Just caught a screening of 'It'

As someone who usually enjoys Stephen King but hasn't read the book or seen the Tim Curry miniseries, I wasn't sure what to expect from this one.

The audience reaction spoke for itself. It was one of the best theatrical experiences I've had in a while - everyone was laughing and screaming, sometimes in the same scene. The kids were all pretty good, even if some were underused, but Mike from Stranger Things absolutely stole the show as the group's raunchy smartass Richie.

Good mix of jump scares and unsettling dread (the show playing on the TV gives me goosebumps just thinking about it). Pennywise is appropriately horrifying with a twitchiness in his movements that never failed to creep me out, and the special effects were effective without being too over-the-top.

The two-hour running time meant they had to paint in broad strokes, which you can definitely tell as characters like Mike and Stan are barely fleshed out beyond "black kid" and "Jewish kid." But it also kept things moving and didn't get bogged down in mythology.

Overall I'd recommmend it, especially in a packed theater on a Friday or Saturday night. Refreshingly fun movie experience after a pretty "blah" summer.

Submitted August 29, 2017 at 10:27AM by ShiftlessWhenIdle http://ift.tt/2wkgys8