IT Review

So I just watched IT. Not the Tim Curry one, the new one.

In case you’re unaware, IT is a movie about a spoopy clown scaring a bunch of misfit kids in the 80s.

Of course you can’t talk about IT without talking about the clown. I’ve said it before, but I have to reiterate. Spooky clowns are not scary. I don’t care how many teeth he has, how many jitter effects you add to his movement, or how loud the jump scare sound effects are every time he appears on screen. Clowns are not scary. Weird and off putting, but not scary.

That brings me to my next point. Loudness is not scary. Every time the monster did anything, they would use these loud obnoxious bangs, or screams, or screechy musical stings and I thought it deflated anything that was happening on screen. As with anything, loud noises should be used sparingly in horror movies otherwise they lose their effectiveness. They should also be diegetic. Why is there a scream sound effect if no one is screaming?

Of course the other big part of this movie is the kids. To the writers’ credit the kids acted and talked like actual kids. It’s a shame most of them were annoying kids. It’s pretty bad when I find myself hoping the clown kills one of them in particular. *cough* Finn Wolfhard *cough*

This makes it sound like I despised this movie. I didn’t loathe IT, but I didn’t like IT. There were a few moments of legit tension. They just didn’t involve the clown. The town that these kids lived in was a pretty solid setting. Every adult in the movie was strange or creepy in a way that Pennywise only wishes he was. And the sound design could be effective when it calmed the fuck down for a minute.

Overall I can’t recommend IT. The scares were pretty weak, the kids weren’t great, and the sound design got on my nerves to no end. I give IT 18 out of 42 floating paper boats.