IT

It, the topsy turvy tale of seven children and a demonic shapeshifting dancing clown is based on a book written by Stephen King. It’s the second film adaptation of the book, but this time hands down more scarier than the previous one. Directed by Andy Muschietti and starring Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the dancing clown, it is one of the best Stephen King adaptations that I have seen, with flops like The Mist and Pet Sematary, though Mist has redeemed itself as a TV show on Netflix.

The film ‘it’self was filled to the brim with jumps and scares, the CGI and special effects only adding to the amazement of the film. From Pennywise coming at you to him chomping on you like a delicious snack, this film is not for the feint of heart. I thought that my own skin was going to fall off with the amount of jumping I did.

The direction by Muschietti made you care just as much about the children as you did about Pennywise. Getting to see what their lives were like, the types of families they had, I for one would not like a sexual abusive father like Beverly or a hypochondriac for a mother like Eddie. This helps you to connect with the characters and the Loser Club that is like their surrogate little family.

Paying homage to Tim Curry’s pennywise performance there is an easter egg of him as a clown toy, in the freakiest part of Derry, a room filled with clowns, pictures of clowns, hundreds of toy clowns and the very dangerous Pennywise the clown.

Over all it had the feeling of a coming of age film, such as Goonies and another Stephen King classic, Stand By Me, corrupted by the supernatural horrors of demonic beings. It works so well as a horror not just because the Jump scenes keep you on the edge of hysteria, but also because you so easily connect with the main characters.

Rating: R16 Violence, offensive language & horror.

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