It (2017)

You may have noticed that most of my reviews for the month have reported lackluster thrills. I decided that my best bet for a decent scare on Halloween was a recent, popular, R-rated horror based on a vintage Stephen King hit. It was either that or A Quiet Place, and I figure on saving the latter for a while after Tremors.

The fictitious town of Derry, Maine (of course), has a disproportionate rate of mysterious disappearances and/or deaths, especially among kids. A new wave emerges in the late '80s. Seven preteen or early teen misfits rapidly catch on to the cause as it, or rather It, tries to claim them too. It takes many shapes, but you've seen its favorite: Pennywise the clown, often announcing his presence with one or more red balloons.

Between the era and the hero dynamics, I got the impression of Stranger Things. Not having read the book, I'm not sure whether one influenced the other; perhaps both did, or perhaps they're just big on '80s cliches. In this case, one such cliche is extreme bullies (more extreme than those I faced in school, anyway), who become secondary villains.

That said, I'd have more qualms about showing It to 12-year-olds. I guess its R comes as much from language as from violence, but the latter is bad enough. Oddly, the most disturbing moment comes in the first few minutes, when a small child loses a limb and gets dragged to presumable doom.

If there's a mercy after a scene like that, it's that we learn to care about a bunch of other characters enough that genre-savvy viewers can rightly assume their survival, however challenging. From then on, only the apparently deserving bite the dust. But don't think for a moment that It has a sense of justice.

So who are our heroes? Four of them are friends from the beginning: Bill, who misses his little brother; Richie, who's always mouthing off; Eddie, who frequently feels sick; and Stan, who frequently worries about getting sick from germs. Through shared troubles, they meet Bev, falsely rumored to be a slut and evidently sexually molested by her dad; Ben, a clumsy newcomer who obsesses over Derry history; and Mike, home-schooled by a butcher who taught him to use a captive bolt pistol. I can see why they'd all be outcasts despite general likability.

I'm less sure how to feel about It. Sure, It's horrific. In a way, It's like Freddy Krueger, seemingly capable of anything and never doing quite the same thing twice. Viewer theory holds that It mesmerizes people, which would explain their more foolish and neglectful behavior. It has a habit of combining mock pleasant innocence with obvious abomination, strangely attempting to lure and scare pretty much at the same time.

So what's the problem? It's too amorphous. By combining various fear factors, It nearly sacrifices its signature. And when It has that much power, It seems pathetic for getting defeated by a septet of barely armed minors.  It must enjoy playing with Its food and get cocky. We never completely figure out Its weaknesses, but It has some that don't matter to normal entities.

Fans have drawn It and the Babadook together. I see the similarities. Somehow, I prefer the latter, but if you want a horror with a human body count, don't knock It till you try It.