It

It

Starring Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgard, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis

Directed by Andy Muschietti

The Story:
In the small Maine town of Derry, in 1989, young Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) goes missing after a run-in with a clown named Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard).  His brother, Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), refuses to believe Georgie is dead, and is perplexed by how all the adults in town don't seem to notice all the mysterious disappearances of the children in the town.

Together with the Losers Club - Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly (Sophia Lillis), Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Mike (Chosen Jacobs), Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Stanley (Wyatt Oleff) - Bill uncovers the deadly truth behind the disappearances, and who Pennywise really is.  The kids must face their fears and conquer the clown before they too become listed among the missing.

The Synopsis:
As a child, we had a basement at my house that was dark, dreary, and scared the heck out of me.  Whenever I had to get something down there, I would literally run down the steps, grab what I needed, and run back up as fast as I could.  I lived in a small town where I would ride my bike through the neighborhood with my friends - who were also my neighbors - and we would have a lot of fun in the summertime being outside.

Surprisingly, even though it's an unnerving, unrelenting, downright tense film, "It" also brought back that special nostalgia for me.  Like the kids in the movie, I remember riding my bike through the town, spending summers together and having fun.  Thankfully, unlike the kids, we weren't chased by a demonic inter-dimensional being that appeared every twenty-seven years.  Yet "It" is more than just a clown terrorizing a bunch of kids - it's a coming of age film, a loss of innocence, the power of friendship, and finding the strength to face your fears.

If you ask any director, they'll tell you the two things they don't want to direct are animals and children, for obvious reasons.  Animals cannot listen to direction, and children rarely do.  So with "It" centering around children under the age of 15, it could've been a daunting task to direct the kids to perfection.  Yet, that's exactly what happened.  The cast is incredibly green - the only somewhat recognizable name is Finn Wolfhard (who plays Bill's best friend Richie), who also plays in "Stranger Things" - and this is all of their first big budget film.  It's hard enough directing children who are born in front of the screen, but to draw out real emotions and feelings through a bunch of newbies seemed impossible, but director Andy Muschietti did just that.  Even though it seemed like a bloated cast of seven, each character held their own importance, had their own personal run-in with Pennywise, and worked together as a tight-knit group.  Even though some of them just met during their encounters, it seemed like these youth have been the best of friends since kindergarten.   Even though they refer to themselves as the "Losers Club," they're the kind of group I would've loved to associate with when I was their age.  Muschietti allows the child actors to handle grown-up situations and dialogue, and doesn't treat them with kid gloves.  They take the script and run with it, and you'd wonder why you've never seen these kids in other major projects before.  They're all natural talents.

It's surprising, but Bill Skarsgard's (brother of "True Blood" star Alexander and son of "Thor" star Stellan) Pennywise isn't the only villain the children have to face, and it's actually Pennywise who seems to be the least frightening, at least in the eyes of an adult.  Young Beverly is constantly picked on by the "mean girls" at school, and her relationship with her father is...well...unsettling at best.  She fears her father more than anything, and that's a scary reality that - unlike facing a demon that disguises himself as a clown - is something grounded in reality.  Meanwhile, the other kids are brutally tortured by a gang of town bullies, and that's also a fear that many kids face in the real world (although, hopefully, not as brutally as these bullies threatened them in the film).  Pennywise's pure evil does resonate within the town and possibly elevates their hatred, but sometimes it's the fears closest to home that are the most unsettling.

That's not to say Pennywise isn't terrifying in himself - he's downright petrifying.  He is able to shift into the fears of each child, and finds a way to isolate them to scare the dickens out of them - and the audience as well.  Not to mention Skarsgard's natural ability to make his eyes look in two different directions at once, when he does that as Pennywise it's truly cringe-worthy.  He's the evil that never sleeps, is always hungry, and constantly on the hunt for new prey.  It's an evil that's seemingly unstoppable, and you'd be foolish to try to.  Muschietti is also not afraid to "go there" when it comes to the terror, as the film truly earns its R-rating, and let's say if you're not a fan of seeing children getting hurt and dying, maybe you should see Reese Witherspoon's "Home Again."

Still, despite the continuous underlying sense of doom, "It" surprisingly has some amusing humor, mostly with the banter between the youth.  Finn Wolfhard's Ritchie enjoys the majority of the gags, where you just wonder where the words coming out of his mouth are coming from.  Jack Dylan Grazer's Eddie is a hypochondriac who hilariously warns the others of the dangers of...everything.  Jeremy Ray Taylor's Ben has an odd fixation with New Kids on the Block.  Stephen King has a natural way of blending the comedy and horror together so beautifully it keeps you on your toes, and even Pennywise had some moments of humor.  Along with the comedy and horror, there's also some heavily dramatic pieces as well, mostly with Bill coming to terms with Georgie's disappearance, and Beverly's actions toward her father.   "It" manages to hit the audience in every direction - laughter, tears, and screams.

The Summary:
"It" is unrelenting.  "It" is tense.  "It" is more than just a horror movie.  "It" is one of the best films I've seen this year.

The Score: A+