What I Saw Was Great

Rating: 7/10 (25 September 2019)

I technically only saw portions of this movie, as for the deeply terrifying scenes I had my eyes closed. Given that the purpose of this film was to terrify and thill its viewers, I would say it was a complete success. The monsters were as grotesque as they were symbolic, and the demonic design of Pennywise never fails to make me quake in my seat. Where the movie fell somewhat short, was in the ending, which was to be blunt, rather lame. The group defeats Pennywise by simply shouting random insults at him, which devolves into a chorus of "dumb clown" over and over again. This seems like lazy writing and a dishonor to Steven Kings creations. Given this unearned victory, the happy endings that the remaining members of the group have feels baseless and a bit cheap. However, the acting and visual effects were both phenomenal, and while the emotional pieces fell short, this movie is a horror film in the end, and does meet the standards for that genre.