After Andy Muschetti burst onto the scene in 2013 with a small horror flick titled, “Mama” (based off of his short film with the same title), people were eager to see what the Argentine director would tackle next in the genre. Stephen King’s “It” was probably the last film on Muschetti’s mind as well as audiences around the globe. So after Cary Fukunaga (a choice I loved) departed the project as director (he still got a writing credit) it was hard to imagine who else would fill those shoes as director. Warner Bros. acted swiftly and grabbed Muschetti to be their man behind the lens to bring The Loser’s Club back to the big screen 27 years after “It” got the miniseries treatment in 1990. Ironically enough Pennywise the Dancing Clown has reappeared after his 27 year slumber and he’s bringing all of his tricks to the table in one of this year’s finest efforts. After Will Poulter (eyebrows kid from Maze Runner) departed from the role of Pennywise I was pretty bummed out because I loved the casting of Poulter in the role. Thankfully enough, Bill Skarsgard was cast as the otherworldly being to bring the clown to life in the small town of Derry to rival that of Tim Curry’s iconic performance in 1990. While Curry may go unmatched by Skarsgard’s terrifying turn as the clown, he is still able to capture the essence of who and what Pennywise is. While makeup and costume design (sure to get an Oscar nomination) surely helps, it’s Skarsgard’s voice and expressions that will haunt you at every waking moment. Each word spoken is like an invisible needle that slowly punctures your ear drums and each look that Pennywise gives is like a dagger that twists the blade the deeper it gets. It’s a haunting specimen that feeds off of every fear that rattles around your head even when it isn’t seen. The more you long for a ray of happiness the more terrifying and acidic the experience gets. Your skin withers away at each passing frame and you’ll have goosebumps climbing up and down your body as our heroes face their deepest darkest fears. Bill, Ben, Beverly, Richie, Eddie, Mike, and Stan our are victims but they are the founders of The Loser’s Club. A club of your normal, every day children ripped straight out of 1989 with fears and dreams just like the rest of us during our teenage years. Whether that’s hoping to start anew in a town with a terrifying history, avoiding your parents like the plague, or letting a mistake eat away at you as each day passes by. These children must confront and overcome their fears that Pennywise preys on, and that is what makes “It” such a thematically rich experience. Each teen has a fear of something or someone, so when the clown isn’t on screen his effect and presence is still felt. Partly due to the chilling score by Benjamin Wallfisch and Chung-hoon Chung’s sinister cinematography that makes each scene sizzle and ooze with terror. But without giving too much credit to the duo and not recognizing Muschetti’s keen eye and sense of focus and goals would be a crime to how much credit Andy deserves. Even though we see fears reappear at a seemingly repetitive rate they are done to such great effect that it makes each encounter feel fresh everytime. “It” isn’t particularly a very deeply profound movie with themes that we have to dig underneath the surface to uncover, and that’s the beauty of this movie. Muschetti and the team behind the film recognize that this is a coming of age tale for teens that have to face their fears over the course of Summer 1989. There’s a beauty that lies in simplicity and it is capitalized on in this film. There are many captivating and emotional connections to our characters and our sympathy for them is earned early on. This immediately keeps us involved with our characters and sets us up for a good story to follow. While the scares come at a rate I found perfect for my tastes it’s not even those moments I cherish the most. It’s the intricate moments between them that make the story worthwhile, and even though some characters get lost in the shuffle you still care for them because we have also had to face our fears. We can connect because Pennywise is a universal terror that preys on our weaknesses, but through our strength together we can overcome that and pull away victorious. As much as I enjoy “It” and was riveted from beginning to end I have to take issue with some decisions and technicalities on display. First off, there is some laughably bad CGI, to the point of cringe inducing instead of fear washing over your eyes. While I believe this was intended to showcase that this team is embracing the “wackiness” of the story all together, it clashes with the practicality of Pennywise’s costume and emotional core to the film. Branching off of that, I was fairly disappointed in most of the cast. Outside of Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher (Bill), and Finn Wolfhard (Richie) most of the cast felt like they were outclassed by this trio here. Finn shines in Netflix’s science-fiction phenomenon in “Stranger Things” and has shown improvement since, Jaeden is proving to be a bright talent that showcases signs of a veteran actor, and Bill is sure to get many more roles after his surreal performance as Pennywise. Everyone else just seems to be forcing lines and not being able to hold their own against these actors here, it made some scenarios lose some value because only a couple actors were on their A-game when there’s 7-8 actors sharing a scene together. On a final note, the first 30 minutes of this movie are almost rendered useless in hindsight. Outside of the prologue, it does spend it’s time pouring on exposition (as it should, it’s a primary component to storytelling) but we don’t learn anything there that we aren’t reminded of later on in the film where it’s done much better. It felt like they just wanted to get “It” to two hours long to say, “Hey look, we’re longer than most horror films!” Fortunately, the pacing is tight enough and the scares perfectly placed throughout to keep us engaged. In conclusion, “It” is an amazing piece of horror filmmaking that is technically sound, to the point of arousement, and is full of amazing scares that contain unforgettable images. Around the 90 minute mark of the movie we are introduced to a horror scene for the record books that shook me to my core for seven straight minutes. Andy Muschetti’s “It” is a delightful house of horrors that has some unexpected scares, telegraphed scares, and a couple unforgivable moments but keeps us interested enough to make for an arousing thrill ride that you’ll want to revisit. It’s the atmospheric horror that Muschetti utilizes that’ll make you want to curl up next to your favorite sewer drain. “It” gets an 83/100