It scared me so much that I lost all my milk!

Rating: 7/10 (18 September 2017)

'It', based on one of Stephen King's bestselling novels, is sometimes touching, often funny and always scary.
In the town of Derry, Maine several children have gone missing. A group of seven young friends (the Losers Club) are being tormented by Pennywise the clown, an evil shape shifting entity that feeds on children's fears. As the threat becomes larger the kids decide to fight and kill It.
Since the novel is so long 'It' is difficult to translate to the big screen but the writers did a pretty good job. First off it's impossible to cram the whole book into one movie so they opted to only cover the childhood of the seven friends and not the adulthood. Another change from the novel is that the timeline shifts from the 50's to the 80's. Apart from some pop-culture references it serves no real purpose so it wasn't necessary.
Director Andy Muschietti knows this kind of movie only works if you care about the characters. He takes his time to introduce them to us and to flesh them out. Then again he wastes no time and sets the tone from the start. The opening scene is brutal and serves as a warning for things to come. The scares follow each other up pretty fast.
Pennywise played brilliantly by Bill Skarsgård has a lot to do with that. He's the main attraction of the movie. Although perhaps too much driven by CGI, Skarsgård is terrifying. But there's also another kind of horror. The children all have to deal with their own personal demons (loss of a brother & an abusive father among them). This makes 'It' a coming-of-age story about a bunch of friends facing their fears together and that is the heart of the movie.
A lot rides on the child actors. They are mostly solid with Jaeden Lieberer as Bill and especially Sophia Lillis as Beverly standing out. She's a star in the making. Finn Wolfhard (from Stranger Things) plays Richie, the loudmouth who brings the much needed comic relief. Wyatt Oleff as Stan wasn't great but that might have to do with the fact that his character was perhaps a little flat.
If you don't know what to expect, mix 'Stand By Me' with 'Super 8', add a splash of 'The Goonies' and top it off with a scary-ass clown.
While 'It' is perhaps too long at the end (runtime is 135 min.) it's far better than the 1990 TV movie. If the movie is a success a sequel is inevitable but that's something to look forward to.