It's fair to say that recently, Hollywood has had an over reliance and abundance of horror remakes and "re-imaginings", from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' to 'Halloween' to 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'- all with varying degrees of critical and financial success (although, they tend to make the BIG BUCKS. Most of the time, we don't need them, but every once in a while a remake comes along and knocks it out of the park and into the sewer drain!
I'm talking, of course, of 'IT'. The success of this film has been extraordinary. After the announcement of another film version of Stephen King's most bizarre book, and its shaky production, it's safe to say that it has all paid off tremendously well! The film-makers have created a fun, creepy, funny and at times heart-warming coming of age tale that really takes you by surprise when the surprises are thrust upon you. A film about friendship, fear and love... and balloons.
Let me start of by saying that this is not a perfect horror film. In fact it's in no way that terrifying (to me, anyway). The scares, at times come of as cheap and predictable, and that's something that Director Andy Muschietti should have tried to avoid with this particular film. It's something that modern horror has made a trend of... silence... silence... JUMP!
The Losers Club are fantastic. These child actors have created such real and enduring characters and they're such a joy to watch. In particular, Jaeden Lieberher as Stuttering Bill, Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben, the adorable Sophia Lillis as Beverly and Finn Wolfhard as Richie Tozier. The entire ensemble do incredibly well, but those four happen to be my personal stand-outs.
However, the stand-out of all the stand-outs (and the centre of the marketing ploy that has got millions flocking to the cinemas) is Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Never before in the World of horror have we had such an ambitious and mesmerising performance. From the voice, the astonishing make-up and costume, the ticks and body language; Skarsgård has made a cinematic icon of Freddy Krueger proportions... especially when he is used very sparingly.
My only gripe (apart from the cheap jump scares) is that the CGI ruins the novelty of the film a bit. In a horror film, the effects are best when they are practical.
The film is a simple 'kids vs monster' film of the 80's, and I think that's what the film-makers had in mind; a good-old fashioned fun piece of film.
I don't know what else to say, the movie is so much fun, with great atmosphere and great characters... go see it and float!
