‘It’ proves to be a terrifying reboot and essential horror
By Jack Murphy
“It” (2017) is directed by Andy Muschietti, and is the remake of the first part of the 1990 TV miniseries, along with being the feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel of the same name. The film is about the Loser’s Club, a group of friends who are consistently bullied and all share a common rift in their home lives, as they are terrorized by a creature that takes on the form of their deepest and darkest fears. The Loser’s Club has to brave their fears to defeat the evil that has overtaken their town. This movie was hyped up because the character of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, played brilliantly by Tim Curry in the 1990 TV miniseries, has become an icon of the horror genre and people were wondering how Bill Skarsgård would do taking on such a popular and iconic roll, and boy he did not disappoint.
Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) was a really scary clown, unlike Tim Curry’s Pennywise, which was scary because he acted like a normal clown. Both performances are unique and provide a different take on the character, and Skarsgård does an amazing job separating himself from Curry’s performance and giving a different, but fresh take on the character. When Pennywise is on screen, he makes the movie better, and his mere presence is enough to give anyone the chills. However, the main stars of the movie are the seven kids that are a part of the Losers Club, and they are without a doubt the best of this movie. Each one of them does such an amazing job in this movie, that they really carry “It” from beginning to end. All of them act as any middle school kid would, not like child actors, which is really refreshing. They each have to conquer their biggest fears, as Pennywise takes the form of whatever they fear most, and it makes the film more scary, but it primarily makes the characters remarkably more interesting. For example, the character of Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) is a germaphobe, and his biggest fear is sickness, which leads to Pennywise taking the form of a leper to attack Eddie. This movie’s pacing is top notch, as it doesn’t let up throughout the entire run time. The sound design and the cinematography are also top notch in this film and it makes watching the movie a more pleasant experience throughout. That being said, there are a couple of problems with this movie.
The biggest complaint I have with “It” is that the filmmakers decided to use the clown as a device to set up multiple jump scares, which is the cheapest device a horror movie can use. The problem with the jump scare is that it’s a loud noise that releases all tension in a scene, and the effectiveness of a jump scare wears off on the audience quickly throughout the movie. If there are a lot of jump scares in a horror movie, the audience will try to brace themselves for the next loud noise rather than be afraid of what is actually happening. Connecting this to “It”, the clown is scariest when it is most subtle. The clowns appearance, voice, and creepy nature makes it scariest. If the filmmakers had decided to focus more on the clown talking to the kids, instead of it jumping and sprinting at the kids while loud noises play, it would’ve been way more affective and scary. Another problem with “It” is how the character of Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs) is used in the film. In the TV miniseries, Mike does the research and knows everything about the town. In the 2017 version of the film, Ben is given the role Mike had in the miniseries, which makes sense in regards to the film, but Mike only appears in the beginning on the movie and the end of the movie and provides almost nothing to the group. His character could have been completely left out of this movie and nothing would change.
Overall, “It” is a fun and scary experience all in all and I would completely recommend seeing “It” in the theaters rather than at home, as it only adds to the experience. I am excited to see whatever project director Andy Muschietti, Bill Skarsgård, or any one of the child actors do next as I believe they will do great things in the future.
Grade: B+