It (2017) is the newest Stephen King book-to-film adaptation. The premise revolves around a group of children in the fictional town of Derry, Maine where a killer shape-shifting clown, known as Pennywise The Dancing Clown, begins taking children. 

The novel itself is broken into two parts, spanning decades. The kids story takes place in 1958, while  the adults story takes place 27 years later in 1985. In this film, we see the children’s story. But, it is safe to assume there will be a follow-up within the next couple of years, possibly releasing as soon as Fall 2019. 

One of the things that made this movie great was the casting, especially the child actors. You truly feel like all of them are friends, on and off screen. It’s definitely something that made the film work as a whole. The standout was Finn Wolfhard as Richie Tozier. His wisecracking quips brought the majority of the comedy. This choice was very risky because sometimes too much comedy in a horror film isn’t a good idea and it can derail from the scariness, but in this case, it worked.

Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise was perfection. The voice Skarsgård used was mesmerizing and creepy. From the very first scene where you meet Pennywise, you learn quickly learn who he…It…is and what he…It…is all about. Whenever Skarsgård’s on screen, it is always a treat because of how he draws into the more unsettling aspects of the character. There is a new level kind of scary here. No disrespect to legendary actor Tim Curry and his portrayal in the 90’s miniseries, but with today’s standards, it’s fair to say that adaptation for sure leans into more of the corny aspects. 

The visual aspect of the film was beautiful. The contrasting color scheme of light and dark was unique because they could make things terrifying in broad daylight. It’s very rare, especially for horror films, to be able to do that right. The small-town setting of Derry also felt real and not like a fake set they made for the movie.

The only thing that bothered me was a scene where the protagonists cleaned up a bathroom. The scene just felt very unnecessary and out of place. Other than that, I could barely find anything wrong with the film. Granted, I wasn’t expecting to rip this movie a new one…but it’s very rewarding that there were little to no flaws.

Now the big question people are asking is “Is IT scary?”, and my response to that is yes and no. If you’re afraid of clowns, then yes you’re going to be scared. But, if you’re someone like me who watches a lot of horror movies…this probably won’t make you jump out of your seat screaming. The way I described it on my podcast review of the film was that it’s more unnerving. Yes, the film is scary, but most of the scary parts in the film isn’t a cliche jump scare, it’s the element of freaking you out. That’s what Pennywise is there to do. He’s not there to give you a heart attack, he’s there to freak you out because he can transform into your greatest fear. So being able to make the audience feel unsettled is smarter than going the classic route and have Pennywise just pop out of the corner.

The movie has only been out for four days and has already made $185.1 million on a budget of $35 million. The estimates for opening weekend were between $65-70 million. This set the largest opening weekend for a horror movie and a movie released in the month of September and also second largest opening for an R rated movie with Deadpool being number one.

It currently holds an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes based on a total of 205 reviews, 177 being fresh and 28 being rotten.

Hopefully, with where the film left off and all the acclaim it’s getting, It: Chapter 2 will be as good as its predecessor. If you haven’t had the chance to see it yet, I highly recommend that you do.

It is now playing in theaters.