Film Review: IT

DIRECTOR: Andy Muschietti STARRING: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Nicholas Hamilton, Jake SimBogaert, Stuart Hughes, Geoffrey Pounsett, USA/CANADA 2017

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IT is back from the sewers, scaring the innocence out of children and playing on more than just a fear of killer clowns. Stephen King’s IT brings a whole new look at coulrophobia (a fear of clowns) feeding off the hysteria that last Autumn saw a media frenzy feasting on the killer clown epidemic. IT has managed to recapture fear in the heart of many with it now becoming Stephen King’s most grossed book tuned to film in opening weekend figures.

Set in Derry Maine, where children go missing six times more than adults, IT is lurking in the sewers. Having woken from a long sleep IT is back to plague the people of Derry with fear reminding them all that “we all float down here”. IT is set in the 80’s, unlike the original, and it follows the story of the self-proclaimed “Loser Club” kids as they battle more than just what lurks in the shadowy depths of the town. Each of the kids has their own individual fears and IT prays on these hoping to turn them against one another.

A number of kids have gone missing in Derry and it takes the interest of an unlikely hero called Ben who is the new kid in town to realise what’s going on. Ben quickly makes friends with the “Loser Club” sharing many of their adolescent worries of growing up, girls and bullies. The reboot of Pennywise the dancing clown brings along with it a circus of the expected jump scares, along with authentic acting from a cast who did not see Bill Skarsgard (IT) until a month into shooting the film. Many of the themes in this film will remind the audience of how real a fear is unless you are forced to face it, especially the ones that are 7ft tall and have a scary resemblance to women putting on lipstick in the dark.

Words: Josh Coombs
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