It 2017 movie review

By Emma Yu, Sabira Abdoolcader, and Leah King

​     Walking into the movie IT, you might be expecting a horror movie. But it’s not just that. It’s so much more. IT is packed with outrageously funny humor, middle school drama, and even a little cheesy romance. Don’t get us wrong, IT is riddled with heart-attack-causing jump scares and some scenes that are just outright terrifying. However, if you are new to horror movies, IT is a great place to start.

    It’s 1958. In the town of Derry, Maine, a group of middle school “losers” band together to defeat It, a murderous clown that is responsible for the disappearances of many children. The Losers Club includes “Stuttering” Bill Denbrough played by Jaeden Lieberher, Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier played by Finn Wolfhard, Ben Hanscom (Eggboy) played by Jeremy Ray Taylor, Stanley Uris (the Jew) played by Wyatt Oleff, Mike Hanlon (the Historian) played by Chosen Jacobs, Eddie Kaspbrak (the Germaphobe) played by Jack Dylan Grazer, and Beverly Marsh, the “slut” played by Sophia Lillis. These disappearances have been going on for a hundred years, but no one’s cared or been brave enough to do something about it - until now. Though they don’t know it at first, the losers all have one thing in common - they’ve all encountered a creepy clown by the name of Pennywise, and it targets all of the children in Derry, feeding on their fear.     

Overall, we would give this movie an 8/10. After reading the book, we thought that the movie was even better at putting the characters Stephen King created in action, and the movie follows the book almost as tightly as Harry Potter. We also love how the movie had a deep story to it that goes beyond just blood and guts, which is what distinguishes It from other horror movies. We also loved how they kept the love triangle of Bill, Ben, and Beverly from the original book and the really strong friendships between each of the Losers.

In terms of scariness, we’d rate this movie 6.5/10 because it contained a few really intense, pants-peeing moments that drive you mentally insane waiting for the worst to happen, but the comedic relief well-placed in-between each intense part is like the milk after eating a Ghost Pepper.

********IF YOU DID NOT WATCH THE MOVIE, DON’T READ FURTHER.
                                                                                          WE’RE WARNING YOU. DON’T DO IT!*******

Here are some of the most iconic scenes that we loved and thought were really well done:

The Projector Scene: The Losers Club are looking at some slides on a projector screen and suddenly Pennywise instantly appears on the screen and jumps out into the room with them. The kids, who were terrified of Pennywise trying to attack them, attempts to stop him by turning off the projector. We thought the young actors did a terrific job reacting to the jumpscare.

The Basement Scene: Bill Denbrough follows the ghost of Georgie into the basement of his house, which seems to be filled with “grey water,” as Eddie Kaspbrack says. He sees Georgie in the corner repeatedly saying “you’ll float too!” louder and louder until his body seems to decay slowly. Then the head of Pennywise pops out of the water and dunks Georgie inside, in an explosion of blood. Pennywise then rushes out of the water at Bill.

The TV Scene: When Henry Bowers receives his switchknife in the mail which he thought was lost, he feels a sort of urge to kill his father. He enters the living room where his father was sound asleep. The TV which was flipped to a channel where kids were sitting down with Pennywise, who tells Henry to kill his father. Henry places the switchknife at his father’s neck. After hesitating for a moment, he flicks the switch, which kills his dad.

Pennywise’s Dungeon of Floating Children: The Losers Club goes down into the dungeon to finish off Pennywise once and for all because he took Beverly. When they find Beverly, she is floating in the air unconscious. Ben, who’s a love interest to Beverly, kissed her unexpectedly. Beverly woke up from her coma and reunited with the rest of the Losers Club. Bill then faces Pennywise in the form of Georgie. Facing a difficult decision, Bill hesitates to shoot Georgie. But he does and Georgie is dead on the floor. But then he turns into Pennywise who tries to attack the group, offering everyone freedom in exchange for Bill’s life. Richie delivers the first blow, and with teamwork, they manage to defeat Pennywise for the next 27 years.