It Follows a Nightmare on King's Sandlot

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2017)

And they say remakes are never better than the original. This one highly surpassed the two before it!
Yes, two. Not just the 1990 original TV disaster, but Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984 – two years prior to the novel being published. As I watched this movie, I kept feeling the wonder and fright of the original Freddy Krueger movie. And I was laughing to myself when Freddy, himself, all-but made a cameo in this film.
This film seems to be following the latest trend of 80s nostalgia, so much so, it stars the same child actor from the best 80s recreation in modern history: Netflix's Stranger Things. I'm certainly not complaining, when done right, as in this movie, it's wonderful to transport back to that era when I grew up. This is probably another reason why I also got the Freddy-vibe since around this film's time frame happened, I discovered and fell in love with The Springwood Slasher.
To say 2017's It was better than the 1990 miniseries is like loving pizza more than cancer. There IS NO comparison. I recently watched the messy TV movie and cringed at all the poor dialogue, unintentionally bad acting and terrible decisions of the flashbacks. This timethey got it right.
Summer 1989 – my favorite summer (and year) of movies and shown wonderfully here with Batman, Lethal Weapon 2 and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child playing at their local theatre – many kids go missing and so does police procedures. It's almost as if the police, and town, for that matter, are working with whatever's taking the children. (Supposedly, adults are taken, but that's only briefly mentioned and never shown or brought up again.)
A trio of best buds (playfully?) nicknamed The Losers, double their size when chance coincidences occur and that's a good thing. They'll need each other to face a hallucinating devil clown after them who uses their fears against them.
I have said this so many times, in fact, just in my last review, but Damn! I wish I saw this as a kid, the same age as these boys. While I was already hooked by this point on horror, if I hadn't been, this would've been a wonderful introduction, a gateway if you will, to scary movies. But, be that as it may, I really dug this film.
Wonderfully shot, great acting from absolute kids that totally stole the movie from any adult actor and genuine frights. This had a merciful and well needed R-rating that the 1990 version sadly lacked.
While it was a tad long at times and scenes certainly could've been cut to smooth out the pacing – the cleaning up blood, rock 'n roll montage really felt out of place here, despite the 80s vibe. I wouldn't have gone as far as to squeeze Stephen King's brilliant 1,138-page novel into one movie, but it certainly didn't need to be over 2 hours.
Any fan of horror, the book It, Stephen King in general or new to exploring horror, this is a must-watch. It was refreshing to go back to what horror felt like to me in the late 80s.
***
Final thoughts: October Day 1: 2017's It. We're off to a great start! Well, until day 2's Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II. But, in my defense, I'm only watching that for the first time as it coincides with the date and I've always loved the name and poster. Oh, and huh, *that* movie was released mere months before this film's opening took place. Go figure.