The golden beady eyes never truly leave your head. Jeering voices will continue to sit and linger, harmonizing with the screams that urge to leave your lips. All that is left are the thoughts of horror that beleaguer every move you make. In It: Chapter One, no one is safe, never from their fears.
Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel IT, It: Chapter One follows the story of seven outcast friends residing in Derry, Maine, and their fight against an entity who is referred to as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, or It. While facing Pennywise’s terrors, the friends, known as the Losers Club, also struggle with their own personal battles. This influences the way horror is portrayed, for Pennywise frightens others by taking the shape of their fears. With the brains of director Andy Muschietti and screenwriters Chase Palmer, Gary Dauberman, and Cary Fukunaga, the film embodies the hair-rising effects and natural gut feeling of fear right from the beginning. This sensation, through realism and tension, is able to be experienced in every individual sitting in the theater.
Starting off with the iconic scene of Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) and his exchange with Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård), a sense of the characters and their personalities is developed. Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), the leader of the Losers Club, along with his friends, creates a world for viewers as it becomes evident that these were loveable characters. Whether it was Richie’s (Finn Wolfhard) loud mouth and constant use of foul language or Eddie’s (Jack Dylan Grazer) fear of germs, bonds between the characters and audience were quickly formed. Despite being an unfamiliar cast to most, all of the actors executed the personalities of the characters with ease. They reminded us continually what it meant to be a kid, even as a centuries old demon terrorized them.
Besides the superb acting, an attention-grabbing feature of this film was how differently the horror was depicted. Just like the book, It: Chapter One goes into a psychological approach of terrifying its audience. As the characters deal with real life situations, such as bullying, sexual abuse, and losing a sense of childhood, viewers are given storylines that many can relate to in one way or another. At the 2017 San Diego Comic Con, director Muschietti described to fans, “It is a horror movie, but it’s not only that… it’s a story of love and friendship and a lot of other beautiful emotions.” The approach taken makes the movie stand out from other horror movies. While one may argue that there were too many jump scares, the overall production tells the vivid, twisting story that emerges from the sewers of Derry.
However, unlike the book, It: Chapter One (hence the title) only tells one portion of the full story. The novel is written in a style where the narration switches between two time periods: the Losers Club as kids and later as adults. The movie, on the other hand, only focuses on the section that features the characters as children. A sequel to the film, though, is expected to come out September 6th, 2019. In addition, the movie differs from the book with some characters and scenes being left out, due to the controversy surrounding them. Therefore, there will be multiple distinctions for readers and viewers to point out between the two pieces.
It: Chapter One retold a story of more than just fear; it was the tasteful combination of expressive acting and dedication to the book that determined this movie as an authentic horror film. Just be prepared to spend sleepless nights yearning to forget the image of Pennywise’s sinister smile.