Give IT a watch, if you dare...

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2017)

Adapted from Stephen King's best selling novel, 'IT' is a horror/thriller film that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.
An evil, paranormal creature that preys on children in the guise of a clown, affectionately named 'Pennywise the Dancing Clown', has risen from the sewers after 27 years to feed on the fear of the innocent. It is up to Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) and his friends to hunt down the creature and avenge the death of his younger brother.
Personally, I am not a big horror fan, probably due to the onslaught of awful films (i.e. the Paranormal Activity series) to hit the big, and little, screens in recent years. However, I can confidently say IT has put my faith back into the genre. It is very thoughtful to the original King book, following the same story, except in a highly condensed form (which can be problematic in some areas).
All the younger actors are brilliant, portraying a really believable 'buddy' dynamic throughout; reminiscent (ironically) of The Goonies and the other classic flicks of that era. Jaeden Lieberher's character 'Bill' and Sophia Lillis' character 'Beverly' stood out the most, in my opinion, with their different connections to the creature representing how IT fed off the vulnerable and innocent.
Bill Skarsgård's portrayal of Pennywise was truly outstanding. He maintained the continuity of his characterisation throughout, without trying to rip-off Tim Curry's infamous interpretation. I like Skarsgård's portrayal, which is extremely creepy and bipolar. I wouldn't say it is inherently scary, however if you consider the context of who Pennywise is and who he is preying on, it does send a chill down your spine.
A few reviewers were complaining about how the story had been moved from the 50s (as in the original novel) to the 80s. I personally think the move was great. They could have very easily transported the story line into 2017 and filled it with forced 'current' references. However, they chose to update the story (a bit) by making it more relevant to its adult audience, who probably grew up in the 80s. Remember, the story is trying to represent how innocent and vulnerable children are, since they are the only ones who can be tortured by Pennywise.
Like mentioned above, the compressed nature of the story can prove to be problematic at times, with some characters receiving little screen time or limited characterisation, such as 'Mike'. The addition of Henry Bowers and his gang also did seem pointless at times. However, it is clear that King and the screenplay writers wanted to juxtapose the vulnerabilities of (so called) 'harmless' high school bullying with the evil, child preying clown.
Overall, if you are looking for an entertaining horror film that has an immersive and menacing story line, give IT a watch.