READERS' CHOICE #34-B: IT CHAPTER ONE (2017)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

9

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, in the theatre when it came out, and I don't believe I've seen it again since

BEST SEQUENCE

It may have been surprising when I didn't even mention the scene where Georgie meets Pennywise in my previous review, and I probably should have - it's an iconic scene and it was totally fine when Tim Curry performed it. I'll give it the edge in this movie, though. Bill Skarsgård is terrifying and it's a perfect introduction to his take on the character - immediately more off-putting, and more animalistic with the way he's constantly drooling and hungrily eyeing Georgie. The kid who plays Georgie is also a pretty good actor. It's just a great introductory scene, an excellent first scare, and it gives us an idea of things to come 

BEST LINE

"I'll take him! I'll take all of you! I'll feast on your flesh as I feed on your fear"

- That's some nice alliteration, there, Pennywise!

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

86%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Well-acted and fiendishly frightening with an emotionally affecting story at its core, IT amplifies the horror in Stephen King's classic story without losing touch with its heart."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"In the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shape-shifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town."

DIRECTOR

Andy Muschietti

MAIN CAST

Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer

THOUGHTS

• This is a great adaptation of IT in so many ways. The actors are great and the characters feel real, and some of the best scenes from the book are brought to life (scenes like Eddie meeting the leper or the blood geysering from Bev's sink). Beyond that, there are also some effective updates to old scenes and some cool additions whole cloth - for my favourite scene I almost picked the slideshow projector scene, which was a nifty update to the kids flipping through a photo album, and brand new sequences include most of what happens in the house on Neibolt Street, like Richie in the room full of clowns
• And speaking of Richie, again he's my favourite character, this time played by Finn Wolfhard. All of the child actors are consistently great, though, believable and genuine. It's also always fun to hear the kids swear like sailors
• And, as Pennywise, Bill Skarsgård is chilling. The voice is creepy as hell, as are the unnatural way he moves, and the ways he can contort his face (that bizarre smile is just a way Skarsgård can position his mouth, and he can naturally point his eyes in opposite directions). This Pennywise is way scarier than Tim Curry's, and yet, Skarsgård is also so immediately, unmistakably evil that we do lose some of the playfulness in Curry's performance, the joyfully malicious way that Pennywise likes to toy with his victims
• Also terrifying, the way that this movie uses Henry Bowers, who I've always considered one of the scariest parts of the book. He's not supernatural, he's just a violent, sadistic kid - a real danger as opposed to an otherworldly one
• I would never call this a horror comedy, it's way more focused on the horror side of the equation, but what jokes we get are pretty funny and character based so they don't distract from the scares
• Quite a few jump scares, which I've discussed a few times now - I have no problem with jump scares as long as they're done well. Although, while thinking of this review it also occurred to me, what even is a bad jump scare? What factors are there between effective horror filmmaking and hacky, uncreative button pushing? If anyone has examples of movies that use jump scares poorly I'd love to hear them, and hey, at least according to a few reviews, this very movie might be thrown out as one example

Up next: Wrapping up our time with Pennywise and the Losers Club, IT Chapter Two