IT is a genuinely thrilling movie... but I still miss Tim Curry

As a child, I was terrified by three films.  The first was The Exorcist, which is still one of the scariest movies ever made.  The second was the head-trippy Jacob's Ladder, a movie that I could barely sit through when I was younger.  The third, and perhaps most frightening to me, was the ABC miniseries event based on Stephen King's IT.  IT scared the hell out of me for a myriad of reasons, but most centrally, was the iconic performance of Pennywise The Clown by Tim Curry.  He forever instilled a fear of clowns in most children my age and beyond.  Looking back at the original IT, the film doesn't quite hold up in terms of quality and the performances are slightly (OK, not so slightly) campy.  However, the genuine chills still exist and I have to admit to being a little skeptical of this big screen remake.  However, after seeing the film tonight, I can say that my fears were mostly unnecessary.  IT is a top notch big budget thriller that improves upon the original in almost every way.

This version of IT focuses on the town of Derry, Maine during the summer of 1989 (different from the 1950s setting of the book and original movie).  A group of outcast children (known as the Loser's Club) discovers that children have gone missing at an alarming rate.  The Loser's realize that they have all been experiencing similar experiences involving a maniacal clown known as Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgard), who terrorizes them by invoking the children's deepest, darkest fears against them.  The Loser's figure out that the town of Derry seems to go through a cycle of terror every 27 years, and Pennywise is always at the center of it.  He preys on children, while the adults of the town gloss over it (similar to Freddie Kruger in the Nightmare on Elm Street films).  It's soon up to the Loser's Club to try and rid Derry of the demon clown before it's too late.

I think this film does a great job of portraying adolescence (granted a really messed up one), and the troubles with growing up.  The group of children are the stars of this film.  They are equal parts hilarious and vulnerable.  They band together because of their similar home settings (all experience some form of physical or mental abuse by older members of their family or society).  The break out stars of this film is Finn Wolfhard (of Stranger Things fame) and Sophia Lillis.  Finn's character is the comedic center of this film and delivers his lines with perfect timing and impulse.  Lillis' character is the lone girl in the Loser's Club, and she has perhaps, the most emotionally troubling background of all the children.  The Loser's Club draw you in to the film in a relate able way and keep you interested throughout its slightly bloated run time.

On the other hand is Pennywise the Clown.  Skarsgard had a tough task in this film.  He had to take on such an iconic role while making it his own, and I think that he did an admirable job of it.  However, I think that Curry still owns this character and the follow-up will have to do a better job of making this Pennywise stand on his own.  He didn't get much of a chance to deliver lines of dialogue the way Curry did, and I was a little disappointed in that.

Make no mistake, this film is pure popcorn movie fun.  It delivers genuine thrills while keeping the story and characters grounded.  Yes, the villains are over the top at times, and it does tend to go the CGI route a little too much (though I was OK with that).  IT is a perfect escapist film and one I would highly recommend.

I much appreciated this film focusing on one-half of King's story.  However, I'm a little worried that the box office success of IT will make the producers drag the story out into as many films as possible.

If you're a fan of horror, go check it out.  3 out of 4 stars.