IT (2017) | First Impressions

This isn't really something I would call a "review" because in order for me write a proper review, I would have to constantly watch and analyze a work carefully in order to make accurate points, and I really don't have enough money nor the desire to watch the same movie repeatedly in theaters (Star Wars is the exception). Nevertheless, after watching the film for the first time over the weekend, I feel like IT deserves to be written about because it's now the highest September box-office ever, and overall it's a good horror movie.

So here are my first impressions of IT, take them for what you will.

Note: IT is a rated R film for intense scares, gore, violence, and all sorts of mature shit, so be warned because I will be writing about this heavy-handed stuff (plus I'll have some creepy shots from the film). Also, spoiler warning.

My Background & the General Aesthetics

First and foremost, I've never read Stephen King's IT, so I have no book bias, and I've only partially seen the 1990 film adaptation (years ago), so neither do I have that bias. All I'm able to compare are the aesthetics of the films, and for the most part I find the 2017 version more appealing. It simply looks darker and less playful than its 1990 predecessor. The new Pennywise looks more haunting than Tim Curry's getup, with his costume looking visibly more worn-out, dull, and old-timey compared to the rather modern and flamboyant 1990 version. Even the white makeup starts to crack in several spots, indicating that instead of blending in with modern clowns, Pennywise is clearly a living record filled with history, and who has also been around Derry for a very, very long time. Not to mention that Bill Skarsgård looks more sinister and something that is less than human instead of just "a creepy guy" with too much makeup. I especially like the red tails going from the corners of his lips through his eyes, indicating the glutinous, grotesque, and fearsome appetite that Pennywise has for his victims.

Even the font has improved significantly from that old and generic army stencil lol.

However, one criticism I have deals with the special effects. There are scenes where they clearly look like special effects and they're not entirely blended in or believable, which pulled me out of the immersion a bit. It mainly happens whenever Pennywise opens his "monster" mouth, however, the effects are at their worst with "the lady" from the painting, who yes, is supposed to look somewhat 2-dimensional, but it gets to a point where it looks silly rather than horrifying.

With that said, let's get down to the story.

The Prologue

A loving hug goodbye without knowing this is for the last time.

Set in 1988 in the town of Derry, we begin the story inside Bill's room. Unfortunately Bill is sick with a cold or something, so he can't play outside, but he's nice enough to make a paper boat for his little brother Georgie. Before the boat is finished, Bill asks Georgie to fetch some wax so that the boat can float on water, however the wax is in the cellar. Immediately we get bad vibes from the eerie and dark cellar, and poor young Georgie starts to imagine glowing eyes looking back at him through the darkness, luckily it just happens to be lightbulbs reflecting what little light the room has (the writers love to tease us with this sort of torture and build-up for a big scare).

Anyway, after Georgie gets the wax and Bill finishes making the boat, Georgie puts on his raincoat and runs outside into the rain, chasing after the boat that he lets float on the stream next to the sidewalk. However, Georgie accidentally runs into a sign, which puts him back a few paces from the boat. Consequently, the boat falls into the sewer before he can catch up to it. What's noteworthy about the boat is that it foreshadows Georgie's fate; the boat is literally named the "S.S. Georgie", and it "floats" downstream before eventually falling into the dark mouth of the sewer, forever lost.

Georgie is devastated, fearing that Bill will "kill him" if he finds out that he lost his boat, so he peers into the sewer opening helplessly looking for any sign of the boat. But instead of the boat, Georgie sees something much worse: Pennywise the clown.

As audience members aware that we're watching a scary movie and knowing that "IT" is Pennywise, we know something will go horribly wrong, but the dramatic irony is that Georgie has no idea of the terrifying fate that's in store for him, so we brace for impact. After a small introduction, Pennywise lures Georgie into a false sense of security by talking about all the delicious food you'd find in a circus, and as he's doing so, Georgie is able to smell the food Pennywise describes. Then Pennywise holds out the paper boat, and though Georgie is hesitant at first to take it, Pennywise reminds Georgie of how Bill will "kill him" if he loses the boat (THE IRONY!!!). Coerced, Georgie reaches for the boat, all the while Pennywise pulls the boat away slowly, deeper into the sewer, forcing Georgie's arm inside. Once he's within reach, Pennywise's face transforms into a monstrous, gaping mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth, and he cleanly bites Georgie's arm off. The poor kid screams for help, but no one is listening nor paying attention, so Georgie meekly crawls away from the sewer opening. However, Pennywise's arm unnaturally stretches out and grabs Georgie, pulling him completely into the sewer, never to be seen again... Even the blood that has gushed out of Georgie's arm dilutes in the water, erasing all signs of Georgie's struggle.

Meet the Kids of the Losers' Club

Almost a year after Georgie's "disappearance", school is finally over for the summer, and we learn that another student has been missing as well, but before we get more into the mystery of these missing children, let's meet the characters of the story (also, notice how I include their fears).

Bill

The main character, and Georgie's older brother. Bill has a speech impediment, which makes him constantly stutter with his words, and as a result he gets picked on a lot by the older school bullies. Even though his brother has been missing for a long time, he hasn't given up hope on finding him. He's able to figure out that his brother disappeared into the sewers, and he tries to convince his friends to help find him. His father, however, is upset by Bill's quest to find Georgie, and he demands Bill to stop and finally accept that Georgie is dead. But Bill won't give up, and he'll do anything it takes to find his brother.

Ben from Social Studies

Ben is the new kid in school, and as a result he has no friends at the start of the film. Aside from being new, the school bullies tease him because he's also overweight. Nonetheless, Ben is diligent and likes to spend time in the library researching things about Derry. He also develops a crush on a girl named Beverly from his social studies class, who is also the first person who's nice to him. After he gets brutally assaulted by the bullies, Bill and his friends find and help him, and soon he becomes close friends with them.

Beverly

A pretty, kind, and rebellious young girl from Bill's school, whom Bill also has a crush on. Because of her beauty, Beverly is harassed and slut-shamed by girls and bullies. False rumors about her presumed promiscuity follow her constantly and she receives unwarranted harsh treatment from nearly everyone, including her sexual-abuser, her father. Because of this, Beverly also struggles with her femininity, especially since she has just started menstruating.

Richie Mike from Stranger Things

One of Bill's friends, and the loud-mouth of the group (also has the biggest potty-mouth and likes to brag about his dick size). He only has one fear, and unfortunately for him it's clowns.

Eddie

Overprotected by his mom and a supposedly delicate friend of Bill's, Eddie is paranoid and afraid of nearly anything that looks gross and/or unsanitary. Also has the second biggest potty mouth of the group. (He's my personal fav because he's so adorable, and his facial expressions are the best)

OMG I must protect these beans! >.<

Mike Not from Stranger Things

A farm boy (idk if that's the right term for his occupation, but he works in a sheep farm then delivers meat to stores, so I guess?) who is treated as an outcast by the people of Derry, especially by the school bullies, presumably because of his race (it's never explicitly stated, but it seems rather obvious given the time period and how Henry constantly attacks kids who be could considered "others" in a white, hegemonic society). In his past, Mike survived from his house being burned down. Unfortunately his parents perished in the fire, which has left him traumatized and extremely fearful of death. Eventually Bill and friends save him from Henry and his group.

Stanley

Bill's friend, who also happens to be Jewish and is picked on because of it. He is terrified of the creepy painting of a disfigured woman in the synagogue.

The School Bullies

Henry (w/ an ugly mullet) and his gang bullying Richie.

The bad boys who bully nearly everyone. The group is lead by Henry, who is the son of a cop. Henry is extremely violent and pushes his friends to be the same way, however, his dad harshly reminds him that he's easily scared and vulnerable.

Pennywise the Trickster

Pennywise is a mysterious thing in itself. We don't know if he's supposed to be some killer version of a boggart from Harry Potter, but we know that he isn't human and that he feeds off the fear and flesh of children. It's not entirely clear why Pennywise chooses children for his victims, maybe it has something to do about eating the delicious souls of innocent children, but we can also assume it's because children are more susceptible to irrational fear compared to adults, therefore they are easier targets. Instead of flat out just murdering kids, Pennywise creates illusions based on a child's biggest fear, and with his illusions he's able to immerse children completely inside their darkest fears and abduct/kill them, all the while the intense fear makes him stronger. The illusions can only be seen by his victims and/or children, meaning adults remain completely oblivious to the horrors happening to the children. This in turn isolates the children more, leaving them wide open and vulnerable to Pennywise's attacks.

It's never specifically answered in the film why he takes the form of a clown (we're lead to believe that this isn't his true form), but we can see the creator's stylistic reasons for making Pennywise a clown. Besides clowns being creepy looking, clowns (despite how we may feel about them) are meant to be child-friendly pranksters and entertainers. With relating to children, clowns are meant to be relatively innocent, but by selecting a clown as the killer, King manages to strip off that innocence of childhood and taint it by giving the clown darker, mature symbolism.

We learn a little about the lore, and basically what it boils down to is that Pennywise has been abducting and eating the children of Derry for almost a century. He doesn't attack randomly, instead he chooses to take his victims every 27 years, and he even paces himself when he eats by stocking up his floating pantry as is later revealed towards the end of the movie. Additionally, he attacks near sewer openings because they all lead down to his lair/floating pantry under an old creepy house.

The Illusions and How They Relate to the Kids' Fears

Of course, I wouldn't have described Bill's and his friend's fears if they weren't targeted by Pennywise. I'm not going to describe the film scene by scene because then I'd be writing this for ages, and I also don't want to relive the scary experience of watching this. Instead I'll simply write about the illusions that haunt the children throughout the movie.

For example, when the clown targets Stanley, Pennywise transforms into a personified version of the disfigured woman from the painting, and when he goes after Eddie, he makes these gross zombie-looking people chase after him. Unfortunately for Richie, he traps him a room full of clown dolls and mannequins. As for Ben, Pennywise has figures (often corpses who perished in a terrible "accident") from the old scary history articles Ben reads in the library chase after him. Sadly for Mike, Pennywise makes him relive his trauma of his family being burned in a fire by showing a chain-locked door from where charred hands try to break free and all while screaming in pain (and as if Mike's fear of death wasn't bad enough, Pennywise even eats a child's arm in front of him). While all these scenes are terrifying, I find myself more interested in the illusions of Bill and Beverly because while Pennywise greatly exaggerates their fears for big scares, their fears are their present reality, meaning that they haven't escaped from it yet (and they're not irrational fears like Stanley's, Eddie's, or Mike's).

lol poor Richie
Just imagine the wild goose chase song and the scene is easier to watch.

Bill's Illusion

Pennywise in the cellar of Bill's house.

Bill's fear is less obvious than all the other children, but it's still very emotionally-charged. Since Bill has spent almost a year looking for any sign of his missing brother, Pennywise shows him visions of a still very-much-alive Georgie, and he purposefully tries to use Georgie to lure Bill closer to him. While Pennywise deliberately chases the other kids, he's more patient with Bill, often preferring to let Bill come to him. It's emotional seeing Bill break down whenever he thinks about Georgie, and he makes a heart-wrenching point saying that it's easier for him to walk into Pennywise's creepy house of death than into his own home because Georgie is no longer there. By the climax of the film, where Bill is in Pennywise's floating pantry, we see Georgie again, this time with his arm missing, but in his hand he's still holding onto the paper boat. This is the reckoning Bill must face: him finally accepting his greatest fear that Georgie is truly dead. Before he's been convincing himself that Georgie was simply missing, then later abducted by a horrible monster, and it's devastating to see Bill finally come to terms with Georgie's death.

Beverly's Illusion

The illusions Pennywise utilizes for Beverly are heavy with symbolism about her fears and struggles with femininity/gender. Because of the horrible rumors about her and her asshole of an abusive father, Beverly is driven to cut off her pretty long hair so that she can take on a more "boyish" appearance and to also take a stand against the oppression and objectification she faces. She does this in her bathroom, and we watch her locks of hair fall into the sink drain (which btw, that would clog instantly, girl just throw it away in the trash or else you're gonna have so many plumbing issues later lol). Regardless, Pennywise takes advantage of the situation to harass her by entangling and roping her in with her own hair. Then he almost drowns her in blood, letting it pour out of the sink and drenching the bathroom completely. The blood is a stark reminder of her womanhood (menstruation), and this combined with the entangling hair drives the point that Beverly is a victim in a patriarchal society that unjustly punishes her solely because she's a woman.

What's worse is that Beverly's problems don't end with a killer clown; she still experiences domestic abuse in her own home. Her father sexually abuses her: he touches her all too familiarly, gets pissed when she cuts off her hair, locks the door to prevent her from leaving, and he's extremely jealous and possessive when it comes to the idea of other boys having crushes on her (and he's obsessed with Beverly being "daddy's little girl", god typing this makes me sick). Eventually when Beverly decides that enough is enough, her dad gets violent and pins her down on the ground (I think y'all know where I'm going with this). She then escapes and runs into her bathroom before smacking him dead with the toilet cover. Yes she finally did it, she's free! ...Until Pennywise immediately abducts her afterwards (this poor girl cannot catch a break). 

Also, I find it alarming how Pennywise grabs her by the neck, but then again he was also touching Eddie's face too, so he could be like this with all his victims, but nonetheless it's rather unnerving given the context of Beverly's situation.

Conquering Your Fear

Ultimately, the kids are able to survive Pennywise's onslaughts and drive him away because they bravely face their fears, which in turn makes Pennywise weaker. They are more effective against him when they work and stick together. Without a group, Pennywise could still take you and make you "float" and merely save you for later like what he did with Beverly (also it's worth noting that Beverly is the first to conquer her fear of Pennywise; YOU TELL HIM GIRL!). Again, to commend Beverly's strength and growth, Pennywise makes one last attempt to scare her with an illusion by taking the form of her father, and his plan backfires so horribly because she smacks him again (lol she's done dealing with your bullshit).

Ben/Beverly/Bill: what's the point?

I know this was meant to be cute and profound, but Beverly smearing blood on Bill's face was really funny to me haha.

I really hate to be that one gal to say a romantic subplot is unnecessary, but in this movie the whole love triangle-dealio is fucking strange. I understand more of Ben's perspective because Beverly was the first person who didn't treat him like "the new kid", but I failed to realize why Beverly & Bill had to become romantic instead of simply opting for something platonic. Additionally, Beverly is lead to believe that her secret admirer is Bill when it's actually Ben. By the time she finally figures out who her admirer really is, she's happy about it, which is great...and then whatever she and Ben had is completely forgotten about so that she can kiss Bill at the end? Not that I mind the idea of Beverly and Bill together, but it seemed rather strange to ignore Ben since he's the one kissing her out of her floaty-loopy daze. Ugh, whatever, at least the whole thing isn't a major plot point.

Closing Thoughts

Despite the minor problems, IT is still a decent horror movie. It's a strong belief of mine that horror movies become good when they stop trying so hard to be terrifying and instead tell us a good story even with some scares along the way, and IT does exactly that. If you can get past your fear of clowns, then I definitely recommend watching the film because for as many scares as it has, it has just as much funny and heartwarming moments as well.

One critique I've seen floating around the internet is that IT tries too hard to be like Stranger Things, which is understandable (it does have Finn Wolfhard after all, even though he's not the main character). IT much like Stranger Things is "child actors galore", has them using strong language and cracking immature jokes (albeit, a little less nerdy than Stranger Things), has a strong female child actor, uses "missing children", and is also set in the 80s. Nevertheless, it doesn't bother me at all because I can enjoy both independently for what they are (one being a horror classic, the other being a sci-fy mystery). All I can say to those people making those comparisons is, and excuse my frankness, "get used to it", because the sad reality is that Hollywood loves to pick up these certain niche trends and popularize them for more money (Doesn't anyone else remember how they milked gladiators, vampires, and Hunger Games-like dystopias? Eventually, these trends will fade away, just give it some time), so try not to be too surprised when the next "Stranger Things" movie/tv show/video game makes way. 

Not to mention that technically, IT was created before Stranger Things surged with popularity last year. Also you could make the argument that Stranger Things is actually copying other movies such as E.T. and Alien; honestly, there's no such thing as originality anymore, so it's pointless in my opinion to throw this very argument on IT lmao. Hell, you could even make the inverse argument and claim that Stranger Things is inspired by IT and other works by Stephen King. 

It's not even an argument, but a fact. Stranger Things deliberately pays homage to previous works.

Plus, I think it's worth giving IT a chance because it presents interesting allegories and whenever it uses plot devices (i.e. foreshadowing with the paper boat), the film utilizes them well. And again, IT is a horror film, so you won't see demogorgons jumping out from the upside down and kidnapping you, instead you have your worst fears fervently trying to kill and eat you :)

Regardless of how you may feel, we have yet to see the end of Pennywise in "Chapter Two", whenever that film comes out in the future. Apparently the story will continue years later after the children are all grown up? If that's the case, it also puts more distance to Stranger Things, and I'm genuinely curious to learn more about the lore surrounding Pennywise (and people online like him enough that they want to fuck him, so perhaps this movie will help you discover what sort of kinks you have lol).

That's the end of this post! If you liked what you read, leave a comment, and tell me your thoughts on IT! Also, feel free to leave any suggestions on what I should review/write about next.