TFS Movie Review: It | Welcome to the Losers Club

Let me preface this review with scary movies use to be MY JAM. I loved them. Couldn’t stop watching them because nothing was truly scary enough to stay with me. Then in the fall of 2009, Paranormal Activity effed my whole world up. That movie stayed with me long after it was over and thus, ended my relationship with scary movies. Don’t get me wrong, I still watch them, I just don’t seek them out like I use to. So with a lot of reluctance, I went to see this movie.

I prayed beforehand. I jumped only once. I survived It.

Most of us (with good taste) tend to cringe when you hear another classic movie is being remade. Well rest assured peeps and let out a big sigh of relief, because this remake will make you happy.

Based off one of Stephen King’s many creepy novels, It focuses on 7 kids who band together when a mysterious being begins terrorizing them by using their fears. And “It” most often appears in the form of a clown named Pennywise played by Bill Skarsgård. Yes ladies, Alexander Skarsgård has a little brother.

What do I love most about this movie? The casting of these kids. Their dynamic feels natural like a real friendship.

There’s Bill, the nice kid with a stutter and whose brother Georgie introduces us to Pennywise; Ben, the new kid on the block (pun fully intended); Beverly, the alleged school slut; Mike, the homeschooled outsider; Eddie, the hypochondriac; Stanley, the Jew; and last but not least, Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard as Richie aka “Trash mouth.” I swear every time he opened his mouth, I was dying of laughter.

And even though this is a horror flick, I also just liked the general humor of this movie that cut the tension and helped me stay unhidden behind my sweater most of the time.

What did I like least? Pennywise started to lose some of his creep factor towards the end and seemed more like a bad joke. Trust, he delivered the scares. The one time I did jump I totally wasn’t expecting it. But like most scary movies, the more they show the villain, the less scared you get. So that’s not exactly their fault.

So did this reignite my love for the scary? Actually, yeah it kind of did. Will I ever approach that sewage drain at the corner of my front lawn? HELL NO. If something falls down there, it’s gone. I’ll get another one.

Also, fuck clowns.

TFS Rating: A