It (2017) was a goddamn fantastic film. I believe everyone has a special place in their heart for the TV movie starring Tim Curry, but I think most people acknowledge that it wasn’t that great of a film overall and in general kind of a mess. There were some golden bits and pieces in there but besides that nothing really special besides Tim Curry giving almost everyone the fear of clowns.
Now when this movie was first announced I was quite skeptical because we’ve been burned way too many times with bad horror movie reboots such as Nightmare on Elm Street and God knows how many Texas Chainsaw remakes. So finding out that not only does this film live up to the original but is leagues better even, was a really pleasant surprise.
If you know about the original then the story is just about the same, children are disappearing in the small town of Derry and a group of 7 kids are being haunted by a horrific entity who comes to them in different forms to feed of their fear and ultimately capture them to feast on them. The entity has a primary form which is of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. One of the most iconic horror villains in recent memory. Pennywise in this film was great. He was creepy, interesting, acted well and had a far more interesting design. And I loved the monsters he took shape of, they were all really cool and unique.
The story gives off a really fun and nostalgic vibe and kinda reminds me of Stranger Things, probably cause Finn Wolfhard is in it as one of the members of the Losers Club. I believe what makes the story so great is that it isn’t dated by anything, and I believe that’s because of the decisions of not making this anything along the lines of a “modern take” on the film, so they set it at a time with no smart phones or other conveniences that would make you go, “Oh! Just do this or that or Google what Pennywise’s weakness is.” Other than that it’s a pretty generic story where a gang of misfits have to defeat a great evil but it’s done well overall.
As for scares I think the movie succeeds quite well in being a creepy but charming horror film. I watch horror films pretty much any chance I get and I think this is one of the better horror films in a long time. Although some scares and monsters can look a little goofy at times because of the CGI they still have terrifying designs under the right angles. I think jumpscares are a thing that we just can’t escape from anymore as they’re essentially easy ways to get some sort of thrill out of the viewer, and It definitely has a couple here and there but they have at least somewhat good set ups and they’re never fake out jumpscares. Horror movies also have the trouble of making a lot of people go, “No you idiot don’t do that you’ll get your shit pushed in” and I think this movie did have a couple of those moments and one moment in particular that sticks out in my mind but they never soured the experience.
When it comes to the actors all the kids in it were great, they were all likable and had their own unique quirks to them which made them charming. They acted well but I felt like some of the kids were a little underused. I would’ve loved to see a some of those characters have a bit more screen time. There was even a really weird love triangle type thing that had an odd resolution that they just sweep under the rug but otherwise everything else regarding the kids is great.
Overall I think It was a really pleasant surprise this year and I honestly believe that this movie is going to be a real classic horror film in the coming years, as it already completely overshadows the original in almost every way. Pennywise is back and he’s creepier than ever before.
I give It an 8 out of 10