142.
IT
9/10
The most anticipated horror of the year has finally made it to our screen. The adaptation of a Stephen King book, the story revolves around a group of bullied school kids, who join together to tackle a demon that comes in the shape of a clown. Each trailer got better and better, showcases this freaky looking villain that has the ability to play on your fears. In 1990, this book was made into a TV mini-series, which I hadn't seen, but was more than looking forward to seeing this one.
This film has a decently long, run time, which I was always going to be more than happy with because of my love of the horror genre. If we quickly skim through the storyline, it is a pretty non-stop ride with creepiness, disaster and a musical score to compliment the lot.
In 1988, a boy named Bill is making a boat for his brother who takes it outside, in the rain, to race it down the street. It ends up a storm drain and the audience are 'treated' to our first glimpse of Pennywise the dancing clown. Being a very white with red striped face paint, this all adds to the effect of making him as scary as possible. His moth is full of sharp teeth, with a creepy, angled smile and constantly salivating mouth, Bill Skarsgard has really brought this character to life. Even his eyes possess evil, which roll in different directions now and again. The speech has erratic moments of excitement, which quickly change to dry, abrupt demands and soon he asks if the boy would like his boat back. Once he agrees, the clown's mouth opens emphatically, to bite off the boy's outstretched arm and drag him down to the sewers.
In 1988, a boy named Bill is making a boat for his brother who takes it outside, in the rain, to race it down the street. It ends up a storm drain and the audience are 'treated' to our first glimpse of Pennywise the dancing clown. Being a very white with red striped face paint, this all adds to the effect of making him as scary as possible. His moth is full of sharp teeth, with a creepy, angled smile and constantly salivating mouth, Bill Skarsgard has really brought this character to life. Even his eyes possess evil, which roll in different directions now and again. The speech has erratic moments of excitement, which quickly change to dry, abrupt demands and soon he asks if the boy would like his boat back. Once he agrees, the clown's mouth opens emphatically, to bite off the boy's outstretched arm and drag him down to the sewers.
8 months have passed and school is out for the summer. Bill and his gang of misfit friends are run upon by the local bully. After this, Billy heads home to work on looking for his brother, who he still thinks is alive. His parents don't offer too much support, so he recruits his friends, to help with the search. Back around school though, we have already seen a girl, who is trash talked by others about her social life and an overweight loner, who bumps into her and instantly feels and attraction. This loner, Ben, heads to the library for sanctuary but is quickly freaked out when he reads about the town's history of tragedy and unexpected disappearances. He ends up encountering a headless boy in the lower levels, one that he has just read about. He escapes, only to run into the bullies and then flees once more, into the Barrens, where Bill's group are searching. The realise he is hurt, so head into town to patch him up. One of the bullies thinks that they are in the sewer pipes though, so heads in and meets an untimely end, down to some zombie looking characters that call his name. So far, each one has had an encounter with the evil presence. One has had a creepy picture come to life and attack him, another has a leper follow him home. The main one though is Bill, who sees his dead brother run around his house. He is standing down in the flooded cellar, calling his older brother to 'float' with him, as we see Pennywise rise from the water and run towards Bill is a very freaky scene. Beverly has litres of blood shoot out of her bathroom sink, that only her and the 'loser club' can see. Even her father doesn't notice. Later that day, they see the bullies beating up another guy, Mike, who we got introduced as a young farmer, with the inability to kill some sheep. Since then, he too has had a nightmare encounter, which involved see a place burn down and hands trying to break through a door to escape.
The gang decide that action needs to be taken, otherwise they will always be looking behind them. IT only comes once every 27 years until it has had its fill, so they are limited on time. They watch a slide show, detail their plan, sewer systems and story behind the events, just before the slides start being controlled by something else, the clown pops onto the screen and then escapes it. Finally, escaping this brief encounter, they head to a rundown building in which, the well that IT appears from, is built. The gang head in a and quickly get separated. Each one facing their own fear, Eddie breaks his arm, while Pennywise gloats about killing Georgie. The gang and mainly Bill, show that they are not frightened of this monster. He preys on fear and when the gang fail to give in, Beverly impales the clown, through the head, with a steel bar. Back outside, we are met with the usual cliché of the gang breaking up after arguing. Some want to move away instead, whist only two now want to kill Pennywise. A few weeks later, Bev fights her abusive father, only for Pennywise to turn up and abduct her. When Bill hasn't heard off her in a while, he heads to her house and finds a message from the clown, painted in blood. The Losers Club regroup and head to the house to save her, abseiling down the well. Mike stays up top, to be the last down but Bowers the bully has turned up. This guy, by now, has killed his father after being brainwashed by the clown. He is there to turn his attention on the gang, but Mike gets the better of him and sends him down the well to his death. Beverly wakes in the clown's lair, down the sewers. She sees a pile of decaying circus props, and a stage, which opens up with fire, music and Pennywise randomly dancing along. She looks up to see many, many children floating about, linking to the, 'You'll float too' line. She is exposed to the demon's true form, whose mouth opens up to show hundreds off teeth and at the back of the throat, two small, bright yellow lights, which send her into a catatonic state and floating up to join the others. As the guys enter, she is restored to normal by a kiss from Ben. In the background, Bill sees Georgie again, but he knows that it's the clown in disguise so doesn't hesitate to shoot him in the head. As he lays on the floor, the clowns arms start stretching out of the little lad's body, along with the legs and soon, the clown is in full show. He takes Bill hostage and offers to spare the others if he can just take Bill. They reject this and everyone start attacking the clown. It transforms into each person's fears, but they all defeat their own in a brutal battle until the clown is made to cower down another well and out of sight. This is a bitter sweet victory, as Bill must now accept that his brother has died.
As the summer and the film itself ends, the gang are sitting at a river side and Beverly tells them all of the visions she had whilst floating. She seen them all fighting the clown as adults, so all declare a blood oath, that they will come back and defend their small town in the years to come. A musical montage shows each member leaving the grassy area, one by one, until Beverly and Bill are left, who share a kiss before the screen turns to black. The title 'IT' pops up, along with the words, 'Chapter I', stating that this is only the first movie to come. At the end of the full credits, we here Pennywise laughing, giving us what we already knew. That the clown is still alive.
Everything about this movie was clever. The 27 years thing carries on, after this movie was released 27 years after the original. I had been waiting for this horror since seeing the first trailer and it didn't disappoint. Although it wasn't downright scary, it was creepy, disturbing and held a comedic undertone. This was thanks to the cast. Each of the kids were totally different and each one was great. We had the female, the carer, the leader, quiet one, worrier and sarcastic asshole, who was my favourite. Each one, had to fight through their own fear in order to work together and survive. This was the same for the audience, who may have been scared at first, but as the movie went one, got more used to the clown, creepiness and the scare factor lowered. I'm not sure that this was intentional but with the great plot, acting and filming, it would be cool if this was slyly intended. I had never seen the original, or had the pleasure of reading the book but I can only imagine that this movie did both proud and although it was a longer horror than normal, I cannot wait for the next instalment. What I need to know next is where the clown actually came from!
The gang decide that action needs to be taken, otherwise they will always be looking behind them. IT only comes once every 27 years until it has had its fill, so they are limited on time. They watch a slide show, detail their plan, sewer systems and story behind the events, just before the slides start being controlled by something else, the clown pops onto the screen and then escapes it. Finally, escaping this brief encounter, they head to a rundown building in which, the well that IT appears from, is built. The gang head in a and quickly get separated. Each one facing their own fear, Eddie breaks his arm, while Pennywise gloats about killing Georgie. The gang and mainly Bill, show that they are not frightened of this monster. He preys on fear and when the gang fail to give in, Beverly impales the clown, through the head, with a steel bar. Back outside, we are met with the usual cliché of the gang breaking up after arguing. Some want to move away instead, whist only two now want to kill Pennywise. A few weeks later, Bev fights her abusive father, only for Pennywise to turn up and abduct her. When Bill hasn't heard off her in a while, he heads to her house and finds a message from the clown, painted in blood. The Losers Club regroup and head to the house to save her, abseiling down the well. Mike stays up top, to be the last down but Bowers the bully has turned up. This guy, by now, has killed his father after being brainwashed by the clown. He is there to turn his attention on the gang, but Mike gets the better of him and sends him down the well to his death. Beverly wakes in the clown's lair, down the sewers. She sees a pile of decaying circus props, and a stage, which opens up with fire, music and Pennywise randomly dancing along. She looks up to see many, many children floating about, linking to the, 'You'll float too' line. She is exposed to the demon's true form, whose mouth opens up to show hundreds off teeth and at the back of the throat, two small, bright yellow lights, which send her into a catatonic state and floating up to join the others. As the guys enter, she is restored to normal by a kiss from Ben. In the background, Bill sees Georgie again, but he knows that it's the clown in disguise so doesn't hesitate to shoot him in the head. As he lays on the floor, the clowns arms start stretching out of the little lad's body, along with the legs and soon, the clown is in full show. He takes Bill hostage and offers to spare the others if he can just take Bill. They reject this and everyone start attacking the clown. It transforms into each person's fears, but they all defeat their own in a brutal battle until the clown is made to cower down another well and out of sight. This is a bitter sweet victory, as Bill must now accept that his brother has died.
As the summer and the film itself ends, the gang are sitting at a river side and Beverly tells them all of the visions she had whilst floating. She seen them all fighting the clown as adults, so all declare a blood oath, that they will come back and defend their small town in the years to come. A musical montage shows each member leaving the grassy area, one by one, until Beverly and Bill are left, who share a kiss before the screen turns to black. The title 'IT' pops up, along with the words, 'Chapter I', stating that this is only the first movie to come. At the end of the full credits, we here Pennywise laughing, giving us what we already knew. That the clown is still alive.
Everything about this movie was clever. The 27 years thing carries on, after this movie was released 27 years after the original. I had been waiting for this horror since seeing the first trailer and it didn't disappoint. Although it wasn't downright scary, it was creepy, disturbing and held a comedic undertone. This was thanks to the cast. Each of the kids were totally different and each one was great. We had the female, the carer, the leader, quiet one, worrier and sarcastic asshole, who was my favourite. Each one, had to fight through their own fear in order to work together and survive. This was the same for the audience, who may have been scared at first, but as the movie went one, got more used to the clown, creepiness and the scare factor lowered. I'm not sure that this was intentional but with the great plot, acting and filming, it would be cool if this was slyly intended. I had never seen the original, or had the pleasure of reading the book but I can only imagine that this movie did both proud and although it was a longer horror than normal, I cannot wait for the next instalment. What I need to know next is where the clown actually came from!
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