IT (2017) Review

Rating: 9/10 (21 September 2017)

Great horror films are rare these days mainly because most of them are redundant sequels and remakes that do very little to aid the story or the scares. Even though this 2017 version of IT is a remake of the Stephen King classic, it is one of the best horror films I have seen in a long time. With killer clowns, death of children and monsters attacking you left and right, what's not to love? The film follows the same plot as the massive first part of the classic 1986 novel with the second half to be finished in a sequel. Seven children are being hunted and prayed on by a child-eating alien disguised as a clown known as Pennywise for each of their own fears and traumas. One child in particular, Bill Denbrough (Jayden Lieberher) is obsessed with founding and defeating the clown because he believes he will also find his younger brother who was captured by the alien months earlier with many believing him to be dead. This makes us connect emotionally with Bill as well as the other characters who have fears of their own such as Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis) the only female of the group who is sexually abused by her father. This formula can be repetitive but it is terrifying when each child has their own encounter with Pennywise. Cinematography is also to great effect in IT. Camera movement gets incredibly shaky during intense chase scenes but the camera also takes the time to slow down to explore the emotionally levity of some scenes. Shadows are used effectively to add to the sinister nature of the film like the sewer locations where the unknown evil of Pennywise lurk. The actors of the children also act well in their current surroundings and reasonably act like coming of age children. Bill as mentioned earlier is obsessed with finding IT and his younger brother and due to his young age acts impulsively without much consideration of his actions or his friends like any coming of age child would. CGI can look pretty suspect in a few scenes with Pennywise. When he starts attacking, he does these really forced shaky motions that can take away from the scene a little bit, but not enough to ruin the horror and tension of the scenes. For any horror fan, IT is an absolute must see, especially in the dark of the cinema.