Based on the Stephen King novel, “It” has a slick look but it is not particularly scary. A lot of the imagery in this film is intended to be disturbing but too much of it comes across as cheesy.

A group of bullied kids, known as the ‘Losers Club’, begin to investigate disappearances of children in their town when they are visited by a shapeshifting entity that often takes the appearance of a clown (Bill Skarsgård “Atomic Blonde”). The children will need to stick together if they are to overcome their worst fears and save the children of their town.

Pennywise the clown seems to be almost solely responsible for bringing the idea of scary clowns into the mainstream. The role was once held by Tim Curry for a miniseries version of “It” but it feels as though Bill Skarsgård was trying to do something very different here. Skarsgård does a decent job but I find it difficult to be scared by clowns. The children in the film are surprisingly good. My favourites are Bill (Jaeden Lieberher “St. Vincent”), Richie (Finn Wolfhard) and Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) but I feel the worst ones were Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Beverly (Sophia Lillis). From time to time, the kids provide some chuckles and most of the child performers do good jobs.

“It” features many elaborate special effects-filled sequences including one where Pennywise appears via a projector and another where a painting comes to life. The visuals in this film are often strange and interesting but rarely do they manage to be as unsettling as they ought to be. Horror movie fans have been showering this film in praise and I just do not get it; it’s not even the scariest movie based on a Stephen King novel (“The Shining” is far better).