Another thing that I struggle to find good adaptations of, is films based on Stephen King novels. The good ones are among some of the greatest films of all-time. However, the majority are either huge disappointments or just plain terrible.
Now what would intrigue to go and see a horror film based on a Stephen King novel?
Well for a start, the trailers showed a lot of potential. It is hard to ignore the heavy amount of successful marketing it has been generating, and it is rare to see that from a horror film. That alone almost did it for me. But the early reviews from reliable sources and hardcore horror fans was the seal of approval for me to get my view on it from a big screen experience.
Many people might remember the mini TV-series from the early 90's of this story. I never saw them. But like many, they do remember seeing terrifying images of Tim Curry as the infamous clown Pennywise.
Now that I've finally experienced this story, it ended up being the type of horror I was hoping for. It's set in the 80's and they manage to pay great homage to horror films from that era by executing the tropes so well that made horrors from that era highly entertaining. The fact that they concentrate more on the characters than the monster, that feeling of why there are hardly any parents in these films, or the type of jump scares and of characters that we have. Like the leader, the potential love interest, the one who starts out like a wimp, the one with all the quips and many others.
The acting is great by everyone involved. Bill Skarsgard does a great job as the terrifying Pennywise. It can't be an easy task trying to convince the audience that he is a genuinely terrifying clown. It could have ended up as unintentionally funny. But he manages to capture the true nature of the character and not just be a scary looking clown. It could be one of the best performances of a iconic horror monster in recent years. Also the perfect mix of scary make-up and visual effects felt seamless and really enhanced the character.
As for the child actors, they were all great. Jaeden Lieberher did quite a job in a leading role. After seeing him in Midnight Special, I am glad to see get offered bigger roles. Finn Wolfhard was great and gave a lot well executed comedic moments. Sophia Lillis was a strong presence and it was also a nice surprise seeing Nicholas Hamilton in a fairly significant supporting role after being impressed by him in Captain Fantastic.
It also looks great, the cinematography enhances so many scenes and the 80's feel and the score by Benjamin Wallfisch worked and fitted the tone perfectly.
Sadly, I did have some problems with it. What prevented me from calling this film great rather than good, was that there were quite a few scenes that felt disjointed and completely ruined the flow.
While though scenes on its own were perfectly fine, together they just felt like there were pieces missing. I think maybe some character development would have been fine to fill in the gaps. Just something for continuity sake would have been acceptable.
Also, the duration felt too long for me.
Despite those notable negatives, I still had a good and surprisingly fun time with it. When horror can be scary and fun at the same time, then it's alright in my books.
It had a lot of things that I like in my favourite horror films. It had more than just jump scares. It had well developed characters and interesting themes and ideas. There are very few dull scenes and it has surprisingly mature themes.
Even though I had some quarrels with it, I was really happy that we have another good Stephen King adaptation and I will be excited for a likely sequel.
Rating: 7/10
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