It

I'm not a big horror/scary movie fan and only really ever dare to watch these kinds of films around Halloween. So it was only fitting that I go to see the box office hit It in October. Now, mind you, I've never thoroughly read a Stephen King novel and it's been several years since I saw the humorous clown portrayal done by Tim Curry. That being said, I tried my best to weigh the pros and cons of this movie with a very open mind.

The first thought that went through my mind came immediately after the first 5 minutes of the movie. I immediately thought the scene between the adorable character Georgie and the creepy clown Pennywise was incredibly engaging for the audience. I tried to not only put myself in the child's innocent yet naive mindset when approaching the clown...but I also tried to put myself into the motherly instinct and fear of this being a possible everyday occurrence. It truly defines the phrase "stranger danger".This scene was a great way to set the tone for the rest of the movie. The theme? Fear.

After this, we meet our main characters, the Loser Club. All of these lead actors are children with incredible talent and potential. I was especially taken away with Jack Dylan Grazer (played Eddie), whose comedic timing was spot on. I also very much enjoyed Sophia Lillis (played Bev), who reminded me of a young Amy Adams to which her acting was very genuine and hits a chord with the audience during the very emotional and dramatic scenes.

As the story progresses we learn of all the individual fears of every one of the members of the Losers. This is an important plot point as not only a tool for character development but also detrimental to how "It" takes its form. "It" enjoys staying in the form of Pennywise the dancing clown as it's an easy way to lure children to his lair in the sewers. Bill Skarsgard's performance was incredibly entertaining and terrifying at the same time. I kept thinking to myself how fun it must have been to play this role. I'm actually glad that he made this character his own and didn't try to replicate Tim Curry by leaning more on the thriller character trait and not heavily on comedy. It's more realistic this way and for the people who are afraid of clowns, it's guaranteed to spook them.

With all this being said...there was one issue I mainly had with this movie. Simply said, there are too many jump-scares. I'm a fan of the occasional jump and sound effect technique, but I thought it was border-line overkill. There were many scenes where I thought it was fitting such as the projector scene in the garage. Subtlety is the key when it comes to successful horror movies. That being said, I'd rather have more jump scares than unnecessary gore scenes, which frankly we get too much of in other modern day horror films.

Overall, I think this was a successful movie and I'm actually anticipating the sequel to this in 2019. It was entertaining and I wouldn't mind seeing it again (and that's saying something as I normally don't rewatch horror films). So I give this film a 4/5 stars. If you want a fun thriller, go to your local movie theater now. Watch and YOU'LL FLOAT TOO!!!