‘IT’ is a horror film based off of the Stephen King novel of the same name. Set in the late 80s, the film focuses on the happenings in the small of town Derry when an evil dancing clown returns to wreak havoc and instill fear in all who cross his path.
The movie has great pacing as it takes no time to introduce the clown known as Pennywise, to the audience. From my first impression, Pennywise is quite charming and persuasive. He’s very good with children as he is able to tell just the right jokes and exhibit a childlike persona to get kids to trust him. All is well until he demands them to come “float” with him. Shortly after the film begins, he immediately embarks on a rampage of abducting the children of Derry, subsequently sending its citizens into a state of distress.
The film’s protagonists–a group of kids who are harshly bullied and deemed losers go on a clown hunt to find Pennywise and the town’s missing children. A skilled manipulator, Pennywise knows exactly how to control and scare each child. By using their fears against them, he is able to get them right where he wants them. It is up to the kids to band together and face their fears as this is the only way to defeat the clown.
Overall, ‘IT’ delivers exactly what it promises. It successfully represents the typical teenage angst of a group of young, coming of age teens combined with the fact that they are scared out of their wits of a demon clown. However, if you’re planning to go see ‘IT’ in hopes of watching a legitimately scary horror film, save your money. ‘IT’ simply is not on the same level of terror as the Conjuring or Insidious. However, if you’re thinking of seeing ‘IT’ for the sake of being entertained for 135 minutes and maybe have a few jump scares, then a movie ticket will be money well spent.
The movie has the typical cliché scary movie content and ends up being more comical than terrifying. It does employ a number of jump scares and has plenty of zombie-like figures to make anyone’s stomach churn. Many times ‘IT’ overuses cliche moments and dialogue which makes the plot a bit predictable. There are many moments this film could have been original and unique, but deliberately chose not to which again only hurts the quality of the movie.
Without giving away any spoilers, ‘IT’ ends on a light note but definitely leaves the audience expecting a sequel. This movie was only Chapter 1 in what is expected to become the ‘IT’ film series. Given the amount of financial success Chapter 1 has had, I doubt Chapter 2 will be too far away.
Out of 5 stars, I give ‘IT’ a strong 4.
Trich Lee is an intern for HottyToddy.com.
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