Imagine a very good episode of Goosebumps, throw in good child acting, Conjuring-styled suspense, buckets of blood and a focused unrelenting villain

Rating: 9/10 (10 September 2017)

It is directed by Andy Muschietti and it is a remake of the 1990 three- hour miniseries which in turn was based on Stephen King's own 1986 horror novel. So what is "It?" As a kid browsing through video rental stores in 90's, I have always noticed the peculiar VHS cover with a white face painted, sinister looking clown on it with the title "It" in bold red colors. The miniseries was hailed by classmates at school to be the scariest movie of all-time and I always wondered why; the back of the VHS seemed to show the scariest thing about the film is just a killer clown. Is it because I am fortunately enough to not have a phobia of clowns that is why it had no effect on me? Then I thought about why Stephen King chose to name the book "It" and not "Clown" if it is indeed just a story about a killer clown. This 20-something year old question of mine was finally answered when I saw this 2017 iteration at the cinema on opening day. It is whatever you do not want it to be. It manifests itself as the thing you fear most. In short, it is an entity that can transform and show itself as your worst nightmare. Now that my curiosity is finally answered, is the movie any good? Well, bloody yes.
It as a film in general succeeds on all facets. It was creepy, scary, funny, heartfelt and emotional. Imagine a very good episode of Goosebumps, throw in good child acting, Conjuring-styled suspense, buckets of blood and a focused unrelenting villain – the results of this beautiful concoction would be It. It could have easily been a mess of a movie, been accused of copying latest horror trends of James Wan or Eli Roth, but Andy Muschietti was able to hone everything down neatly into a spectacular package. Right from the get-go, we were able to see how beautiful the cinematography is; the basement, things lurking in the shadows, rainfalls, glowing eyes, etc. Visually, this is a gorgeously shot movie. The buildups of scares are very reminiscent of modern ghost films, but that is a good thing because they are done right with good payoffs, usually a nightmare-inducing image that sent chills down the audience's spines. I am not the kind of snotty movie goer who despises jump scares because I feel they are cheap and unearned, no I actually believe they are a vital ingredient in a horror movie and without them, even the sharpest film tends to dull out. Jump scares need to be well-timed and be used to unleash the tension at the climax of a scary scene, and It understand this very well.
On one hand we have a hardcore horror film that mixes the best of both worlds of scares and violence, and on the other we have a retro old- school, band of misfits, kids adventure. This film proves you can have terrifying scares and at the same time not sacrifice well-developed characters. These protagonists are not cannon fodders who merely exist in the script to bite the dust, instead they are well fleshed-out human beings with their own problems and motivations. Bill loses his brother Georgie early on and is eager and impatient to find out what happened to him. Ben is the overweight perpetual new kid in school who is smart but has trouble making friends so he stays in the library. Beverly suffers from sexual abuse from her father at home. Individually each child actor brings it in this adaptation, they were all likable and funny, but together the Losers form a chemistry so good you would feel distraught if anything were to happen to even one of them.
Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise gives one of the best villain performances I have ever seen. I would put this Pennywise up there with recent cinematic antagonists such as Hans Landa, Calvin Candie and Heath Ledger's Joker. Skarsgard's body movements, facial twitches and speech patterns were all unsettlingly creepy but at the same time still magnetic to watch. To expand upon my initial question on what is exactly is It: Pennywise the Dancing Clown is just one of the many of forms It the entity takes in the novel, but Tim Curry's performance in the miniseries popularized this particular form, so to most people It is synonymous with Pennywise, thus it makes sense for this remake to keep him as the main face.
Perhaps the one thing that really made It so amazing to me is despite the villain is relentless and the protagonists are just kids, seemingly insurmountable for the Losers to defeat him, Pennywise has a clear weakness and without spoiling anything, he could be defeated. It is so refreshing to watch a horror movie of this kind where the supernatural villain is not a ghost or a demon that cannot be hurt and always wins in the end, but is someone who could lose if the protagonists work together and outsmart him in a meaningful way. This gives hope and creates a sense of earnestness and sincerity to the picture, where the underdogs can eventually overcome the adversary if they do not give up.
Overall It is probably my favorite recent horror movie, and as a film on a technical perspective, it is probably the best ever. The scares worked, it looked great, and the characters and acting was amazing especially by Bill Skarsgard. I love the whole authentic 80's feel, it added a lot to the whole thing. I do not know what more I can ask for in a film in general, because It is easily one of 2017's best.