Best horror of 2017

Rating: 8/10 (9 September 2017)

As someone who has not seen the original 1990 miniseries nor has read the Stephen King book, I went into the theatre seeing the new version of IT without any basis of what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. It is easily my favourite horror movie of 2017.
Set during 1989, a year after after Bill Denbrough's little brother Georgie went missing, he believes that his brother could still be alive since his body was not found. Despite his parents wanting him to just accept Georgie is gone for good, Bill becomes determined to find answers when other kids go missing. There he and six other social outcasts like him join forces to confront the source of the disappearances: The shape-shifting clown called Pennywise otherwise known simply as IT.
While what drew me to this movie was the premise of a creepy, evil clown, the kid actors that played the Losers were my favourite part. Each member of the Losers is well defined as these complex characters. They each confront their own fears in unique ways from Bill dealing with his brother's absence, Beverly's maturity into womanhood to Eddie's germophobia. The standouts of these were Sophia Lyllis as Beverly, Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie and especially Finn Wolfhard as Richie (who was scene-stealer and a departure from Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things). I did feel that Wyatt Oleff as Stanley and Chosen Jacobs as Mike could of been explored more as characters. It is especially with Mike whom had the most interesting backstory but could of used more screen time.
Skarsgard gives such a great and disturbing performance as Pennywise with an otherworldly but yet childish personality. He is more then just a generic monster and slasher but is a truly dark and twisted villain who lives off of the worst aspects of humanity. He is a trickster who will mess with your head to either feed off of your fear or manipulate you to fulfill other dark intentions. But he also is presented as this creature of mysterious origin that will turn violent and feral once it is done playing around and goes in for the kill. He is essentially a predatory animal that is driven by the survival need to feed but enjoys the thrill of the hunt.
Director Muschietti and the creator of the source material, Stephen King, show how dark and horrifying the world is from looking at it through the kids's perspective. The adults are never presented as being relatable because either they choose to be ignorant to move on with their normal lives or are monsters themselves who exists perfectly in the same world as Pennywise. Without the reliance of a kind adult figure for protection and guidance, you feel the tension and isolated fear when each of the Losers is on their own. When the characters are together, however, the story shows how unity can truly overpower fear when they have safety in numbers. A lot of the fun and comedy comes from the moments when the Losers hang out and get to be kids without having to worry about the outside world. With the horror aspect, Muschietti knows how to make this movie feel scary without trying too hard with jump scares and gore. He finds unique ways of making Pennywise's presence feel scary even without him being on screen from the hints of bright red that pop into the screen to the creepy to the unexpected forms that the clown takes that have a psychological impact on the characters. And when Pennywise does pop up it is in probably some of the most creative and freaky ways.
If there is anything that IT has left me worried about is that the bar for Chapter 2 has been set so high. Who will Muschietti cast as the adult versions of the Losers and can he still retain that fun, dark tone in a modern setting? But this doesn't stop me from getting excited to see the story of these characters come to its conclusion in the next few years.