Recently, I went to go see the highly anticipated, 2017 adaptation of Stephen Kings “It.” Now before I go on, I do want to mention that I have not read King’s original book so any information or spoilers are strictly coming from this version of the movie.

Due to the fact that I am quite the wimp when it comes to watching horror movies, I was pretty nervous going into this one. I am so easily scared that sometimes I wait to shower until somebody’s home. Why? Because in any good horror film, the person ALWAYS gets killed while they’re in the shower. I have a pretty good background on Stephen King and how his stories typically go so I was assuming I would be peeing my pants by the first scene. However, in my opinion, “It” was nowhere near as scary as I thought it was going to be. I’m not saying there weren't several scenes where I had to cover my eyes, but looking at the movie as a whole, I think the scare bar could have been raised a little higher.

The fact that there was a killer clown roaming the streets and haunting children is a scary and bone-wrenching concept, believe me, but on another note, I don’t think it’s what made the movie as a whole scary. For example, something that I found to be inherently more nerving was that Beverly’s Dad was clearly sexually and mentally abusive towards her. Or how about the fact that Henry Bowers definitely had some sort of mental issue going on if he went so far as to cut Ben Hanscom’s stomach while profusely shouting how he was going to kill him. Bowers cut him so deep that he brought blood to the surface.

“Look at this motherf*cker! He’s leaking Hamburger Helper!” Thank you, Richie.

This brings me to my next point. Personally, I found the comedy throughout the film to be an excellent addition to the story. I almost wanted it to be an actual comedy film rather than a horror. As I said earlier, I have not read King’s book, but I hope that the quick one-liners throughout the movie were taken from the novel. With the incorporation of the humor and funny taglines, it helped build each character individually. Not only did it give them their own personalities, but it also made them all relatable.

I think one of the messages to take away from “It,” besides don’t play by storm drains, is the comradery that the children all have with each other. Towards the middle of the movie the “Loser’s Club” goes their separate ways for a short period of time. That is until they realize that they need to stand together and go after Pennywise to find out about all these disappearances and murders. It’s kind of cheesy but the whole “have your friends backs” lesson is very prominent and is conveyed well throughout the movie.

Now we have made it to the end of the movie and at first glance, I was a little upset with it. I felt like there was no “real” answer where Pennywise went and how they defeated him. I understand that there is going to be a second movie or “chapter two” to the story but I think they could have had a stronger ending to the first film. It just felt incomplete and like they had no lead into the next movie. I have done enough research on “It” and what the next movie is going to be about, however, if I didn’t know what the next movie was going to encompass, I would be sort of lost.

Overall, I really enjoyed this adaptation of the movie and I think if you enjoy Stephen King’s other books and films, you too will enjoy this one. If you don’t want to take my word for it, take the critics and fans. Recently, “It” became the highest grossing horror record at the US box office. If that doesn’t prove that the movie is a success, I don’t know what will.

And if you don’t go for the frightening effects, go for Richie and all his one-liners.

“You punched me, made me walk through shitty water, dragged me through a crackhouse… and now I’m gonna have to kill this f*cking clown.”