"It" (2017): A Discussion About Mainstream Horror

You already know what "It" is; it's the scary killer clown movie.  I don't want to write a complete review of this film because I find it to be rather pointless.  The film has been out for about a year, and everybody who wanted to see "It" has already seen it.  Also, I can't say much about the film that hasn't already been said.  However, I will give a short paragraph of my thoughts for those who are interested.


My quick summary is that I thought it was a solid film.  Some of the juvenile humor is grating, most of it is pretty good though.  "It" really wasn't that scary, which is an issue.  There are a few scary moments, but the film seems as if it's holding back.  There wasn't any lasting impact for me, but the film was a fun ride while it lasted.  Overall, it's a very quality mainstream release that I would recommend.


This movie made a lot of money, which means other movies are going to copy what made "It" such a huge success.  Even though this film is a remake of a popular television mini-series, the success of "Stranger Things" helped created a market for this teenage-driven horror.  One of the main actors from "Stranger Things" has a prominent role in this movie, and the tone of the film is juvenile at times.  I am predicting that there are going to be a lot more middle-school aged teenagers in horror films and films in general as a result of this blockbuster.


What interests me the most is how this film goes about its horror.  As I previously stated, "It" ended its horror sequences too quickly, which made the horror aspects much weaker than they could have been.  Almost all of the horrific moments in this film seemed to be paced very quickly.  The film didn't last too long on one horror scenario until the end, but there were a wide variety of sequences throughout the film. 


Instead of focusing on one scary idea, this film uses the children's fears to bring a diversity of experiences to the film.  The main reason I'm assuming these horror sequences are so short is for the filmmaker to fit a lot of them in the film.  A lot of teenagers have very short attention spans, and this film capitalizes on that by making each scene very short.  I could argue against this because I think the greatest horrors have long build-up, but I think this is a very good thing for the horror genre.


Even though I can't see "It" having as much of a visceral impact as other horror films, I think this film opens a nice market for more multi-faceted horror films.  This film is a comedy and a drama, which creates a nice bridge to open more people up to horror.  Both the female main character and the school bully have quite traumatic backstories, which brings a more real-life horror aspect to the film.  This film has a lot of really good traits that appeal to a wide array of audiences, which makes the horror genre feel less isolated.


Even though "It" is inappropriate for some younger teens, I would almost recommend this film as a transition point for younger viewers.  I could see this film warming a lot of people up to more intense horror films, which I find very commendable.  There are some disturbing images and some vulgarity with sexual references, but it's somewhat tame by today's standards. 


My only hope is that films like "It" continue to push boundaries by supporting the horror genre.  "Scary movies" are often completely overlooked by a large group people because they don't like feeling scared.  While this is understandable, the genre needs a bit of a revival to show audiences the pleasure of watching a film like this.  There needs to be more great horror films that are both conventional, accessible and not too scary.  While I thought "Hereditary" was a triumph in horror cinema, it doesn't have a wide audience appeal because it is so weird and intense.  People need to understand that there are different levels of scary and experience how fear can be utilized with other genres to provide a more all-encompassing film experience.