A brilliant new direction for the horror genre

Rating: 7/10 (12 September 2017)

As someone who is not a massive horror fan this is the type of horror film that I would enjoy and that I wish studios would do more often. It elevates the horror game completely, it shows us that a horror film can be done well and done right and still have a central storyline that is engaging and full of interesting/relatable characters. It really tries to separate itself from the crowd, avoiding common horror tropes like jump scares. This is something that I really liked, it is a very inventive film that does just replace the central 'monster'/threat with a new one making no attempts at character building and actually telling a coherent story. The balance of horror and story telling was grasped very well as we don't feel too expositional or a sense of pointlessness.
It has a wonderful cast of characters, all the child actors did great at portraying children in such a situation. They had great chemistry with each other and gave performances that showed such courage and love that is truly beyond their age. Alexander Skarsgard who played Pennywise also captured this character very well, from the way that his eyes pointed at different directions(one directly at the audience), his speech pattern and movement were all done impeccably.
It also tackles a few central themes very well, the themes of fear, bullying, small town ugliness and a coming of age story. The fear element was done very well, the way that It can morph into the physical appearance of one's fear gave lots of space to explore fear and specifically what children fear. For example whenever Bill felt afraid we see rain or water, relating to his greatest fear of losing his brother. Or in Beverly, where the theme of blood can be seen, relating to her fear of maturity and sexual impulses. These subtle details were dropped in very well and ties in perfectly with the sense of fear that the story tries to explore.
Also, there is a very interesting way in which It depicts the adults in this small town, the movie shows us the most grotesque angles of humanity. This may be another way of depicting how children view adults as monsters and fear adults, but it may also be tieing in with the idea that the small town feel is just a mask for grotesque humanity. The way that the adults carry out disgustingly immoral acts and simply turn a blind eye to all that is happening in the town are just a few examples of this.
Overall, It was a great film that reminded me a lot of several mature movies/TV shows about children. Stuff like Goonies and Stranger Things just to name a couple. If this film must be criticised I think it is with the lack of development in Pennywise's character, even though this could be to preserve a sense of mystery and may be resolved in the second film. Also the middle area of the film verges on being slightly repetitive with the scenes of each child being attacked by Pennywise, but these really are just minor, personal complaints