The story starts off with two brothers: 12-year-old Bill Denbrough, and his 6-year-old brother, Georgie. Georgie runs down the street in the rain and chases a boat. He encounters a clown, known as Penny-Wise, who acts nicely to the child, but then kills him.
Nearly a year later, in the summer of 1989, Bill tells his friends about what has happened with the incident involving Penny-Wise, or IT, as some refer to him as. They investigate where Georgie’s body has gone, yet Bill continues to believe that Georgie is still alive. But a new kid in the Bill’s school, named Ben, discovers that many children have disappeared because of Penny-Wise – and for centuries.
Beverly, a girl whose father abuses her, joins Bill and his other friends on the mission to find the sewers where every child, including those in the events of this movie, have been murdered by Penny-Wise. The horrors begin, and intensify.
I appreciated that the movie did not turn out to be as frightening as described. But there were a couple of times where I covered my eyes. I can’t recall which ones since it’s been years since I’ve seen this movie. However, that is normal for me when I watch horror films.
Some scenes didn’t scare me, such as when school ended for the day, and the kids left. But one of my biggest issues was the character development of the adults, especially the parents. I felt they weren’t very believable – and worse – they mistreated their own children.
I get that the kids, or any main characters in stories, have to make their own decisions. However, that still doesn’t mean the adults should be unrealistic. They just shouldn’t be too involved. I also dislike when they are unkind to their kids, something I’ve noticed a lot in children’s novels (but not always).
For example, in the scene where Beverly is reading a love letter, and blood erupts from the sink, her unloving father gets mad. He also comments on her looking like a boy due to her haircut. Then he leaves her.
First of all, that line where he remarks Beverly’s hair does not sound like something any parent would say to his or her child. Maybe a mean sibling would say that, but not a parent.
Also, leaving her in the bathroom where she’s terrified? Even a strict parent with lots of rules would worry about the child, and the parent would be frightened, too.
When Beverly kills her dad, she gets to go live with her aunt. But shouldn’t she go to jail, instead? I know this is fiction, but God-forbid the wrong person sees this and kills another. He or she would, no doubt, get locked up for many decades.
I give IT 3 stars.