NOCTILUCA October 2017

CULTURE Appleton, Wisconsin October 2017 Volume XXIII Issue 1 Page 9 IT movie review: We all float down here… Student gives his opinion on new adaptation of Stephen King’s IT By Logan Gaertner is great, but as for the rel- evance of the character, he is the one kid in The Loser’s Club that gets little attention and even disappears from the movie for long periods of time, and the audience is just supposed to go with it.

Exiting the movie theater after seeing IT, you will be trembling from either ex- citement, fear, or both. IT is one of the most faithful ad- aptations to a Stephen King novel, as well as a fantastic coming of age tale with a frightening clown. On vir- tually every level, IT suc- ceeds. The film is set in the town of Derry, Maine in 1989, where every 27 years, a de- mon-like entity named Pen- nywise the Dancing Clown awakens and feeds on the fear of children by shape- shifting into that child’s worst nightmare. After his little brother Georgie sud- denly goes missing, Bill Denbrough and his friends, dubbing themselves The Loser’s Club, try to discover what is causing the disap- pearance of all of the chil- dren. Meanwhile, Penny- wise startles the Losers Club and audience along the way. IT consistently delivered quality work throughout its two hour and 15 minute Name: Titus Xiong Grade: 11 Q: What is your favorite Halloween movie? A: IT (2017) Q: How many times have you seen it? A: Once Q: Favorite scene? A: The part where the clown pops out of the movie projector screen Q: Why would you recommend this movie? A: Because it’s creepy, quite disturbing, but pretty hilarious at the same time

All in all, besides a hand- ful of cheap scares and one minor character not being utilized fully, the film still has incredible performances across the board, kids and clowns alike. The directing, score, and cinematography are also very impressive. The film does a great job of balancing elements of horror and humor, and it never feels out of place. IT is a creepy, nerve racking, touching, and surprisingly heartfelt film. IT is definitely worth checking out! 9/10 Not only on a critical lev- el is IT so successful, the movie is also making a lot of money. IT opened big in its first weekend with over $120 million, the highest open- ing for any horror movie, as well as the highest open- ing for any film released in September. And that finan- cial success does not seem as if it will fade away anytime soon! IT has the potential to become the highest gross- ing horror movie of all time! Name: Sophie Sullivan Grade: 11 Q: What is your favorite Halloween movie? A: Saw Franchise Q: How many times have you seen it? A: At least five times Q: Favorite scene? A: They had to escape a series of rooms, but they all died because they didn’t work to- gether Q: Why would you recommend this movie? A: It’s amazing and entertaining

runtime. The child actors that make up The Loser’s Club (Jaeden Lieberher, So- phia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jeremy Ray Taylor, and Chosen Jacobs) do an incredible job of embodying their characters and making the audience either relate or sympathize with them. Their ability to deliver one liners, expository dialogue, and facial features that ex- press, clear as day, what they’re thinking is excellent. And they actually speak like kids, not adult written lines. But it all comes down to that creepy clown, Pennywise, who is portrayed masterfully by Bill Skarsgård. Thanks to his performance, the charac-

ter of Pennywise has never been more terrifying, and you can feel his presence throughout the entire movie. Not only is the casting and acting spot on, every techni- cal aspect is also top notch. The directing by Andy Muschietti is inspiring. The cinematography is enthrall- ing and, at certain points, immerses the audience into the film to the point where they feel like they are being chased by that clown. The CGI is seamless and im- pressive for a budget of $35 million. The musical score is eerie and adds to the ten- sion of every scene. More- over, almost every jump scare is executed perfectly and serves a purpose.

Even though IT is a fantas- tic movie, it has some weak points. When mentioning the jump scares, I stated that almost all of them served a purpose. While most of them worked, there were a handful that felt contrived and unnecessary. In order to do a jump scare effectively, it has to either progress the story forward or have a last- ing effect on the audience. Most of these jump scares in IT succeed in providing these scares successfully, however, there are three in particular that felt cheap, and has no lasting impact. The only other issue worth mentioning is the character of Mike Hanlon (played by Chosen Jacobs). The acting

What is your favorite Halloween Movie?

Photo used with permission from Sophie Sullivan.

Photo by Mickayla George.