I must admit: I've never been all too fond of horror movies. When the haunting music paired with creepy images and heavy breathing pop up, all I want to do is throw my device and run --- which explains my shattered screen and lack of stamina for anything, whether it be a horror film or a mile run. The lingering images crawl up my arms to my brain and linger there as forever nightmares of yesterday. I’ve never been much of a horror junkie or thriller addict. Then again, neither have my, spine-tingling screaming, stuffed animal clutching, abc’s reciting, blanket-huddling friends.

As we strolled into the theater, thick as thieves, thinking we were truly all that, we were hit with a rude awakening. The ads of nice, cuddly puppies and cheesy rom-coms were cut to an end when Pennywise, the new and improved, popped up.

“Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!”-Pennywise { It (2017) 7:55 }


He graced the screen with the same classic flaming locks, white starched face, and red lips and nose as he did just thirty years ago in the original It. Only this time, it was to horrify and haunt the nightmares of an entire new generation.

It, the story of a ragtag group of neighborhood misfits in a little town in Maine set in the 80’s, follows lead, Jaeden Lieberher, who plays Bill. Fueled by sorrow and remorse for his little brother’s ‘disappearance’ down a sewage gutter shown in the opening scenes, Bill is desperate to avenge and bring home Georgie with the help of his friends.
Throughout the course of the movie, they battle an ancient evil that resurfaces every 27 years to wreak havoc to town.

With It being a refilled movie, it does face certain pressures to match up to the original feature film. The alluring, now fully-grown, cast 80’s kids once knew and loved had been replaced by young, fresh blood. Despite these expectations, boy have these actors matched up to the hype. By the end of the movie, I was practically dangling over the edge of my seat to discover the fate of the teens and whether or not Pennywise would end up devouring the Losers Club like he did Georgie in the opening scene. Throughout the movie, we watch Pennywise repeatedly popping up to scare the Losers Club and pray that each character survives to make it to the very end.

This film mixed the horrid with the hilarious, with a nice mix of blood and gore and several funny moments that left audiences cracking up. The chemistry between cast mates only enriched the already amazing film. A major contribution to the suspenseful scenes was the music. The cast and viewers tensed up along with the music each time the creature popped up, leaving us all with a row of goosebumps on our arms.


Despite the amazing plot and execution, every film has it's haters and naysayers. Because of the overwhelming amount of attention It has attracted on social media, there is much hype surrounding this movie. Not only did It live up to the it, it has gone above and beyond in matching expectations and creating new and interesting plot points. As the film came to a close, not only was I upset because it would be awhile before chapter two of It would come out, but because it had been two and a quarter hours to remember.

Fanatics of this movie who watched the original IT three decades ago may be difficult to win over, seeing as the original was the film they had known for years and grew up with, but this movie surely has mine and many other’s approval. Not only was it thrilling, but nostalgic for many. All that’s for certain is that I, along with many others, am certainly looking forward to chapter two gracing theaters