Beyond dreadful...

I wish filmmakers would realize that subtlety, stillness, quiet, and tension building are often more intense than loud sounds and fast cuts. I was more engaged while watching the original and got less bored even though it was over 3 hours long. Movies should be about storytelling, not making a spectacle.

Overall, the kid actors in the original were more convincing, especially Bill and Richie. Each kid was more distinguished and fleshed out. In the remake, Stan and Mike are just kinda there. Richie and Eddie are one-note over-the-top caricatures, as are Bev’s dad, Eddie’s mom, and the bullies. The bond between the lucky 7 was really felt in the original- something that’s lacking in the remake.

I totally agree about the Georgie scene. I just knew the movie was gonna blow when they couldn’t even make that scene decent. He was too trusting, even for a little kid. What kid would be that trusting towards a menacing clown in the gutter? Georgie in the original was more realistically cautious.

The character of Pennywise was just a CGI-looking joke. The original had some bad special effects, but Pennywise himself should look and act like a real clown that kids would be drawn to.

Finally, the two tones of scary and comedic clashed and just didn’t mesh together well. I’m not saying the original is a masterpiece. It had its flaws, but it’s certainly more watchable than the remake.

>>> This was by far one of the most dreadful and disappointing movies I've seen in a long time. Over an hour of my life that'll never get back. lol

Sucks to be you, I guess.

>>> I have a lot of doubt and pessimism in horror films nowadays, and especially when it comes to remakes. And this film only confirmed that for me.

This is NOT a remake. There was never a theatrical movie version of this story before, only a highly-sanitised television movie, and we all know they can't go too far to avoid upsetting people.

>>> Just watching the trailer, I knew this movie wasn't going to be good. I don't know why, but somehow I just knew. The only reason I was forced to watch this movie, is because I was with a group of friends who badly wanted to see it. I tried entering this film with an open mind. I tried not to be so skeptical. But in the end, my gut instinct turned out to be right.

So you went against the flow because you didn't want to see it. Again, sucks to be you.

>>> First off, I could care less for the character of Pennywise in this film. In the original It, Pennywise was creepy in a subtle kind of way. He looked just like a regular clown, but actor Tim Curry managed to give him a really sinister persona. The appearance of Pennywise in this film was just overkill. He looked more like a demon than a clown, which automatically steered clear of the premise of the original character.

Tim Curry was great, but that's just one interpretation of the character. The book Pennywise was the original, and both Curry and Skarsgard gave their version of it, and I love all three.

>>> Even 'the Georgie scene' was a disappointment. ...

The point is that audiences need to see how alien Pennywise really is. As for Pennywise managing to entice Georgie to stick his arm in, I think that was a case of "Bill's gonna kill me" (he probably thought literally at that age) which most likely overrode his distrust of the clown. Pennywise even reminded Georgie that he said that.

>>> I didn't care for the actor who portrayed Pennywise. Even though he may be a great actor aside from this movie...nobody can outshine Tim Curry's evil clown character. Nobody!

He was "of the time", and the whole miniseries suddenly feels dated.

>>> The CGI of Pennywise was rather disappointing as well. And I absolutely hated all the jump-scares. The CGI and jump-scares is what made this movie seem like nothing more than a shallow remake, with a few cheap thrills.

WHAT CGI??? He can move his eyes like that for real! And how else do you expect to represent a hostile alien from the Macroverse? I quite liked the way he could "grow" his teeth in seconds in anticipation of the feast to come!

>>> I didn't like the fact that movie took place during the 1980's. For whatever reason, that really bothered me...lol. In the original film, it took place during the 1960's.

That was a necessary change. The idea is that the sequel (the Losers as adults) will take place in the present day, so it was logical for the filmmakers to set the first movie 27 years before then, which means the late 1980s. It works well, considering Hollywood's love affair with 80s nostalgia at the moment, and I'm sure any future adaptations will do the same thing.

>>> The overall cast of kids in the film was a letdown as well. They just weren't as likable as the original characters.

Both child casts have their strengths and weaknesses, but I like both of them.

>>> I think the film dragged on way too long, and all amounted to nothing spectacular. It got to the point to where I didn't even care anymore. And at times, it was just painfully boring.

I found it extremely fun. I saw it five times in the cinema, at least once on some kind of special effects "ride", got the t-shirt, bought the movie on two formats, and I consider it my favourite movie (by far) of 2017.

>>> I know there are a lot of people who will disagree with me. But you must understand, that I grew up watching the original It. Maybe if I never would've watched the original, I might view this remake differently. But with that being said, I just couldn't take this film seriously. It turned out to be nothing more than another disappointing remake.

I loved the original for a long time too, and initially found it quite creepy when I was younger (born in 1972) but considering what happens in the original novel, the miniseries was severely constrained because it was intended for mainstream family viewing, and that means no bad language, strong violence or even sexual stuff. The special effects have even dated (Pennywise somersaulting over the Losers into the sewer).

The story deserved an unrestricted, adult version which included the cussing (which is perfectly normal for children of that age, because I used to swear a blue streak at their age) and the friendly banter of insulting Eddie's mother and each other and NATURAL things that children do. Maybe the jump scares were too frequent and loud, but there were no false ones, maybe the CGI on some of It's forms were dodgy, maybe the blood storm in Beverly's bathroom was excessive, but it was truer to the book, and the story needed to be told with a 15/R rating. This film reminds me of Stand By Me with a horror element, or the Goonies, or even Poltergeist, in that sense. There was also the sense of true danger for the Losers, and in fact many of them got hurt, either physically or emotionally or both.

(continued)

For example, Henry Bowers succeeded in carving his initial into Ben's belly, in both this movie and the book. It's strange to see him go so close to it in the miniseries and not follow through, and the rules of TV scream at you at that point "don't do it, there are little children watching!!" This movie had no restrictions like that.

I'd say even the adult characters were truer to the book, especially Beverly's father who has no qualms about sexualising his daughter and even attempts to rape her at some point. Heck, in the book it was much worse for Beverly when Pennywise possesses him and chases her for practically miles through the streets of Derry. In the miniseries, her postcard from Ben is torn up and she gets a slap across the face. That's it.

Nope, I like both versions, and the miniseries is the only complete adaptation (if you can get past the mostly poor adult actors and the silly spider creature at the end), but this story needed an adult retelling, and this movie delivers.

I agree, cinemademon, this film really sucked. We seem to be in a very small minority, though, as this movie had incredible legs at the box office. It's success is as much of a head-scratcher to me as Jumanji's.

Having also grown up with the miniseries, I was still on board with giving this movie a chance. But this movie didn't give itself a chance. It's not even that it's bad so much that everything is...meh. It all feels kind of loose in a way, where nothing really ties in together cohesively. We don't have a strong idea of anything in the film - why the kids are friends, or why they are the ones fighting the clown, or who each one is, or why any of it matters - because every single point of the film is weak.

Yes it was beyond dreadful and it was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. Pennywise didn’t look creepy and I actually laughed at some of the supposed “scary” parts. I didn’t feel any connection to the kids and made me realize how much I missed the kids/adults from the original movie.