Stephen King’s IT
Directed by Andy Muschietti, who’s feature film debut Mama (2013) impressed me quite a bit is finally here.
1988 When his younger brother Georgie Denbrough is murdered by Pennywise, a shape-shifting monster that often takes the form of a clown, Bill Denbrough convinces 6 of his friends to band together to fight the malevolent creature and so the Losers club is born.
Now I’ve not seen the original 2 part tv movie (1990) for some time but the things that stuck with me about it was how much better the 1st part was compared to the 2nd, how much the acting hurt me and how cool Tim Curry was as Pennywise.
This was a film I didn’t think I needed and never really thought ever should have been rebooted…. Boy I was wrong on both counts This is a great horror film!
Steering away from the all too familiar jump scares that have infested horror films of late and kill any tension in a scene, Muschetti expertly steers us through the childhood part of the book/part 1 of tv movie. It’s jumpy when it’s supposed to be, scary when it’s supposed to be and has the right amount of tension in nearly every scene.
The child actors show here are some of the best around at the moment Jaeden Lieberher (midnight special) Finn Wolfhard (stranger things) but the nod for me to go to Nicholas Hamilton who plays the ever so damaged and deranged Henry Bowers and Sophia Lissis who plays Beverly Marsh. Also there couldn’t be a review of IT without mentioning Pennywise.. Bill Skarsgàrd brings a physical presence to Pennywise that Tim Curry never could and is far more unpredictable too, there is no campness here folks, straight up nasty.
The film had more then a little bit of a Stand By Me feel to it (awesome!), Goonies (awesome!) with some Stranger Things thrown in there for good measure which isn’t a surprise as the creators of ST have openly said that IT was one of their main inspirations.
The pacing is also perfectly balanced, the 135 minute run-time disappears in the blink of an eye.
This film got it so right. It’s great that a movie from my childhood has actually been improved rather then ruined as is the trend of the last decade.
I’m all in for the 2nd part of this story now, it seems Muschetti is too so that gets me even more hyped
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