It Chapter 1 Review

So, I know what you’re thinking. Why am I writing an It review a solid 6 months after I wrote about It Chapter 2? Simple answer: went to watch the sequel at the cinema in September and wasn’t running the blog in 2017 when I went see the first IT. But anyway, enough rambling let’s get started.

This review obviously contains major spoilers

So, the It I’m reviewing is the 2017 remake of the Stephen King novel. The film follows the Losers Club (Bill, Eddie, Stanley, Richie, Bev, Ben and Mike) as they try to figure out what’s happened to Billy’s brother Georgie and the rest of the kids that go missing in Derry. Life isn’t made any easier by the town psychopathic teen Bowers and his gang. The monstrous clown does his best to stop them by throwing things at the Loser Club which frighten them the most.

Ok so the acting and characterisation in this film is so amazing and unreal. You can tell that the actors really studied their characters and back stories well and got their characters down to the fine details like how IT’s eyes went out of focus as he got more and more hungry for Georgie. It just felt really well studied.

Shout out to Jack Dylan Grazer for pulling off the inhaler in the slideshow garage. It would be really easy for an inhaler to become an almost gag but just like with the earlier parts of the film before he found out about the gazebo placebos, that he was genuinely terrified and clinging to his medication.

One thing that I would have loved to see would be more of a focus on Hockstetter in Bower’s gang. I just think he had really sadistic aspects like with the DIY flame thrower and how he sent the other goon purposefully on the wrong path so that he could deal with Ben alone. I think Bower is a good character but Hockstetter is the most interesting of the pack.

Overall, it’s an awesome film. I’ve watched it around 4 or 5 times at this stage and found it terrifying the first time. I found it terrifying not particularly because of the clown but because of the people of Derry. There is so little concern for what happens as they have grown up in fear as children. The message of this story is that fear is one of the most dangerous to have ever existed. It can lead to control issues like with Eddie’s mom, passiveness when it comes to the woman who saw Georgie and violence who lived in fear of his father and made him violent to prove he was strong.

See ya around

Poster and film property of New Line Cinema, Lin Pictures, Vertigo Cinema and Katzsmith Productions.