It (2017) in one word: Unrelenting

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2017)

There were some horror movies from my childhood that stuck with me for many years. One Halloween, after returning home from trick-or- treating, my dad was watching Sleepwalkers (1992), also adapted from a Stephen King novel. Images from that movie haunted me for at least the following decade. I've never seen that movie since, but I saw the cat-man character in my closet countless times as I tried to fall asleep. I imagine that some of the images from It will be with me for some time as well. Skarsgard, as Pennywise, is excellent, but perhaps not as excellent as the effects for his character, which are masterfully chilling. Each time a demented creature transforms into Pennywise, or as he contorts his body and moves so unnaturally, I couldn't look away even though I wanted to. It's marvelous. On many occasions, one of the kids sees a monster in broad daylight. They are outside, it's sunny, but the monsters are still completely terrifying, the kids' fear palpable. Outdoors, with the sun shining, isn't that supposed to be the sanctuary? That's supposed to be the place you go to escape fears, to feel safe, because nothing can lurk in the darkness when there is no darkness.
But, there are no safe places in the town of Derry. Pennywise is the villain yes, but not the only villain, and perhaps not the most evil. The villains of bullying and abuse fill the spaces between Pennywise's jarring, jittery appearances. They fill those spaces so completely, and fill the film with such constant dread, that each appearance of the clown almost feels commonplace. Pennywise manifests a child's worst fears, and those fears don't rest. Those fears are commonplace.
But there is hope in teamwork and friendship. In It, this, not sunshine, is the refuge. And the chemistry between the kids is another way the film excels. The young actors have any easy nature about them, excluding Finn Wolfhard, of Stranger Things fame. It feels as if the writers tried a bit too hard to make Wolfhard's character, Richie, seem cool, relying heavily on crude remarks that feel forced. It's distracting, but as a whole, the gang shines, particularly the performances of Jack Grazer (Eddie) and Sophia Lillis (Beverly). Time will tell if the cast of characters 40-years senior will be of comparable quality in Part II.
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