Review: “It”, a new terrifying upgrade from a Stephen King classic

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Amber Ollari, Staff Writer

 

Stephen King is well known for his twisted storylines that make you want to sleep with the lights on, “It” will do just that.

“It” hit the big screens on September 8th, 2017 with a whopping $123.1 million in the box office its first weekend in theaters.

The movie takes place in Derry, Maine during a rainy day in October of 1988. Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) is working on a paper boat for his little brother, Georgie, to play with. Georgie loses track of the boat and chases it down until he comes to a sewer. The boat is sucked into the sewer and Georgie goes to try to find it.

As he walks up to the sewer, Georgie is startled by a clown holding his boat and the clown introduces himself as “Pennywise the Dancing Clown” (Bill Skarsgård).

At some point, Pennywise offers the boat to Georgie only if he reaches in to get it. Of course, no matter how much you plead for him not to, Georgie reaches in and the clown’s razor-sharp teeth bite down on Georgie’s arm. Georgie rips away and tries to crawl to safety but Pennywise gets to him before he can run away.

Every 27 years, Derry’s children are haunted by the killer clown, who paralyzes them with their worst fears before taking them. Bill and his pals Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer), Stanley (Wyatt Oleff), Mike (Chosen Jacobs), Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), and Beverley (Sophia Lillis), AKA “The Seven Losers”, try to figure out why so many kids have gone missing while trying to avoid local bully Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) and his group of goons.

Each member of the group has a different backstory and different fears which Pennywise feeds off. For example, Mike was sent to live with his grandfather after his parents died in a house fire. Mike’s ultimate fear is caused by the fire and Pennywise uses this against him while trying to kill him.

The saying “stronger in numbers” really ends up being the case for the group. It has a difficult time picking the kids off one by one because they fight as one. Each members’ fear may still be lingering but they try to push them aside to help each other beat It, though it took them a couple tries.

You will notice throughout the movie a red balloon. The balloon can only be seen by children and is a very bad signal that Pennywise is coming and planning to kill. The “scenes” that Pennywise shows to his victims before they die can, once again, only be seen by kids as well.

The movie is two hours and fifteen minutes but between all the jump scares and the comical relief it feels a lot longer, but in a good way. This movie is really the perfect mix, you have heart-stopping frights and the ever so funny wise cracks from Eddie and Richie, which continue even through their terror.

Nonetheless, people are really enjoying this killer clown flick!

“I think it was really well made, it was executed really well for such a massive book!” said Kassidy Lopez.

Others believed the scary scenes didn’t overshadow the actual storyline.

“It did not hold the movie back for having a great story,” said Jeremy Targonski.

When asked about a favorite part, Justin Reid claimed, “the scene when Pennywise was dancing creepily because it was comical and distracted me a little from the intenseness of the plot.”

Overall, “It” was a very well-directed movie and definitely shows the true Stephen King style we have all come to know and love. See “It” in theaters near you! (Just be cautious of sewer grates and red balloons!)