truly frightening andnhas characters you care about, all without losing its edge and remembering itsnmission: to make you squirm in your seat. So yes my dear readers, Andy Muschietti and crewnaimed to do make a truly memorable horror film and not something that you’dnforget or worse yet, wish you’d never spent your time and your money on. Thisnone was special in my book. It’s filled with a lot of great moments, I think what Muschietti wasnaiming for was a roller coaster ride of horror and he achieved it. I was sonimpressed that I will be checking out Muschietti’s Mama (2003). Bottom line is ITnis a fun ride, and should be experienced in a movie theater. By the looks ofnit, a sequel is assured, which is supposed to take place 27 years later, whennthe kids have all grown up. Here’s hoping they don’t give us a cheap ass sequelnand maintain the same high level of quality with the next film. This filmnsurpassed my expectations, and that’s a lot to say because normally new horrornfilms fail to amaze me. IT was jaw-droppingly good!
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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