You may know that horror is not exactly my favourite genre. However, you may not know that I’ve been trying to be less scared and take small steps towards not avoiding scary movies all together.

My recent change of heart was inspired in part by the fact that the trailer for the upcoming IT movie remake did not scare me at all. In light of this fact which some believe to be surprising, I opted to watch the original IT TV movie which was released back in 1990. Now, I did watch it in broad daylight instead of late at night. Nevertheless, it’s no news to me that I wasn’t at all scared.

I’m certain that my lack of fear when it comes to scary looking clowns stems from the fact that, even when they have big, sharp yellow teeth, I just see them as people that make balloon animals to put smiles on little kids faces. Maybe if IT’s costume wasn’t so bright and colourful, I might be horrified. Or maybe I find there to be greater horrors in the world. Whatever the answer, I’ve come to the way of thinking that people who are scared of clowns are those who developed a fear of clowns at a young age. Whether it be from watching the original IT movie or simply just never liking clowns to begin with. It’s likely that had I watched IT when I was a relatively young child – one who saw those sharp clown teeth close-up, perhaps I’d have a reasonable fear of clowns too.

As for what I think about the movie, to begin with, I found the kid actors to be more convincing than most – if not all of the adults. Maybe it’s a style of the time but I certainly wasn’t a fan of the ‘extreme overacting’ several of the adults appeared to be guilty of. Second, this is likely also due to that period in time, but… my goodness, all that seemingly ceaseless panning of the camera sure did become annoying. Third, the story appeared to move at quite a slow pace but then finally, the entering of the sewer happened and I was very much awake; though I must add, still definitely not scared.

Regarding the things that stood out in a good way, it was so great to see a handsome, young John Ritter. He’s the only person I immediately recognised. He therefore helped put me at ease in terms of me feeling as though this movie was worth sticking with. Overall, my favourite moment in the film is when a certain someone gets sucked into the tube of light, butt first. I enjoyed that moment and found the way it was executed to be somewhat hypnotic. Lastly, I really like what Stephen King’s IT has to say about fear and how it’s you who gives it power and as such, you can choose to not let it control you.

In summary, if seemingly ceaseless panning, some serious overacting, sharp yellow clown teeth and a relatively slow pace at the beginning don’t scare you off, tune in to IT. It is a classic after all.

Happy Film Loving

G