Four stars. Rated R, for bloody violence, frequent profanity and crude behavior
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 9.8.17
This one has teeth.
Literally.
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| Having determined that their supernatural tormentor's home base is the very-very-very creepy haunted house at the outskirts of town, Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) advises an all-for-one-and-one-for-all assault: a suggestion met with incredulous unwillingness by, from left, Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Bev (Sophie Lillis), Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer), Stanley (Wyatt Oleff) and Mike (Chosen Jacobs) |
Director Andy Muschietti’s
handling of Stephen King’s It is that
rarest of creatures: a film adaptation that is superior to its source novel.
Despite being undeniably scary,
King’s 1986 chiller is a bloated, self-indulgently over-written mess at 1,138
pages: a slog even for the author’s most dedicated fans. Scripters Chase
Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman have pared down the book quite deftly,
discarding the parallel narratives and retaining only the (far superior) kid-centric
half of the saga.
The result plays like a
coming-of-age blend of Stand By Me
and TV’s Stranger Things, albeit far nastier
... as befits the storyline. Muschietti and his writers retained the essential
plot beats from King’s novel, while accelerating the thrills and chills by
subjecting the key characters — and us viewers — to a relentless barrage of
impressively scary/creepy tableaus.
This campaign of terror is
orchestrated by one of King’s finest creations: Pennywise the Clown, played
here with viscerally shocking intensity by Bill Skarsgård. Between his, ah,
behavior, and the way Muschietti choreographs said activities, impressionable
viewers likely won’t sleep well for weeks.
I don’t say this lightly. Since
1979’s Alien, I could count — on the
fingers of one hand — the films that have well and truly frightened me.
Muschietti’s adaptation of It makes
the list, and with good reason: He understands the true nature of fear. Unlike
too many contemporary horror filmmakers content to repulse viewers, short-term,
by wallowing in gore, Muschietti messes with our minds ... which is as it
should be.
Anticipating the worst — not knowing
precisely what’s coming, albeit having a dismayed notion — plants a much more
powerful anxiety bomb in our nervous little heads. Muschietti plays us like a
fiddle.
Which is not to say that this It is without its gruesome moments.
Hardly. Muschietti bares his atmospheric fangs right from the start, which (of
course!) leaves us unsettled for the rest of the ride.
That’s only half of the equation.
This film’s success also derives from the exceptional work by its young
ensemble cast, which brings a level of emotional resonance — even poignancy —
that is likely to surprise folks. Genuine pathos in a horror flick? That’s an unusual combination ... and
that’s precisely why the story grabs us so persuasively.
