IT review

It has been a long time since I read the novel and  I can still recall the feeling of terror it gave me (this and "Salem’s lot") and surprisingly enough this version of the film comes really close to that feeling. Yes there was a TV mini series of the same name (which I sadly missed) but this latest retelling is not a re-imagining of that series (or so I've read); it is in fact a closer adaptation of the book more than anything else. As I sat in the cinema during the end credits totally shocked and beyond words, someone in the audience decided to release a red balloon (bad taste I know) which spooked me a bit as if the film wasn't nightmare inducing enough. Anyway, unlike most horror films of nowadays this didn't have any cheap tacked on jump scares or over the top gore in it but was more of a play of emotional securities. So much so that if you were to ask me now what I think of clowns...I would straight away answer that I find them creepy and in bad taste. The actor who played Pennywise the clown (Bill Skarsgard) did an excellent job making him even scarier than Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers put together. What made this movie so scary for me was the use of the lighting and shadows: meaning that I was ready for the usual jump scare but as they didn't happen, I was on edge throughout the entirety (very unsettling and exhausting I tell you). In terms of the visual aspects the CGI was used sparingly and to good effect and not once did I feel that it was unnecessary. The young cast also did a really good job; again playing on insecurities of youth. As I haven't seen the older TV miniseries (something I intend to rectify soon)I cannot say how it compares to this. In my opinion this comes very close to the Stephen King novel and I can say that it has done the same for clowns as what "onibaba" did for me with wheat fields.