The killer clown from outer-space is back.

Rating: 8/10 (6 September 2019)

The otherworldly creature that terrorises the Maine town of Derry every twenty-seven years is back, reuniting the now grown-up members of the Loser's Club, who swore to try and defeat the evil once and for all should it return.
Chapter two of IT is, unsurprisingly, very similar to part one: effectively creepy, occasionally gory, and slickly directed, with excellent performances from both the young actors from the first film (who appear in flashbacks) and their adult counterparts. Also putting in another superb turn is Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd, who returns as the monster's quasi-human form, scary clown Pennywise: he's just the right mixture of unsettling and humorous. Hell, even Stephen King delivers a decent cameo as the owner of an antiques shop (the mega-wealthy author making a funny about writers being rich).
Despite numerous attempts by director Andy Muschietti, I can honestly say I didn't jump once (I've seen more than enough horror movies to not fall for the obvious scare tactics), but I was suitably impressed by the inventive designs of IT's many forms, from the creepy old naked lady to the disembodied spider-head (a nice homage to John Carpenter's The Thing) to the final massive monster. Besides, the lack of genuine frights is more than made up for by the comedy, which was great throughout, with Bill Hader as Richie being particularly amusing, the best scene involving three doors and a very cute dog.
At 169 minutes, I can imagine that the film will be a touch on the long side for many, but I found that it whipped by with nary a dull moment and kept me entertained throughout, which is more than I can say for some of the much shorter, more recent and more lauded horror movies of the past couple of years (Us and Halloween, to name but two).