“IT” is a horror movie based on the novel by Steven King. The story takes place in Derry Maine during the summer of 1989 and follows seven kids as they are being chased by the immortal inter-dimensional shape-shifting demon called “IT”. “IT’s” favorite form to take is Pennywise the dancing clown, portrayed by Bill Skarsgard. In addition to a killer clown, the losers club, as the main characters are often called, are also being tormented by a group of four or five town bullies.

The reason I think we keep seeing these Hollywood remakes such as “IT” is due to better and more advanced technology. The sets and special effects can be a lot better than the originals, and that’s exactly what this movie accomplished.

I found the movie to be a perfect mixture of horror and comedy and I think the same can be said about Pennywise itself. While the adults in the movie where all creepy and/or super shady, I think it adds to how disturbing it truly is that “IT”  has power over the entire town and the fear that some of the kids have that either come from or towards their parents.

The set designs were absolutely incredible like the sewers and the house on Neibolt street. The sets never seemed to disappoint me. The lighting and camera work made the sets that much more realistic. There was one scene near the end where all of the kids are having the final battle against It where I wish the camera work would have been better, but in defense, that was a very chaotic scene where it was difficult enough to figure out exactly what was going on.

When it comes to the characters the writers did an amazing job building the friendship among the seven losers. The friendship, and chemistry between the seven “losers” was undeniable even when a fight splits the group into the kids who want to fight against “IT” and the kids who want to have a normal summer. I could see how unhappy the kids where that they weren’t hanging out together. The two characters I believe had the closest friendship was Eddie Kaspbrack, portrayed by Jack Dylan Grazer, and Richie Tozier, portrayed by Finn Wolfhard.

I felt that the casting was perfect. The entire cast did an amazing job, especially Skarsgard.  Nicholas Hamilton, who played the town bully, Henry Bowers, portrayed a perfect psychotic villainy to send a shiver down any viewer’s spine whenever they appeared on screen.

When it comes to how it compares to the original miniseries released in 1990, I personally believe that the new one is better. The special effects, set design, and even the lighting from the new movie are all far superior to the miniseries which definitely helps the creep factor go up. The performance of Pennywise is the only way that the original is better, in my opinion, Tim Curry, who played Pennywise in the original 1990 “IT” miniseries, did a phenomenal  job of making the character Pennywise go from friendly to scary in a matter of seconds, whereas Skarsgard’s Pennywise was just generally creepy

Overall I thought “IT” was an amazing movie, and I would highly recommend it to any fan of horror.