It (2017) [Blu-ray]
Horror | Thriller
Tagline: It Takes Many Forms
New Line Cinema's horror thriller IT, directed by Andy Muschietti (Mama), is based on the hugely popular Stephen King novel of the same name, which has been terrifying readers for decades. When children begin to disappear in the town of
Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.
Storyline: In the Town of Derry, the local kids are disappearing one by one, leaving behind bloody remains. In a place known as 'The Barrens', a group of seven kids are united by their horrifying and strange encounters with an
evil clown and their determination to kill It. Written by Emma Chapman
Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Michael Reuben, January 11, 2018 You don't have to suffer from coulrophobia (the technical term) or bozophobia (the colloquial equivalent) to be creeped out by Pennywise, the villainous clown-entity
with the voracious appetite haunting Stephen King's 1986 novel, It. In a literary canon rife with memorable monsters, Pennywise remains one of the author's signature creations. It takes an actor with a special gift for playing crazy to portray the
nasty prankster on screen. Tim Curry famously nailed the role in the 1990 TV miniseries, and now actor Bill Skarsgård (brother of Alexander and son of Stellan) has donned the red and white makeup, with electric effect.
Of course, Pennywise is only part of the reason for It's continuing appeal, as reflected in the new film's $700 million worldwide box office. There's also another King staple: a moving depiction of childhood friendship in all its passionate
sweetness and halting fragility. Without that element, It would just be a parade of horribles, and the film would devolve into a predictable scare contraption of the sort that has come to dominate the horror genre in recent years. James Wan may
have cornered the market on such fare with The Conjuring, Insidious and Annabelle series, but It operates on a whole different level. It's the rare horror film that's populated by characters you actually feel for.
King's enormous novel was set in two distinct time periods, chronicling the experiences of the same characters as children and as adults. Director Andy Muschietti's (Mama) film is limited to the childhood story, which is why it is subtitled
"Chapter One". ("Chapter Two" has been announced with an expected 2019 release date.) The script updates the time period from King's original Fifites setting to the late Eighties, allowing Muschietti and his design team to surround their young
protagonists with decor and pop culture references that provide a more contemporary feel without sacrificing a sense of nostalgia. (Hey, look at the Beetlejuice poster! Check out the kid with a Walkman!)
The setting is the fictional town of Derry, Maine, where people, especially kids, seem to go missing at an alarming rate and handbills seeking their whereabouts are posted with such frequency that the old ones are soon obscured by the latest
disappearance. The culprit is Pennywise, who famously first appears peering out of a storm drain as water is pouring into the massive underground sewer system where the evil creature makes his lair. Throughout the film, Pennywise will assume numerous
guises, matching each manifestation to the particular phobia of his current victim. Like so many of the best monsters, the evil harlequin feeds on fear (and, oh yeah, the occasional chunk of human flesh).
The makeshift gang that eventually forms to battle the monster comes to be known as "the Losers", because that's how they're treated by the town's older kids. (Bullies are a recurrent motif in King; someone should do a study.) The gang consists of six
boys and one girl, all on the cusp of puberty and each afflicted by a different burden of otherness (a stutter, crippling allergies, being African American, an abusive home life, etc.). As they gradually realize that all of them have been seeing
supernatural manifestations of the same demon, and also that the adult world seems to be blind to the threat—or chooses not to see it—the Losers find themselves venturing further into danger in a naive but admirable quest to defeat an evil force they
barely understand.
King's novel was filled with detailed back story on Pennywise and the history of Derry, but the script of It: Chapter One—credited to Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation) and Gary Dauberman (Annabelle)—wisely streamlines
the mythology so that the film never gets bogged down in exposition. Certain shots are obvious nods to those who are intimately familiar with King's novel, but generally It moves along briskly, even at a running time of over two hours, as it
balances the scares engineered by Pennywise with the bickering, rivalry and deepening friendship among the Losers. As detailed in the extras, director Andy Muschietti cast the roles with age-appropriate child actors and allowed them ample time to forms
off-screen relationships that give their onscreen interactions a naturalistic credibility. You can feel the bonds that form among them, as they realize that they have no one to rely on except each other in confronting an apparently omnipotent evil that,
like the spirits in Poltergeist, knows all too well what scares them. It's a good metaphor for the terrors of impending adulthood, which is no doubt why It continues to resonate so strongly with viewers of all ages.
Add It to the growing list of effective filmed adaptations inspired by Stephen King, whose track record must now be rivaled only by that of William Shakespeare. (Let's just forget about Dreamcatcher, shall we?) Muschietti and his creative
team have their work cut out for them with Chapter Two. Having established such high standards in the story's first installment, they have raised expectations for the completion of the tale to an intimidating height—and this time they'll have to make do
without the appealing group of child actors whose Loser portrayals are as essential to It's impact as Bill Skarsgård's cheerfully vicious Pennywise. Highly recommended.
[CSW] -3.9- This reviewer said it better than I could: This new adaptation of Stephen King's It looked intriguing, and surpassed my expectations. This movie takes place in 1988 and 89' and immediately starts out with a bang. Where the previous
mini series couldn't and wouldn't go this movie pushes the edge a bit farther. This movie is not JUST a horror movie, in fact you could argue it is many parts of thriller, horror, and coming of age genre. The director uses a myriad of camera angles and
styles to create the elements of fear. There's a fairly lengthy series of scares that just never let up, and that intensity was very gratifying. More importantly I enjoyed the characters and the actors portraying them. Sophia Lillis is very talented and
charismatic, and Finn- as Richie was pretty hilarious. Also, the parents of the children were so interestingly portrayed. For me, THEY were the real monsters of the film, and only intensified the level of outcast the children felt. This movie does have
some stronger content, mostly through gore, and adult language.
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I might add that when attacked by a group of clowns always go for the juggler.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box enhanced this movie.
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