DIRECTOR: Denise Di Novi
WRITER: Christina Hodson
CAST:
Rosario Dawson
Katherine Heigl
Geoff Stults
Isabella Kai Rice
Cheryl Ladd
Alex Quijano
Sarah Burns
Whitney Cummings
Robert Wisdom
PLOT:
Julia Banks has had a bad run of things. Her previous boyfriend was abusive and she managed to escape with her life. She is now off of all social media and keeping low in hopes that she is never found by her ex-boyfriend. Julia is also in a new relationship. She believes that she has met the man of her dreams and plans on marrying her new boyfriend David. There is only one problem, he has a daughter with his ex-wife Tessa. Tessa is still not over David and plans on ruining Julia's life in hopes that she can win David back and have their family reconnected.
It's been established that I have a thing for thrillers that deal with obsession. I don't care if it's a crazy ex-boyfriend or a one night stand gone wrong. I really just revel in the uncomfortableness of watching someone being watched and stalked, having their entire life turned upside down and then that inevitable final showdown. These movies really do follow a pretty tired formula that I've seen a million times already but I can't help myself, I still enjoy watching these obsession based thrillers.
Going into Unforgettable, I was well aware of what to expect from this movie. Here I was hoping that having Rosario Dawson in the lead and Katherine Heigl as the villain that I'd get to witness some campy enjoyment from the two actresses. At least one or two glaring bitchy stares and a nice violent showdown at the end. For the most part, we get exactly that. But Unforgettable plays like a Lifetime television movie and not a film that feels very cinematic.
What Unforgettable does right is that it gets to the uncomfortable stuff pretty quickly. This movie wastes no time in building up characters or giving us much backstory for the two ladies. We are dropped right into the middle of their drama. We can see that Rosario Dawson is covered in bruises, blood, and scratches. We quickly learn that she has apparently been sending provocative photos to her abusive ex-boyfriend. Right away, we know that Katherine Heigl is really messing with Rosario and we haven't even been introduced to her yet.
The movie takes us back into the past. I assume it's a few months at most. We see that Katherine Heigl is immediately unhappy that her ex-husband has found love with another woman. We see that her character Tessa is very elegant, dresses well, and is also very strict and controlling. She puts up a front that shows she is very strong. She has a dark side though. We watch as she quickly tries to destroy Julia. Creating her a Facebook profile, stealing her mobile, sending photos to an abusive ex-boyfriend, and even undermining Julia at every step of the way when she is around Tessa's daughter. This all happens very quickly.
The best element of the movie is that it never really stops or slows down. The entire movie feels very brisk in terms of these two women coming to blows. In saying that, though. The movie rarely gives us anything new or surprising. If you've watched any movie that deals with obsession, you have seen this film beat for beat. It builds up to the final showdown and while we get one of those, it all feels very quickly resolved. It is over and done with as soon as it starts. The final showdown is all of two minutes of these two woman meeting one last time. It's all very anticlimactic.
The biggest upset in this movie, that will likely anger a lot of viewers is probably the ending. The film has a child in the middle of these two warring women. The ending is one that leaves a daughter without a mother but she now has a stepmother. We are meant to take away that because one woman was strict and wanted to see her young daughter succeed that her death was easier to forget? It ends abruptly and we are all meant to assume this young girl is okay with not having her real mother because she was tough on her. This didn't sit right with me. They quickly try to build that Julia the stepmother is nicer so all is forgotten. Not buying it.
When it comes to being a thriller, Unforgettable is not very thrilling. The film is barren when it comes to suspense and tension. While briskly paced, which is a plus, the film is not at all great as a thriller. There never feels like any danger. There isn't any real shocks or surprises. Minus the ending, this feels very light. For a theatrical release, I am surprised they didn't take this into a darker territory or give us something more bloody. This would have been perfect for Lifetime. Any soap actress could have done this film and tackled these underwritten characters.
Lastly, we come to the acting. Rosario Dawson is a solid actress. You can witness that from dozens of movies in her career. Her she is upstaged by a darker Katherine Heigl. This is her show. If you've ever read the press and how they love to slander Katherine Heigl and label her a bitch. She is giving it to them here in her role as Tessa. She was the most enjoyable element of this movie. Cheryl Ladd is sadly underused here and Geoff Stults is given nothing to do here. He is probably the weakest character in the film. He's pretty but given nothing to do in the movie.
DEATH TOLL: 2
BLOOD AND GORE:
- A woman is seen with bruises and scratches all over her face.
- A woman pulls herself onto a knife.
- A woman is punched in the face.
- A woman has her face smashed into a glass picture.
- A man is stabbed in the leg and heart.
- A man is hit in the head with a fire poker.
Unforgettable joins the long line of 'obsession' based thrillers. Sadly, it offers nothing new to the subgenre. Minus a questionable ending that is sure to upset some mothers out there. This is all pretty straightforward when it comes to its premise. If you have ever seen one of these types of films, you will know what's coming beat for beat. The standout in the film here is Katherine Heigl who seems to be relishing her chance to deliver a darker role and move away from those cheesy romantic comedies she has been now associated with. Only watch if you enjoy obsession movies like I do and make up your own mind about it.
DIRECTOR: Justin Barber
WRITERS:
T.S. Nowlin
Justin Barber
CAST:
Florence Hartigan
Chelsea Lopez
Luke Spencer Roberts
Justin Matthews
Clint Jordan
Cyd Strittmatter
Jeanine Jackon
Matt Biedel
Ana Dela Cruz
PLOT:
When some mysterious glowing lights appear and disappear over Phoenix, Arizona. It happens only once in which they are never seen again. The US government also tries to cover up the lights by calling them a hoax. When a teenage boy who witnesses the event becomes obsessed with it. He and two friends head out with their cameras and into the desert to see if they can document the lights and see if aliens really do exist.
I'm someone that believes in the supernatural. I also believe that it is pretty ignorant to think that we are the only people or life in the vast reaches of space. With so many stars and planets out there in the solar system. I really do believe that we aren't the only ones. I have also always been very intrigued and fascinated with the notion that our government does have secret bases that are there to try and cover up alien life and sightings. They are there to keep it secret so we don't have mass panic.
Going into Phoenix Forgotten, what initially caught my eye about the film was the fact that Ridley Scott was a producer on this film. I thought with his involvement, we may actually get a really solid take on the alien abduction movie. If his trust was placed in filmmaker, Justin Barber to give us something special. All my trust was in Ridley Scott being on board this film. His name alone sold me on checking this one out. We know his record with alien cinema.
Over the last few years, I have grown really tired of this whole found footage genre. Some are over zombies, some were over the whole American adaptations of Japanese supernatural films. For me, it's the found footage movie. We have had a few excellent films that have come out that use the technique but a vast majority of the movies in which I've seen have been less than stellar. Sadly, Phoenix Forgotten hasn't changed my opinion in regards to how I currently feel about this subgenre of film.
The film feels like it can be broken up into three acts. The first act is the Phoenix light incident. We see our two main characters of the sister and brother as children. I really enjoyed the setup. I liked the whole lights over Phoenix scene at the family barbeque. I thought it was creepy enough. I'm well aware of the original footage of the event. I find it inherently eerie that it's never been explained. This opening created a sense of foreboding dread and for that, I think the movie deserves a couple of points.
The second act of the film is where it drags. We follow the now older sister. It sets up the two-time lines for the movie. The present and the past. We learn that her brother and two of his friends had headed out into the desert to find answers but they never returned. The second act is the sister interviewing people and trying to find answers to what happened that night and to her brother. It actually killed the vibe of the film. It feels like it's added to stretch out the running time for the movie. Without it, this would've been a much tighter short film. The second and third act almost feels beat for beat like The Blair Witch Project.
The third act is where the film picks up the pace and we find evidence that there are indeed aliens out there. We see what happens to the three teenagers. I found that I enjoyed the build-up to the alien abduction scene. I thought they managed to ramp up the tension. Where it felt like it loses steam is the final few minutes. I felt like I'd seen this type of ending a dozen times in these found footage films. It feels like they added nothing new here in that final few minutes. It moves from point A to point B which is fine but there are no subverting expectations here. There are no shock or surprises to be found in the movie.
When it comes to the alien action in the film. We get all of two minutes. If you go in hoping to see any alien lifeforms, you'll be sorely disappointed. It's all erratic camera footage, screaming and running through the darkness. While we see bright lights and people being sucked up into the sky, we don't see any aliens here. It all sort of feels like a very long-winded way to get to two minutes of action. The final shot of the film where the camera falls back to Earth was a nice touch though. I can't fault that final visual in the movie.
Lastly, we have the performances. The standouts in Phoenix Forgotten are the three teenagers. We spend most of our time with them. They are given the most to do. The sister character played by Florence Hartigan who gets the entire second act, plays a tough and resilient woman who is trying to get to the bottom of her younger brother's disappearance. While she is fine, here part of the film is what feels like filler. It's the three actors playing the teenagers that are standout here. So I can't fault Chelsea Lopez, Luke Spencer Roberts, and Justin Matthews.
DEATH TOLL: 3
BLOOD AND GORE:
- A lot of dead rotting foxes are shown in the desert.
- A guy is seen getting sucked up into the sky.
- A girl is sucked up into the air by an alien ship.
- A woman starts bleeding from her nose.
- A guy disappears after blood starts pouring out of her nose.
Going into Phoenix Forgotten, I was pretty excited. I've been aware of the lights over Phoenix incident since it first happened back in 1997. I've always been fascinated with alien films and the whole government conspiracy side of things. So when it was announced, I was excited to see what Ridley Scott and Co. would deliver. Sadly, this feels like a missed opportunity. A found footage movie that doesn't take any risks and follows The Blair Witch Project formula pretty closely. While we get a few moments and tension and a committed younger cast. This feels like a case of seen it all before.
DIRECTOR: Cate Shortland
WRITER: Shaun Grant
CAST:
Teresa Palmer
Max Riemelt
Matthias Habich
Emma Bading
Lucie Aron
Christoph Frankin
Elmira Bahrami
PLOT:
Clare is an Australian Photojournalist who is holidaying in Berlin. One day while out exploring the city, Clare meets Andi. He's good looking and charismatic local. After a night of partying, they end up going back to his place and sleeping together. When Andi goes to work in the morning. Clare tries to leave his apartment and realises he may have accidentally locked her in. Clare will soon discover that she was locked in the apartment on purpose and has no intention of letting her leave ever again.
As someone who has an insatiable appetite for traveling the world. The plot for Berlin Syndrome is a scary one for me. It hits me on an emotional and personal level. While I never went through what Clare does in the film. I've felt the isolation and fear. While traveling through Greece. I was drugged while out on a night of clubbing, then driven to a deserted location, attacked and left with nothing but my shirt, undies, and high-tops. My passport with my new UK Visa in it, mobile phone and wallet were stolen. To come to it in the dark, while in a foreign country. It was terrifying.
I went into Berlin Syndrome completely blind. I hadn't seen any promotional material for this one at all before going into it. But just going off the title alone. I had gathered that this movie would be about someone who falls in love with their kidnapper. Berlin was going to be the location and this title was clearly a play on the whole Stockholm Syndrome condition. I wasn't sure what route this movie would take but I got a pretty good idea of what this would be like on a tonal level. But boy was I very wrong.
I'm a fan of the film's director, Cate Shortland. I'm pretty familiar with her work being that she's an Australian filmmaker. I was a massive fan of her first movie Somersault. It was a very dark drama that showed a sixteen-year-old girl who runs away from her home and starts up a relationship with an older guy. It dealt heavily with her sexual awakening. It was also the first time I witnessed the brilliant Abbie Cornish outside of a comedic role and where I first took notice of Sam Worthington. So I had faith Cate Shortland could give us something special again.
Berlin Syndrome is a movie that was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I quite liked this movie, it's hard to say that this is a story that a lot of people will walk out of and love. Berlin Syndrome is one dark and unpleasant little movie. This is not a very nice experience. While the first fifteen minutes of the movie provides the audience with a sense of wanderlust and hope. That is quickly dashed when we start to get a sense that our lead character may have gotten herself into something that she can't get out of. The next hour and a half, while not harrowing is still uncomfortable to watch.
For most of this movie. We witness a woman who is confined to an apartment, which appears to be in an abandoned building and she is emotionally and physically abused. Her identification and her passport are taken off her and she is left to basically suffer with a man she trusted. What I think the film gets right is the tone and atmosphere. Being that we are stuck with her as the outside world moves on, I felt they captured the isolation well. I sat there wondering will her parents back in Australia try and find her? Will they call the authorities? But we never see that happen.
Another element of the film that I really enjoyed was the cinematography and visual aesthetic. For a film that is so dark in tone and themes. I thought that Cate Shortland and her crew brought a very dream-like quality to it. Just like Somersault, there was still beauty to be found in such darkness and brutality. There is a scene towards the end of the film where Andi and Clare are in walking in the forest and it was gorgeous. The seasons of Berlin are captured so beautifully. The visual works as a way to tell how long she has been left in this apartment.
The acting is also top-notch in Berlin Syndrome. Teresa Palmer is an actress that I've been watching for years. I think this may be her most brave role yet. Not only is she completely open when it comes to the sexuality side of the film, she is also brave as some of the things she goes through are pretty horrific. Max Riemelt is also great in the movie. Probably the darkest character that I've seen him tackle. I really grew to hate his character. They both do their respected roles justice. It was great to see both delve into such dark characters.
Where I think Berlin Syndrome goes wrong for me is that the movie suffers from so many stupid character decisions. I can totally believe that after spending a night with a guy, he locks you in his apartment and you think nothing of it. There is a sense of trust there. Even on the second day, I would start to panic and realise something isn't right. After that, I'd spend the entire day trying to escape while he's at work teaching. She had and wasted so many opportunities to escape while he was gone for days on end and she just didn't try hard enough. This becomes seriously frustrating to watch as an audience member. It happens over and over again.
The movie also has a ton of things that made me really annoyed. There is one scene where she has her mobile early on and there is no SIM. I'm under the understanding that most if not all mobile phones now have the ability to call emergency numbers even without a SIM or no signal. The entire apartment looks made up to not allow women to escape like bulletproof glass or doors that are locked and reinforced. With eight hours to spare, she could have escaped over and over. I keep coming back to the point because I really felt they didn't show her trying enough. After three days she just gave up and subjected herself to his abuse.
Lastly, we have several subplots that end up going nowhere like one that involves a previous victim that doesn't get resolved or have much light shed on it. I thought the ending of the film while a happy one, felt like it just ended. After sitting through close to two hours of such darkness, I'd have liked a more well-written ending and another one involving Andi and his father. I know it's meant to lead Andi and tip him over the edge on making a decision that he was not sure about but it felt like a lot of that stuff could've been left out and it wouldn't have hurt the film.
DEATH TOLL: 2
BLOOD AND GORE:
- A woman is held captive.
- A woman is dragged along the floor by her hair.
- A man's head is bashed in with a crowbar.
- A little boy is shown with a bloody leg.
- An old man dies of natural causes.
- A woman is hit in the face.
- A woman's fingers are broken when slammed in a door.
- A woman stabs a man in the hand with a screwdriver.
- A woman is seen covered in bruises.
Berlin Syndrome started out giving me a sense of wanderlust. It actually made me miss traveling. This film quickly becomes a dark and at times unpleasant experience. It's not an easy movie to watch but I think it has enough positive elements to get it over the line. Solid performances, some really beautiful cinematography and a few really nasty moments should keep genre fans happy. Where the movie loses points is unresolved subplots, silly character decisions, and an unsatisfying ending loses the film points. I think this film will alienate and leave a lot of viewers cold but I think it's still worth a watch.
DIRECTOR: Brian Goodman
WRITERS:
Marc Frydman
Justin Stanley
CAST:
Antonio Banderas
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Piper Perabo
Abel Ferrara
Nicholas Aaron
Vincent Riotta
Randall Paul
Katie McGovern
PLOT:
While a small mountain town is grappling with a series of abductions and murders. Paul is a reclusive writer and recovering alcoholic. After the death of his wife, he is holding up in this rural cabin in hopes of writing a screenplay that will put his career back on track. When a drifter helps him during an altercation at a roadside diner, he offers to give him a place to stay and help around the cabin. Soon things start getting strange when the drifter shows signs of paranoia.
I went into Black Butterfly completely blind. The only thing about the movie that had caught my eye was the poster art for the film. Going off the poster, I was aware that Antonio Banderas was headlining the film and Jonathan Rhys Meyers was also starring in the movie. The poster also felt very reminiscent of Mike Flanagan's moody, familial, supernatural fable, Before I Wake. The use of the entire butterfly motif and the blood had me very intrigued to give this one a watch.
After watching Black Butterfly, I was torn on my viewing experience. I waited almost a week to write my review for the film because I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Right after the movie had wrapped up, I was on the fence still. As the week had gone on, I decided an above average review for the film felt acceptable. While this movie has its fair share of problems. I think the third acts first twist alone, pushes it just over the line and into positive territory.
Early on in Black Butterfly, I thought I was pretty on the ball with where this movie was heading. While watching the movie, I even had one of those moments where I shouted at the television and stated that I knew exactly what the twist was going to be in the movie. It turns out that I was actually right for once. I did end up guessing exactly what the twist was going to be. But here is where I have to give the movie a few points. I had guessed the third of three reveals in the final act.
The movie contains a really solid second reveal that completely blindsided me. I was so wrapped up in what would come to be the third twist that I didn't see the second one coming. It's a twist that I don't ever remember seeing in another movie. Here it felt entirely fresh and original. While the most solid twist in the film is book-ended by two twists that have been done before. I was still completely blown away by it. This for me was enough to win me over after sitting on the film for a week.
The rest of Black Butterfly sits somewhere between a hostage/captive film and a slow burn psychological thriller. The movie doesn't really start to pick up the pace until we see Jonathan Rhys Meyers character start to descend into this paranoid drifter who I believed may be responsible for all the abductions and murders. Once we get to his character starting to show signs of a darker nature, this is where I thought the movie really picked up speed. The first act of the film is rather slow. Once we get past the earlier scenes, the film is pretty fun.
The entire time that I was watching this movie. I kept thinking to myself how closely this resembled the Stephen King film adaptation Secret Window. A lot of the stuff in this movie felt very similar to that film. Sadly, just not as well acted as that movie. I thought the rural cabin, the reclusive writer who is trying to write his next novel or screenplay. Even one of the twists here felt very similar to Secret Window. It's also the twist that sort of diminishes the impact of the first and second twist in the film. It's a case of seen it all before.
When it comes to the thrills in this movie. I didn't find Black Butterfly all that thrilling. A lot of times in the movie when they try to build suspense. It feels like they go and ruin it with lots of silly character decisions. This clearly falls back on the screenplay. It just seems redundant to build up the suspense and throw in characters being run off the road or tripping over while they are trying to make an escape. They kill it as fast as they try to build it. Doing this also seems to hurt the final twist which makes me wonder how bad of a writer Antonio Banderas character is in the film.
Lastly, we come to the acting. Antonio Banderas is fine in his role. He does losing his mind well enough. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is his usual self. The guy always looks really creepy in movies. He has a habit of not blinking and it works for his character in Black Butterfly. Piper Perabo is completely wasted in this film. She is barely in it. She comes back towards the third act but I felt she was underused here. This is the Antonio and Jonathan show so it's understandable but I'd have like to see more of her as she's a pretty fun actress to watch.
DEATH TOLL: 2
BLOOD AND GORE:
- A woman is taken and presumed murders while on a picnic.
- A man is smacked in the face with a rifle handle.
- A man is stabbed in the back with scissors.
- A woman is seen lying on the floor while bleeding from her head.
Black Butterfly all hangs on the three twists and for me, it worked well enough. The second of three twists knocked me for a six. I didn't see it coming at all and for that, I think it deserves several points. While not thrilling or psychologically damaging, I still think once we start to see cracks in Jonathan Rhys Meyers drifter, it's where the movie picks up the pace. The acting, for the most part, is solid and while similar to Secret Window, I think this movie is worth a once off watch.
DIRECTOR: Andy Muschietti
WRITERS:
Chase Palmer
Cary Fukunaga
Gary Dauberman
CAST:
Jaeden Lieberher
Finn Wolfhard
Jeremy Ray Taylor
Sophia Lillis
Jack Dylan Grazer
Chosen Jacobs
Wyatt Oleff
Bill Skarsgård
Nicholas Hamilton
Owen Teague
Jackson Robert Scott
PLOT:
In the Town of Derry, Maine. Local children from the area have been disappearing one by one. When a group of seven misfit and bullied locals band together, they form The Losers Club. They must try and put a stop to a horrifying monster that takes the form of a clown. The monster is known as Pennywise and he feeds on the fears of children. They must try and stop him before they too go missing and put an end to his horrific reign for another twenty-seven years.
I remember being roughly six years of age and seeing the iconic image of Tim Curry as Pennywise on TV one night. Holding balloons and standing in the middle of a lake. With an evil laugh and the point of a finger, I was immediately terrified. It wouldn't be until ten or so years later that I sat down to watch the miniseries of IT. As a teenager, it had sort of lost all that scariness that I had built up in my mind from seeing him as a kid. While I enjoyed the miniseries, it sort of fell short at that time due to the hype that I built in my head from when I was a kid.
When it was first announced that they'd be doing a big screen adaptation of Stephen King's much beloved and terrifying novel. I was pretty damn excited. I loved the idea that they were planning for two chapters. The first would handle The Losers Club and then the second chapter would detail them as adults. Just like the miniseries but with a break in between. The announcement of Cary Fukunaga as director was the icing on the cake. When he dropped out and Andy Muschietti took over the helm, I was a little concerned. Not because I disliked him as a filmmaker, but I was worried about trouble behind the scenes.
With Cary Fukunaga now replaced as the director. I was still excited to see how Andy Muschietti would tackle the source material. I remember reading a few articles stating that Cary wanted his vision for IT to be darker and more disturbing. While I would like to one day see just how dark his screenplay would have been. After seeing the new IT film adaptation. The movie is an almost perfect film for me. I couldn't think how much more Cary Fukunaga would improve on this film. After a year and a half of waiting, all that hype had paid off.
As someone who hasn't read the original source material. I can't compare this movie to Stephen King's novel. I don't know how close this movie follows the novel. Going off the movie alone, this is one of the most enjoyable experiences that I've had in a cinema in years. Not since Mad Max: Fury Road and Jurassic World have I felt so alive during a screening. Weird to say as all three movies are so wildly different and it feels odd to mention IT as an enjoyable experience due to everything being so dark within the film but that's how I felt during this story. At two hours, it never felt long for me.
IT not only works as a scary horror movie but also an excellent coming of age story. As a huge fan of another of Stephen King's movie adaptations Stand By Me. Not since that film have I been so moved by a group of kids onscreen. The entire experience of being a kid trying to make it through school, being bullied, finding your voice and also finding that group of friends that you feel like you could pass the days and weekends with, is all over this film. The movie being set in the eighties, Andy Muschietti really does capture the innocence and that time. This is filled with nostalgia.
When it comes to being a scary horror movie. For the most part, IT worked very well. Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise had big shoes to fill by following in Tim Curry's footsteps but here he has successfully done the character of Pennywise justice. I think here he's even better and surpasses Tim Curry. He has created a horror icon for an entirely new generation. It feels like he was completely consumed by the role. The film has really solid moments where the tension and suspense are built up to the breaking point. I thought the building of tension here was a lot more successful than the scenes that feature quick and loud jump scares.
The only problems that I had with IT revolved around some of the Pennywise scenes. For the most part, he is terrifying. There are a couple of scenes in the movie that are played straight that fall into almost unintentionally hilarious territory. A scene where Pennywise bursts out of a projector screen and five times his regular size and a scene where he is seen dancing drew laughs from the crowd. I think a couple of the issues that I found fall back on some less than stellar CGI. But I've been wrong before and it may have all been practical. I just felt on first viewing, these moments took me out of those scenes.
When it comes to the violence. IT will not disappoint. Gorehounds will be happy with the violence and gore on display here. Not only is this movie extremely gruesome but most of the violence that takes place is against children. I'm still shocked that a large studio didn't shy away from a lot of the carnage here. Children are shot in the head, dismembered, slashed, and beaten. There is one scene involving a sink and a geyser of blood that was the highlight here. Not since the original, A Nightmare On Elm Street has there been a blood fountain like the one in IT. Bloody goodness.
Another element of IT that I'm shocked to see tackled in a big budget studio horror film are the scenes of Beverly Marsh and her father. While never shown, the hints that her father is molesting her had me so uncomfortable. I was actually squirming in my seat during a few of their encounters. The packed audience that I saw this with was also extremely uncomfortable as you could hear people being grossed out all through the rows. I loved that this film seemed to show the entire adult population of Derry to be really unsavory characters. This felt like it only strengthened the bond between The Losers Club.
Lastly, the acting in IT is standout. I'm not going to list all the actors but all seven of The Losers Club are fantastic. I haven't seen performances from a group of young actors this fantastic since I watched Let The Right One In and its remake Let Me In. The actors playing Bowers and his group of bullies are played perfectly. I hated them as they tortured and abused The Losers Club. I've already said how much Bill owns his role as Pennywise. The entire cast of this movie will have long careers if they choose to stay this path. They are all fantastic.
DEATH TOLL: 6
BLOOD AND GORE:
- Pennywise is seen holding a severed child's arm.
- A headless and charred child chases a kid through a basement.
- Someone is stabbed in the throat with a pocket knife.
- A child's arm is bitten off.
- A child is shot in the head with a captive bolt pistol.
- Pennywise is stabbed in the face with a metal pole.
- A young girl is drenched in blood when it bursts out of her sink.
- A teenager carves the letter H into a child's stomach.
- Lot's of rotting and dead children are seen.
- A father attacks and attempts to molest his own daughter.
- A kid is repeatedly punched in the face.
- A teenager is hit in the face and head with rocks.
- A teenager is pushed down a well to his death.
- Pennywise attacks and mauls a teenager.
- A child's arm is broken when he falls through a floor.
- Pennywise bites down on a child's face, drawing lots of blood.
- A man is smacked in the head with toilet tank lid.
- A door opens to reveal a child chained up and split in half.
- A child is chased by a leper.
- A child is slashed across the stomach with a piece of metal.
You can all rest easy knowing that the new IT has lived up to the hype. Not just a beautifully made horror film but an extremely emotional coming of age story. Filled with a fantastic young cast and a career catapulting performance from Bill Skarsgård who owns his role as Pennywise the Clown. You won't be disappointed. Minus a few unintentionally silly moments of CGI that took me out of the scenes. This is pretty much close to perfect. This will go down as one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date. Can't wait for Chapter 2.
