It

Rating: 8/10 (14 September 2017)

I watched the original 1990 TV made movie, starring Tim Curry as the evil clown Pennywise, (having watched it a second time) it was enjoyable, so I was most interested to see the producers of The Ring, The Grudge, Sherlock Holmes and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter were making a new version of the famous Stephen King novel, directed by Andy Muschietti (Mama). Basically, on a rainy day in Derry, Maine, October 1988, Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) gives his seven-year-old brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) a sailboat made from notebook paper. Georgie sails it in the street gutter, but it goes down a storm drain, Georgie peers inside and finds a man dressed as a clown who introduces himself as "Pennywise the Dancing Clown" (Bill Skarsgård, Stellan's son), the clown entices Georgie to reach in for the boat, then severs his arm and drags him in. Eight months later, June 1989, on the last day of term at Derry High School, Bill and his friends Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), and Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff) face constant bullying from Henry Bowers and his gang. At the same time, young girl Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), who is being abused by her father Alvin (Stephen Bogaert), runs into Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), who has recently moved to Derry, Mike has encounter with Pennywise. Bill is haunted by the disappearance of Georgie, he believes his brother may still be alive in the marshy wasteland called the Barrens, he recruits his friends to check it out. Ben finds a book on Derry's history, he learns the town has been plagued by mysterious unexplained tragedies and child disappearances for centuries, he escapes an attack from Pennywise, then Henry's gang, and flees to the Barrens. Ben runs into Billy's group, as they find the shoe of missing girl Betty Ripsom, after they leave, Henry's friend Patrick Hockstetter (Owen Teague) is killed by Pennywise in the sewer. The next day, each of the children have a nightmarish encounter with Pennywise, Eddie is attacked by a rotting leper, and Stan is traumatised by an animated figure from a painting. Beverly has a a fountain of blood spurting from her bathroom sink, coating the bathroom, Bill is lured into the basement by a vision of Georgie, he narrowly escapes Pennywise. Weeks later, the group, referring to themselves as "The Losers Club", come to realise they are all being terrorised by the same entity, "It" assumes the appearance of what they fear, Ben also deduces that the creature awakens every 27 years to feed on the children of Derry before returning to hibernation. The group determine It moves unseen through the sewers around Derry's well, where 29 Neibolt Street is built, Bill, Richie, and Eddie enter the house while the others remain outside. After the encounter with It, Eddie's mother arrives and is horrified by her son's broken arm, she takes him away, the group begin to splinter. It is now August, Beverly incapacitates her father with a porcelain toilet lid when he tries to rape her, she in abducted by Pennywise, Bill assembles the others to mount a rescue, meanwhile It manipulates Henry to murder his abusive father, and sends him to kill the Losers. At the Neibolt house, the group abseil down the well, Henry struggles Mike, until the bully falls down the well, apparently to his death. The group find It's lair in an underground cooling tower, filled with decaying circus props and children's belongings, there they find Beverly in a catatonic state, along with dozens of missing children corpses, floating above them. Beverly is revived with a kiss from Ben, It tries to trick Bill, appearing as Georgie, Bill shoots It in the head, Pennywise tries to take Bill hostage, but the other help and brutally fight It. It attempts to use their fears against them, but Pennywise is mortally wounded and cornered, Bill coldly tells Pennywise they know It needs their fear to survive, they have effectively starved the creature by making It afraid of them. Knowing it has no more power over the kids, It dissolves and Pennywise escapes into a deep pit, and the floating children slowly descend, Bill breaks down accepting his brother is dead, he is comforted by the others. One month later, Beverly tells the group that while catatonic she had a vision of them fighting the creature as adults, the Losers make a blood oath to return to Derry in 27 years, if It returns they will destroy the creature once and for all, one by one the Losers depart, and Bill and Beverly they share a kiss. Also starring Stuart Hughes as Officer Oscar "Butch" Bowers, Owen Teague as Patrick Hockstetter, Logan Thompson as Victor "Vic" Criss, Jake Sim as Reginald "Belch" Huggins and Geoffrey Pounsett as Zach Denbrough. Skarsgard gives a great performance as the disturbing nasty clown, and the seven young actors are all impressive, it is a simple story, a Stand by Me style story of a group of tween friends who bond together to fight against an ancient evil, it works well with the friendship element, and it is thrilling and scary when it needs to be, the highlights are definitely the opening, and the bathroom blasted with blood. It went on to become the highest-grossing horror movie of all time, and ended as being "Chapter One", so I look forward to the follow-up, a most enjoyable supernatural horror. Very good!