Good Stephen King

Rating: 8/10 (24 October 2019)

It, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, will likely go down as one of the defining horror movies of the 2010s. It broke box office records for Fall movies and horror movies, and got a better reception than expected. Plus, it's always noteworthy when a movie causes mass hysteria in the real world. Remember the creepy clown craze when this came out? Anyway, it's a story about a group of kids who have to fight off a demonic entity in the form of a clown that feeds on people and their fears. The film is filled with scares and creepy moments, both in your face jumpscares, and some slow, creepy stuff. The setting is great, between the normalcy of the small town of Derry, Maine, and the creepy locations of the house and the sewers.
The film is centered around a group of middle school kids known as the Loser's Club. There's Bill, who's brother Georgie was killed by Pennywise in this film's iconic opening scene, Beverly, who is implied to be sexually abused by her father (while the film is rated R, they still can't exactly show that), Eddie, who has Munchausen by Proxy, Mike, who's parents died in a fire, Stanley, who is under the pressure of his Rabbi father, Ben, who tries to fit in at his new school, and Richie, the big mouth of the group. These characters are the best part about the movie. Each one is developed well enough, and the kids all give good performances. The bond they share and the relationship between them adds to the effect. Oddly enough, there's also a lot of heart to this movie. Most of scenes involving Bill and Georgie are legitimately sad moments that get an emotional response out of the audience. Not only that, it has its funny moments as well. Mostly intentional ones, but a few unintentional as well.
Speaking of performances, there is the creepy clown himself, Pennywise, played by Bill Skarsgard. He's fantastic. People will try and compare him to Tim Curry, but it really isn't worth it. They're two completely different interpretations of the character. What makes Pennywise such a great villain is not only the performance, but also how he manifests in the form of other things. The scene near the end where he appears as the painting is a good example. Perhaps better is the fight between him and the Losers, where he's constantly transforming.
The film's not perfect, and there is some stuff to nitpick. The scares got predictable after a while. The first few are effective, but most of the later ones are pretty easy to guess. Richie was kind of annoying. But these are minor things. This is still a great horror movie, and one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date. It's also quite an improvement over the 1990 TV adaptation, which is decent in its own right, but not on the same level as this.