When clowns go bad

Bill Skarsgard stars as IT.

IT (MA15+)
Cast: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard

Author Stephen King seems to be the man of the moment – a least Hollywood movie makers if not with movie goers. The recent adaptation of The Dark Tower failed to excite movie goers and critics alike but gold seems to have been struck with this second adaptation of his book IT.
After a disappointing US summer season (with box office takings down by 20 per cent) IT, starring one of the seemingly endless stream of Skarsgard brothers (the sons of Stellan Skarsgard are popping up everywhere from Tarzan to Vikings), has been pulling big crowds during it’s opening weekend.
This remake of the 1990s mini series starring Tim Curry reads a little like the Goonies or Standby Me – a coming of age movie until the introduction of IT.
For as long as their town has existed, Derry has been the entity’s hunting ground, emerging from the sewers every 27 years to feed on the terrors of its chosen prey: Derry’s children. Banding together over one horrifying and exhilarating summer, a group of kids calling themselves the Losers form a close bond to help them overcome their own fears and stop a new killing cycle that began on a rainy day, with a small boy chasing a paper boat as it swept down a storm drain … and into the hands of Pennywise the Clown.
Suspenseful and well-paced with plenty of jump-scares for the fans this version hits on some dark themes (child abuse among them) and of course that strange universal fear of clowns that a lot of people have (though the teen in our family isn’t one of those – only looked away in the kissing scene).
The young cast performs well, and though a man of few words Bill Skarsgard puts in a convincing performance as Pennywise.