'It': The 'Stand by Me' of Horror Movies

At a whopping 1,138 pages, Stephen King's It is one of the most famous horror novels ever written. Condensing such a colossal narrative into something both digestible and entertaining for viewers was a formidable challenge.

Tommy Lee Wallace's 1990 attempt to encapsulate King's story isn't one that's aged well in many regards, but Tim Curry's performance as the titular clown has still managed to hold an enduring spot in the heartless voids of horror lovers everywhere. Director Andy Muschietti's and writer Chase Palmer's fresh take on the classic story, though, infuses It with so much of the life and blood that its prior iteration had been missing.

With an influence that can be felt in nearly every small town and clown-related horror movie of the last few decades, It has played a pivotal role in the evolution of the genre. The Duffer Brothers, the minds behind Stranger Things, admitted to taking heavy inspiration from the Stephen King novel.

As Stranger Things grew to become one of the most famous horror/sci-fi TV shows ever made, it found itself in a unique position. It entered into what appeared to many to be a creative feedback loop with the iconic 80s King tale. Seeing the similarities between It and Stranger Things, it's hard to deny that the Duffer Brothers TV show exerted a palpable influence over the direction that the It adaptation ended up taking. Even though It was written all the way back in 1986, the visual direction and set design of Muschietti's modern adaptation found an eager new audience of 80s-philes to revel in them.

Stranger Things is rightly credited with inspiring an entirely new generation with 80s nostalgia. From the faded trends of a bygone era on which it shed new light, to the infectious tunes the series introduced to a new generation of listeners, it laid a fertile ground for It's 2017 release. Even going as far as borrowing lead Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard, the continuity between the two worlds is difficult to ignore.

While Stranger Things is certainly chilling, it's restrained. It enthralls more than it petrifies. It excites more than it haunts. But, on the other hand, It, one of the most confusing movie titles to write an essay about, is among the most viscerally terrifying films I've ever watched. Tim Curry had already cemented Pennywise the Dancing Clown as a name fit to the legend, but Bill Skarsgård's performance only manages to elevate the nominal clown figure to new heights.

Skarsgård's Pennywise stands for me as one of the most impressively unwound roles ever brought to the big screen. His screentime is both enchanting and bewitching. He commands eyes like few horror characters ever crafted. Lurking in the sewers of Derry, Maine, his introduction is one of the most perfectly executed villain unveilings in recent memory. The voice of Skarsgård is nothing short of masterful. His off-kilter and deadened stare leaves an indelible stain in the minds of viewers.

But the cast of horror-stricken children he spends the film terrorizing is hardly any less spectacular. Fleshing out realistic kid and teenager characters is no easy task. Oftentimes, the younger roles that populate these scary movies feel like little more than walking caricatures. But Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Jackson Robert, Jeremy Ray Taylor, and Jaeden Martell, though by and large unrecognized by name, each breathe life into the characters they portray.

The cast of angsty adolescents exudes so much of the bravery, curiosity, and naivety that make Stand by Me stand out in the minds of so many. Their jokes are childlike, immature, and utterly believable. When compared with the cast of adult characters tasked with revivifying them in the sequel, they're simply charming.

Though charm isn't what many look for when they turn on a horror movie, that childlike feeling of nostalgia is what colors the film. It's imbued with a lovably propulsive energy that separates It from so many others within the genre. It isn't just a horror movie, but a movie about growing up. While Pennywise the Dancing Clown is fuel for nightmares, the camaraderie between these kids in this fraught period of life, in its brightest moments, is something oddly dream-like in its appeal.

Benjamin Wallfisch, the composer of the film's score, carries the plot through some of its most poignant scenes. The music masterfully oscillates between eerie, formidable dirges that surround Pennywise in all of his varied forms, and softer, moody melodies that imperiously intimate their innocence. It's the perfect accompaniment to a story that's as much about the horrors of childhood as It is about the malevolent, shape-shifting entity imperiling it.

One of It's strongest elements is the novelty behind each fearsome moment. There's a macabre creativity to Pennywise's varying appearances and hiding places. While many of the typical jump scares that people have grown to expect of the horror genre are alive and well in this It adaptation, there's enough originality to them that they never end up feeling too contrived.

One of the movie's most inventive scenes involves a projector whirring into motion on its own, and superimposing onto the screen a series of increasingly sinister images. Another scene involves Bill reuniting with his deceased brother, Georgie, in the home's basement. Georgie stands in the corner, meek and timid, but with a contorted smile poking through the shadows. He quietly laments the paper boat he lost during the film's first scene. Bill stands on the stairs, shell-shocked, his eyes frozen in disbelief.

"It just floated off… but, Bill? If you'll come with me, you'll float, too!" Georgie beckons to his brother.

Stephen King traffics expertly in these haunting sorts of vagaries. In The Shining, the line "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" written and repeated ad infinitum makes for one of the film's most disconcerting moments.

In 1408, it's the line "My brother was eaten by wolves on the Connecticut Turnpike." In It, it's Georgie's deepening and guttural "You'll float, too" chant that makes for one of the film's most unforgettable scenes.

Some of the film's most effective sequences, though, come from their resonant simplicity. The red Derry balloon that wanders into frame whenever the terrible clown nears is iconic in its plain and potent ability to unnerve an audience.

More than any Stephen King film, It is one that feels grounded in the town of its source material. Though many of his stories take place in the fictional town of Derry, Maine, It's character-driven exploration of the town's history draws unprecedented life from the seemingly innocuous suburbia. In even some of King's best stories, their setting has little actual bearing on the plot itself. But It is refreshingly rooted in King's hallowed town of horrors.

In a genre teeming with predictable thrills and overused tropes, Muschietti's take on the 80s horror epic instills it with new life. It strikes a delicate balance between jolts of fear and the pangs of nostalgia. Pennywise may be the face of the movie, but it's the kids, with their authentic interactions and vulnerabilities, that make the story so universally relatable. Skarsgård, for all of his acting prowess, isn't enough to sell It in his own right. As the I ♡ Derry balloon floats ominously across the screen, it's in the children's fully realized range of emotion and reactions that It finds its footing, personality, and legacy.