Stranger Kings

Rating: 7/10 (7 October 2017)

In The Lego Batman Movie, the titular caped crusader, tasked with naming his greatest fear, rasps "Snakes! Clowns! SNAKE-CLOWNS!!!" And while Indiana Jones may have echoed one phobia, the rest of the literate world certainly quivered at the latter after Steven King's 1986 masterwork - both the longest horror novel ever written and most successful book named after a pronoun - was uncorked upon fearful readers. Clowns. It {HA!} had to be clowns. And, if the only thing scarier than Pennywise was the prospect of him being done a disservice by a hackneyed contemporary remake, fear not (at least, not in that way): 2017's It is as respectful to King (arguably overly so at times) as it is gruesomely fun and nimble. And scary. Oh yes. Say goodbye, Snake-Clowns - you've just been ousted. It {heh!} is hard to conceive of a more frightfully fun film this year.
To nip the (circus?) elephant in the room in the bud: yes, It inevitably owes a symbiotic debt to the nostalgia-chic fanned from the rampant popularity of Netflix's Stranger Things (which, in turn, paid homage to King, in a Möbius strip of intertextuality ). Still, the neo-nostalgia works just as well on the big screen, lending the film a grandiose, larger-than-life nature, as it treads (almost overly) familiar horror beats with the confidence of a rock star playing the greatest hits. Mama director Andy Muschietti ardently defies tacky, contemporary 'jump-scare' horror trends in favour of more classical tension building. He plays conventional set-ups to the hilt - shrieking Bernard Herrmann strings, memorably grotesque Kubrick-esq imagery, and tantalizingly obscured shadows creeping down long, ominous hallways and all, trusting that a committed robust, old-school fright is sufficient without deafening, migraine-inducing conceits. It {ho!} is.
The film's transposed 80s setting perfectly accentuates the story's Stand By Me coming-of-age schtick, as sweet and sincere as it is rough-and-tumble. King's novel has stood the test of time for its patient commitment to character development amidst the spine-tingling frights, and Muschietti is similarly unhurried, playing up the individual pre-teen neuroses and tribulations of each ragtag member of the 'Losers' as more terrifying than the clown demon systematically popping in and out to torment them like an elusive, dementedly cackling Jaws shark. Granted, Muschietti buys into the cult of King so wholeheartedly that he pushes the limits of 'would you really follow a mysterious noise into that dark, deserted house' well past acceptable standards of suspending disbelief at times, threatening chortles of incredulity from a media-savvy audience that should be emitting squeaks of fright. To be fair, it's hard to chart which of the film's spate of horror clichés King pioneered, but Muschietti integrating them with such doe-eyed sincerity ultimately hurts his film almost as much as it helps it. And let's be honest - even the 80s didn't have bullies so '80s-movie,' so decked out with mullets, switchblades, and grotesquely overkill acts of violence It {hoo}'s almost distracting.
Still, character development of our pre-pubescent leads is all well and good, but digging further into our spectral clown's raison-d'être is the film's real fascination. For those squirming in their seats from cliché or fright, there's a whole level of alternative viewing to be had unpacking the rationale behind Pennywise's teasing tormenting. Most horror monsters frighten unintentionally simply by existing. Pennywise feeds on fear, making his every appearance and act an intriguingly calculated reflexive performance. Poignantly, this also provides a rather nifty screen writing 'get out of jail free card,' as incongruous narrative reversals prolonging the plot can be explained away as, rather than screen writing convenience, Pennywise retreating due to failing at scaring his target demographic. It {errgh}'s actually deceptively clever, and plays into the film's tongue-in-cheek nostalgia with amiable ease.
Of course, any good horror movie should spook beyond academic subtext, and It {really?} is appropriately terrifying in Its {ugh} own right. This is thanks largely to Bill Skarsgård, cleverly sprinkling whiffs of Tim Curry and strains of Heath Ledger's Joker into a scene-stealing masterwork as riveting as It {ahhh} is f*cking terrifying. He's used sparsely and effectively, and, granted, the makeup does a fair amount of heavy lifting, but It {stop}'s Skarsgård's subtle touches that Pennywise 2.0 come to gut-wrenching life, with his whimsical eye contact, absentminded drool, and segueing between gurgling giddiness and rabid snarls that make him a truly unforgettable foe for the ages.
On the youth frontier, the sheer number of King's Losers mean that many suffer from being one-note archetypes, making our prolonged time with them feel superfluous (Jeremy Ray Taylor's exposition-doling, requisite fat nerd and Chosen Jacob's nearly silent token black kid are particularly ill-served in this regard). Regardless, all the young actors give excellent performances, finding notes of humour and humanity in their moments to shine, no matter how rote. Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard and Jack Dylan Grazer spice up the film with acerbic humour and sass, while Jaeden Lieberher shoulders the thankless burden of stoic lead with raw, emotive vulnerability and vinegar. Sophia Lillis may be hit hard with King's patriarchal preoccupations (ANOTHER pre-teen girl bathed in a not-so-subtle torrent of blood and hair?!), but she's sparky enough to sell it with aplomb. At least the novel's disturbingly tone-deaf child-orgy is, mercifully, left out. Nice one, Steve.
It {please }'s not often in contemporary Hollywood audiences leave a would-be franchise clamouring for a sequel, but there were ever an exception to the rule, this is It {please stop}. Sold by an airtight cast, unnervingly effective Skarsgård, and Muschietti's robust, affectionate gruesomeness, the film may not reinvent the wheel, but certainly gives It {sigh} a hearty, affectionate spin. So - is It {arrgh} worth the hype? Don't take my word for It {noooo} - check It {fuuuuuu} out for yourself.
-7.5/10