Sunday Night Movie Review: It

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In an attempt to help others cure their scaries — or to give people movie recommendations, I haven’t decided yet — I’m going to review the movies I watch and give them an overall rating at the end. Let’s see how this goes!

Also, just as a heads up, if you haven’t seen the movie I’m about to spoil the shit out of it.

Movie: It

Streaming Service: HBO Go

Synopsis: “Every 27 years, an ancient evil awakens in the town of Derry, Maine… and it has an insatiable appetite for children. From the terrifying bestseller by Stephen King comes this blockbuster that follows a group of bullied kids who are forced to face the murderous, shape-shifting creature that appears in the form of a malevolent clown named Pennywise.”

Alright, y’all. I figured I would close out a spooky weekend with a spooky movie, and boy did It deliver. This movie had everything I was looking for: suspense, gore, jump scares, and a great set of characters. Truth be told, it may have toppled The Shining as one of my favorite horror movies of all time.

The movie starts off with a bleak introduction wherein a young child chases his toy boat down the gutters of the street only to lose it to an all-too-friendly clown. It’s the scene from the trailer. You know this scene. What you might not know, though, is that this scene ends with the little boy getting his fucking arm bitten off before he’s dragged into the sewer. Did you know you can do that to kids in movies? Because I didn’t. Also, big ups to the kid who plays Georgie because he was only on screen for, like, 10 minutes in the whole movie and managed to make me cry.

If I learned anything from It, it’s that being a kid in the ’80s would have sucked. When I was growing up, the worst of our bullying was calling people names and pointing out their biggest insecurities. You know, psychological stuff. Whereas in this movie, the bullies dump trash juice on a girl, throw a kid’s yarmulke into the woods, and, at one point, one bully literally starts carving his name into a kid’s stomach. I’m sure this is some sort of an exaggeration for dramatic effect, but like, that thought had to come from somewhere, you know?

That being said, the incessant bullying these kids endure during the film makes you empathize with them that much more. Not only that, their shared experiences as victims of bullies helps them band together and ultimately build the courage to stand up to their fears and defeat evil.

Speaking of evil, let’s talk about this clown. When I first saw the trailer for It, I thought the clown was just some deranged dude who would dress up and scare the shit out of kids. A Joker type, if you will. Nope. I was wrong. The monster itself is some sort of a shape-shifter thing that takes the form of your biggest fear. Only once it gets close to you, it reveals that it has hundreds of teeth and is capable of tearing your limbs off.

The scares in this film are fantastically done. It’s got jump scares, like when Pennywise shows up in random places or when a car comes screeching down an alley. And then it has suspense, a Stephen King staple, where something ominous is bound to happen but you’re not sure what or when. However, the movie takes it to the next level where it combines the two and adds a whole “what the hell is going on?” factor. For example, the sink scene where Beverly gets tied to the sink in her bathroom and blood spouts from the drain, covering the walls, but only she can see it. Or when the kids have to choose between doors marked “Not Scary At All,” “Scary,” and “Very Scary.”

All in all, I really only have two gripes with this movie. First, did it ever occur to the kids to tell an adult about this? Throughout the movie they talk about how nobody is doing anything about the missing kids, but do they ever actually talk to an adult about the clowns, the blood, the torn-off limbs, or anything? Don’t get me wrong, I love the kids vs. the world concept here. I just feel like it would be helpful to have an adult on your side during this.

The second thing that’s been driving me nuts is the bully who ended up killing his dad. I thought it was great to see his origin story, but at the same time I feel like the entire plotline of him trying to go on a killing spree was too much. That being said, watching him get pushed down a well was one of the most satisfying parts of the movie.

So in the final days of October, if you’re in the mood for something a little spooky, very suspenseful, and incredibly well-acted, I would recommend giving It a shot. I can almost guarantee you won’t be disappointed. That is, unless you’re afraid of clowns.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 spooks, definitely would recommend.

Image via YouTube

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Charlie

Using sarcasm as a defense mechanism since 1993. At any given moment I'm either tired, drunk, or stressed out. Get at me at charliepgp@gmail.com or whatever.

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