Most satisfying horror movie

Rating: 9/10 (21 October 2017)

*beware of mild spoilers*
I'm not a cinema expert. Let's just take that out of the way.
I'll start by saying that the way we analyze movies usually boils down to our initial expectations of the movie vs what the movie turned out to be.
There are aspects that I won't cover much here as I don't have enough knowledge to evaluate them.
I classify horror movies by good or bad according to:
1. How many times I was "jump scared"
2. How the horror lingers after the movie finishes
3. The type of horror/scares the movie provides
4. The plot/ the coherence of the story
5. The meaning the movie conveys
Let's start then!
1. Not many - and I didn't have to pretend I had some important message to read on my phone during a tension building scene. The scares are predictable for the most part. The true horror of the movie lies deeper.
2. The way the movie ends cleans up the majority of those nasty images. They take us on a journey with the characters and we feel quite empowered in the end. I only had one nightmare. Okay, two.
3. The first horror scene is absolutely traumatizing for me. It made me feel so sick to see such innocence being corrupted. We're talking about a bunch of kids here, with whom we immediately relate and connect to. To see them suffer in such a vile way is disturbing. My favorite type of horror movie is not the thousand-jumpscares-per- minute type of movie. If you hear a loud sound or see something move in the dark, you get scared because - well, obviously, years of running in the wild from all kinds of predators have imprinted that in our brains. So using that too much on a movie is taking the easy way. Now, creating something that terrifies you after you process it in your very advanced brain - now that is true mastery in horror for me.
4. The plot seemed convincing to me. There was a little of underdevelopment in Pennywise's background but I assume they will cover that in the next movie, as this is only chapter I. The kids all have their own context, some were more developed than others but you only get so much screen time. In the end, some questions remained but I felt they gave us enough to want to see more. The movie also had a good pace and they center the story on each of the kids' fears, their friendship, and the growing menace of Pennywise.
5. This is my favorite part. The movie has a good balance between metaphors and obviousness. They tell us that Pennywise is the representation of the kids' fears, and you can see him emerge every time the kids are put in situations that make them afraid. With a few exceptions of course. Bill was obsessed about his brother, and this was his own mourning journey. His friends were struggling too but Bill seemed to be the only one who actually was ready to let go. By chasing that hope of being at peace, he dragged his friends to face their own fears.
Conclusion: The cast is amazingly good. I never cringed during the movie, everything flows very well. It scared me at times and some of the scenes terrified me by their underlying meaning. In the end, it was very satisfying to see how they manage to overcome their fears. I'm not afraid to give a 10 to a movie and I'd certainly watch it again. Is it a masterpiece of horror? Again, it all boils down to what you expect from a movie. This one ticked all my boxes, so I'm giving It a 10 ;)