‘It’ – More Than Horror

“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”

Stephen King is widely regarded as the best novelist in the horror genre and many of his books have been adapted for the big screen – and have been received well by global audiences.

Some of these include ‘Carrie’, ‘The Shining’, and the recently released ‘It’.

King wrote the novel ‘It’ in 1986 and it was first adapted to film in 1990, starring Tim Curry as Pennywise The Dancing Clown. Back in 1990, the computer-generated imagery (CGI) wasn’t up to the standard it is today and as a result, the original ‘It’ film had a more authentic, horror feel to it than its 2017 counterpart.

However, that didn’t stop the 2017 version from being one of the most anticipated movies of the year. The storylines of both versions run parallel as not much is changed in this regard. One slight noticeable difference might be that the 2017 version is set in 1990 as opposed to the original’s 1960.

The story starts off on a rainy day in the small town of Derry. Stuttering and shy teen Bill Denbrough gives his little brother Georgie a paper boat to play with in the streams outside. This opening scene displays a warmth and deep love between the brothers that sets everything in motion.

Georgie, happy with his new boat, takes it outside and lets it sail along the sidewalk as he follows it. This scene is much darker and more eerie than the original version, as in the first ‘It’, although it was raining, the mood captured Georgie’s happiness rather than portraying something ominous.

Georgie, focusing on the boat, fails to see barricades and bumps his head. Meanwhile, his boat sails off and falls into a drain. Peering down the drain, he is startled to see a menacing clown appear from the sewer.

In the same scene of the 1990 film, Pennywise appears, however in more cheery mood and an attitude of an actual clown which may appeal to children. The authenticity of the 1990 Pennywise, making him look as an actual clown, is somewhat more sinister.

In the 2017 version, this scene follows the chilling ambience to reveal a considerably more horrifying Pennywise, played by 27-year-old Bill Skarsgård, who then tries to persuade Georgie to come and get his boat. Georgie succumbs to the urge and suffers a terrible fate. A year later, a distraught Bill teams up with a group of seven misfits who suffer at both the hands of bullies and the hauntings of It. Bill keeps seeing images of Georgie, forcing him to believe his brother is still alive.

After several investigations and putting the pieces of the puzzle together, the ‘Losers Club’ have gathered that It is a demonic, shapeshifting force living in the sewers which manifests itself as their deepest fears and comes out of hibernation every 27 years to feed on the children of Derry.

The team, determined to destroy It, devise a plan to head down to the sewers, find the demon and send him back to hell. They succeed momentarily, but only manage to send it back to hibernation. The Losers Club vow to return to Derry when It appears again.

‘It’ is a horror movie, and certainly has some hair raising scenes, especially the haunting words “you can float too”, the red floating balloons, and the various clowns that appear in a certain scene. Pennywise himself wouldn’t be a clown I want to stumble upon. His dirty rags and brightly coloured, orange hair, and blood red make up will have you sitting up late at night. One thing the creators could have used more sparingly, though, is the CGI.

The way to really scare the viewer is to make the threat seem real. And once it feels as if you’re watching ‘Goosebumps’, that all disappears.

Where the film hit the nail on the head is its portrayal of friendship among otherwise socially awkward teens. It depicts a story of survival, love, adolescent struggles and unity realistically.

The love between the two brothers might even make you shed a tear.

An unconventional and original touch to the 2017 version of the film is that ‘It’ returned after 27 years.

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