Review: IT, Coulrophobes Need Not Apply
- Sep 7, 2017
- 2 min read
IT saunters into theatres, handily claiming the title of scariest film of 2017, and easily becoming one of the world's spookiest features.
The plot is simple. The Losers Club, a miscellaneous group of pre-teens, have to deal with the usual problems. From rampant racism to bullies who just want carve their name into them, it's standard 80’s fair. But soon enough some far more dangerous, and far more sinister, makes its way to the small town of Derry, and things will never be the same again.
There's two things that make IT stand out. One, The Losers themselves, and Two, Bill Skarsgard's iteration of Pennywise the clown. While comparisons to Stranger Things are inevitable, particularly with Finn Wolfhard having lead roles in each, and the setting of the 1980's isn't much in IT's favour, they aren't unwarranted. IT often feels like a cinematic adaptation of a Stranger Things episode and while King's novel came years before the Netflix show, the style, the children and the creature take inspiration from both, which is by no means a bad thing. The kids are solidly acted and fun to follow along with but you'll be hard pressed to remember anything distinct about them.
But what is a monster movie without its monster, and IT certainly has a good one. There's no attempt to hide Pennywise' presence, in fact he openly bites a child's arm off in the opening scene, and from that moment forward you know what you're dealing with, or at least you think you, Skarsgard is hands down the most terrifying eldritch terror to grace the screen, despite some cheap effects every now and again. Every word he speaks has a strange creepiness attached to it and I'll be damned if I didn't sink a little lower in my seat when he was onscreen.
IT is a proper horror movie in a world where horror mean either excessive gore or cheap film-making. It's more Alien than Saw, more Elm Street than Unfriended. It's hands down the scariest movie you'll see all year, and likely next year as well. After then, well, Part 2 is yet to arrive. We all float down here, and you'll float too.
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