IT (2017) Review

IT (2017) Review

You already know what this movie is. You’ve seen the trailers, maybe you’ve seen the mini-series from the 90’s, or read Stephen King’s novel upon which this is based. A killer clown terrorizes a group of kids in a small town. There’s more to IT than that—“It” isn’t just a clown, it’s everything you’ve ever been afraid of.

I’ll cut right to the chase. This movie is superb. The acting, writing, directing, everything is on point. 

When you have a story featuring mainly child and teen actors, casting is everything. They nailed it with this cast. There isn’t a single weak link. Every kid is great, but for me Finn Wolfhard (from Stranger Things) as Richie was the standout. Even Georgie, featured heavily in the marketing for this film, makes a huge impression for what little screen time he has, and the adults are often as terrifying, if not more terrifying, than the monsters pursuing the kids. 

The music and visuals, too, were huge highlights for me. The music accentuates the horror throughout, and has a lot of range. At times it’s like an old school John Williams score with an enhanced flute section, other times it’s more modern with intense bass drops and shrieking strings, but it works to build the atmosphere, as well. The cinematography is sharp, and many of the shot choices are inventive and even artfully done. 

The story is familiar, obviously, and scenes you may remember from the 90’s mini-series are re-done, but this time around, it earns that R-rating. This movie went places I didn’t think it would go. They push the boundaries. My jaw dropped several times throughout. 

There are lots of elements here that, on paper, sound very cliché (the old dark house, for instance), but they don’t feel cliché because they’re given a new spin, making it feel refreshing and freaky in a different way, yet also in a way that’s a throwback to horror movies of old. 

I watch a lot of horror movies, but rarely get genuinely scared watching them. There were several scenes/moments in IT that had me truly frightened—personally, it’s the scariest movie I’ve seen since The Conjuring. Tons of the imagery is straight-up nightmarish, and like The Shining (yeah, I’m comparing this to The Shining) the scares are varied throughout. There are gory moments, effective jump scares, creepy visuals, horrific concepts, and a lot of it doesn’t even come from Pennywise.

But of course you want me to talk about the clown. I don’t know Bill Skarsgard from any other roles, so I was iffy on him portraying Pennywise the dancing clown (minor spoiler: he actually does dance at one point), but Skarsgard is terrifying. The voice, the movements, the subtle elements of his performance, it all adds up to a compelling and disturbing performance, aided by the excellent makeup effects.   

I can’t say I agree with what some critics and fans are saying about this being the best horror movie/movie in general in many years, but I also can’t say I had any big problems with IT, either. Though it’s not without a few questionable moments of cgi, or a couple cheap jump scares, or one or two characters that seem underdeveloped compared to others, overall it’s really well done, and one of the best movies I’ve seen this year, which is actually saying a lot. 

Like I said in my intro, you already know what IT is, so you probably already know if it’s the kind of movie for you or not. I will air on the side of caution, though. This movie is scary. The opening scene sets the tone and pace perfectly. You’ll know if IT is too much for you to handle before the opening titles even conclude. 

If you are a Stephen King fan or just a horror fan in general, though, you can’t miss this movie in theaters. If you liked the mini-series, you’ll like this adaptation, too. If you didn’t like the mini-series, you probably will like this interpretation. If you don’t know anything about IT and just want a scary good time with compelling characters and a well-written script, you’re in for a real treat, because you likely won’t see some of the most-horrific scenes coming. Basically, any and all viewers who want to see IT should be satisfied. 

IT is a modern horror movie with old-school sensibilities, a surprising amount of humour and heart, and it’s a lot of fun. There are tons of scares throughout, the majority of which work really well, but even better is the cast of interesting characters. This movie is going to be huge (it’s already breaking September box office records), and I can’t wait to see IT again at the theater as Halloween rapidly approaches.