A Very Gratifying Horror Adventure

Rating: 8/10 (30 September 2017)

2017 has been an indifferent year for Stephen King. He's had to witness the creative and box office disappointment of franchise non-starter "The Dark Tower" but his books appear to be bouncing back – according to pre-release hype – with Netflix produced "Gerald's Game" and "1922". There wasn't a adaptation for the filmmakers and studio to get right that ITthis year.
The novel, written in 1986, was adapted into a beloved TV miniseries in 1990, as the Loser's Club battling Tim Curry's imperious Pennywise. Nightmares of dancing clowns were forever singed into the minds of children and mimicked over the past 27 years.
Could 2017 version of IT live up to the hype? With I.T. Trailer recording breaking YouTube views and brilliantly executed marketing campaign, the film was under the fans and critics microscope.
According to the studio so far, the film has financially delivered on all fronts ($480 million worldwide and counting) and most importantly, IT has delivered creatively; it's a wonderful 1980s tribute carnival which believes characters, not set-pieces and scares, take centre stage. This is a very delicious horror adventure with a sense of real jeopardy.
Using the Spielberg 1980s playbook, director Andy Muschietti and writers Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga & Gary Dauberman have done a effective job personifying the characteristics of the classic 1980s adventure story with the demands of modern horror; jump scares and individual set- pieces are vividly and ravishingly staged, despite becoming gradually less effective as we reach closer to the film's climax.
IT has a lot fun with standard horror clichés and 1980s iconographies; Gremlins posters are on walls, cinemas are showing Lethal Weapon 2 and A Nightmare on Elm Street, teenagers riding bicycles through streets and fields, swearing and throwing mindless insults (the chemistry between the cast is perfect), hanging out in natures surroundings and avoiding the local bullies at all costs. The actions made against the Loser's Club by the bullies is just as horrific as Pennywise manipulations.
It's great to see a film embracing and going beyond its influences to have bravery and capacity uncover darker themes, amidst the crowd-pleasing spectacle.
I was fascinated at how the filmmakers weren't afraid to dissect the loss of innocence between the Loser's Club. They want to preserve their naivety, they want to have a normal summer to act like kids, they want to believe Derry's missing children can and will come back to their families to continue to live a normal life; Pennywise is teaching them to live, but could he be teaching them how to die when they become adults?
The actions of parents are not ignored either or lack of action from them; parents are either abusive, manipulative or passive; Loser's Club are victims of their apathetic parents and leering Derry townspeople. These kids are neglected, acting out as if they perversely believe fighting off an evil force is a better way of their spending time than with their family.
Andy Muschietti – along with cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung – showcase a delightful, macabre, surrealist edge to mayhem calling back to Kubrick's Shining, work of Tim Burton and Park-Chan Wook; not many mainstream horror films would embrace the paintings of Amedo Modigliani. This didn't hide my slight frustration as the visual effects became more prevalent as the film progressed, I realised I cared more about the characters than the scares; that's where the true success IT lies.
With Chapter 2 arriving in September 2019 and the current, enormous box office success, I really hope the creators don't lose the chemistry between the Loser's Club amongst the visual effects; it was the invaluable ingredient that made IT a gratifying, kinetic, carnival ride.