IT Review: A Modern Day Horror Classic!

Directed by Andrés Muschietti, IT, headlined by the most complex iconic super-villain ‘Pennywise – The Dancing Clown’ is a 2017 psychological-horror-thriller which is the center point of discussion in the recent-past on the interwebs and is heading towards a gigantic opening week domestically with above 100 million dollars gross. With colossal expectations and with creative differences between the first appointed director (Cary Fukunaga) and the studio, will the new Stephen King’s book adaptation IT rise and shine as a modern-day classic? Let’s find out!

Also Read: Annabelle Comes Home Review

The storyline of the film revolves around the town of Derry, Maine where a bunch of kids keeps getting kidnapped by the killer clown Pennywise as the Losers’ Club unite not only to hunt down the evil gagster but also to end the reign of this dreadful enigma once and for all.

Unlike every other modern horror-thriller we watch these days, this film had a completely different vibe added to it. The way the director and the story writer narrated the seven lead kid characters in the film was effectively elaborate and exceptional. It imported a unique coming-of-age feel in the film in addition to the horror elements. And Andrés Muschietti and the rest of the writing crew should be given special props for developing the characters efficaciously so that we (the audience member) can get behind their experiences throughout the movie.

Another significant part of the film was the shape-shifting macro verse entity IT, whose character was more complex than you think. The ability to feed on the attribute of fear especially with the kids, the shape-shifting capability, the talent of manipulating people’s’ mind was a fascinating trait to have or to watch it on the big-screen. And Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd knocked it out-of-the-work with his performance as Pennywise which is one of the body forms that IT possess in the film.

Advancing to the performances in the film, the whole cast of the Losers’ Club was downright remarkable. Especially Jack Dylan Grazer with his allergic disability, Jaeden Lieberher with his stuttering disability, Finn Wolfhard with his cool-kid attitude and Sophia Lillis with her audacious persona.

Overall, IT was not an example of a stereotypical horror film where we get a bunch of jump-scares or a creepy old grandma lurking in the background. It is the definition of how a horror/thriller should be made by establishing the characters and the storyline and at the same time giving us the equal amount of scares to a point where you just feel uncomfortable with everything happening on-screen. This film already is and will continue to give me nightmares for the next few weeks.

Rating – 3.75/5 | Grade – B+