MovieChat Forums > IT (2017) Discussion > This movie isn't really bad

This movie isn't really bad

posted 7 years ago by Gastonian (946)
6 replies | jump to latest

...its just that it's not scary. I really enjoyed the kid actors and the chemistry/interactions they had with one another. Really impressive acting from them. It was the horror element that failed. I even thought Bill S. as Pennywise was actually a very good, nuanced performance too but I just didn't find him scary AT ALL. I think a huge contributor to this was the musical score. The moments of the score before Pennywise showed up served essentially as a warning to the viewer, telling us it was time to be scared. But it backfired in my opinion. And those orchestral pieces were so goddamn loud that they weren't scary in and of themselves, they were just obnoxious.

Anyone feel the same way?

[–] legalizeranch (28) 7 years ago

I feel the exact same way. "Less is more", especially in terms of the score, could've helped this movie a lot.

[–] Gastonian (946) 7 years ago

Agreed. Even if they had moved these orchestral pieces to after Pennywise made his appearance and lowered the volume it would've made a big difference

[–] crc32 (2584) 7 years ago

Weight you think the volume being lowered would make the movie scarier? I think it was the audio of the film that drove the horror elements, otherwise it would have just been a silly clown with teeth.

[–] legalizeranch (28) 7 years ago

I dunno about just lowering the volume, I think it needed a less intrusive score in general. If something is silly with no music, adding a really loud jumpscare noise over it isn't my idea of scary, ya know? But really I think it would be even creepier with longer shots and maybe a less heavy handed but still off putting musical score.

[–] zephyr_cape (2979) 7 years ago

Totally

[–] crc32 (2584) 7 years ago

The score sets the tone and the emotion of the scene. Most people arn't afraid of clowns and the score added to the fear in the audience who woulden't have taken the scene seriously. I think people have become jaded with traditional jump scares which most of the time are cheap shots for example a useless spring loaded cat scares are bad for horror but this film had real threats each time the jump scare happened.

I didn't really notice a rapid change in the score until penny wise had already arrived. Like the booming timpani drums seeme to happen after the clown was already in frame with the exception of when the kid was in the room filled with clown dolls but by then you already new the danger was present. The film was just loud. What parts of the film do you remember the music preceeding the threats. It seemed to me the audio didn't get intense untill the jump scare (With the exception that these jump scares were real).