It review

IT:

THIS HORROR REMAKE CLOWNS AROUND AND DELIVERS CREEPY FUN!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND NEW LINE CINEMA

Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King’s It

            If there was any horror movie coming out this year I was more concerned about than Annabelle: Creation it was It, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King and 1990 mini-series starring Tim Curry. When I first heard they were making a film adaptation of It after the campy reputation it got from the mini-series I wasn’t fully convinced and thought it would be terrible.

            But as the hype train was getting quite a bit of momentum I gave it a chance and went to one of my local theaters to see it. I was pleasantly surprised, not only does the movie nail the creepy tone of its source material but it’s blended well with a sense of humor and some phenomenal young actors.

            This is one of the best Stephen King film adaptations I’ve seen in a long time and it captures the spirit of its source material to a t. The movie doesn’t fall victim to the generic horror movie trappings and offers a creepy but humorous character study about these kids overcoming their greatest fears, this ain’t your Friday the 13^th or Saw scary flick.

            Set in the 1980s in the town of Derry, Maine where children have mysteriously disappeared, the film follows a group of outcast kids called the Losers Club uncovering the mystery behind these disappearances. Soon enough these kids are faced with their biggest fears as they confront the murderous clown, Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård-Anna Karenina, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, Atomic Blonde) whose history of murder and violence dated back for centuries.

            The film stars Jaeden Lieberher (St. Vincent, Midnight Special, The Book of Henry) as the leader of the Losers Club, Bill Denbrough, newcomers, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, and Wyatt Oleff as Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, and Stan Uris, Finn Wolfhard (The 100, Supernatural, Stranger Things) as Richie Tozier, Chosen Jacobs (Hawaii Five-0) as Mike Hanlon, Jack Dylan Grazer (Tales of Halloween, Comedy Bang Bang, Me, Myself & I) as Eddie Kaspbrak, newcomer, Nicholas Hamilton as the leader of the school bullies, Henry Bowers, and newcomer, Jackson Robert Scott as Georgie Denbrough.

            Overall, It is one of the best Stephen King film adaptations I’ve seen since The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. It’s debatable whether or not the movie’s actually scary (Guess it really depends on whether or not you’re afraid of clowns) but the cinematography, production design, and story capture the creepy tone of its source material and goes balls to the wall with it.

            The film is very self-aware of how ridiculous it is and will at times take jabs at typical horror movie clichés or crack a joke related to the current situation. But they never feel forced and always get a big laugh.

            What truly makes the movie shine is the performances by its young cast, and damn do these kids do a phenomenal job with their roles. All the kids speak and act like normal kids and hardly ever do they feel half-ass and they’re so convincing, it’s like if the kids from South Park or The Goonies hunted a homicidal clown.

            Despite Tim Curry’s performance from the mini-series being very iconic, Bill Skarsgård nails the Pennywise character. Sure, he doesn’t do the “WA-HA, WA-HA, WA-HA!” laugh like Curry did but his presence manages to be both frightening and funny at the same time and whenever he speaks you’re laughing while getting a slight chill, kind of like Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, not often does a scary movie give me that reaction but Skarsgård won me over with Pennywise.

            The story is surprisingly really deep especially for a movie about an evil clown, the entire concept of the film revolves around these kids facing their greatest fears ranging from clowns, germs, creepy characters in paintings, and even family dilemmas. This is where the character development comes from, each child has a different and unique fear that establishes their character and accompanied with the performances you feel like you’re watching real kids trapped in a scary film.

            I doubt people would be praising this movie as much as The Shining or The Shawshank Redemption but It manages to capture the spirit of what made Stephen King a great author and what makes a good horror movie in general. None of the characters are there just to die, you grow attached to them, and the film has fun with its concept and results in a hybrid of fear and laughter.

            This is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in a while and will probably follow in the footsteps of The Cabin in the Woods, The Witch, and The Conjuring as a new horror classic to watch every Halloween. It has camp, strong characters, humor, and one creepy ass clown, what’s not to enjoy?