It, a classic film frightening adults and children alike for generations, and as Mike Hanlon put it in 1990, “It’s back.”

Our story floats back into Derry, where we find a band of misfit kids investigating the death of Billy’s brother, Georgie, who was brutally murdered by Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the sewers.

The gang is tortured by Pennywise one by one, with each of them being confronted by their own greatest fears. Only when they’re together are they able to hurt the creature made up of all of their worst nightmares, and by overcoming their fears, are they able to defeat him.

It is quite possibly the best film I’ve seen all year, and not just as a fan of horror. The cast was very well chosen and each actor was perfectly suited to their role, jump scares and CGI weren’t cheesy, character development was amazing, and this Pennywise is much more frightening than the original.

It follows the story line of when “The Losers Club” first encounter the creature known as “It” as children, following the same story line of the original film in that time period. However, with more time focused on this fragment of their lives, the characters are able to develop more as children, things don’t feel as rushed, and we’re able to see each individual’s fear and how it affects them.

Each of their fears are hyper realistic, matching their personalities and experiences, with almost perfect CGI, giving you nightmares of things you never feared before. Everything from bloodbaths to lepers, these kids have no choice but to run.

Pennywise himself is a marvelous antagonist, with more chasing and fear factor than the original, and kept his rather eloquent way of speaking to drive directly into the anxieties of his victims, which was the greatest part of the original Pennywise.

I’m not a huge fan of change when movies are adapted or remade, however the changes that were made are very practical in my opinion. Such as each individual having a fear, rather than most only seeing It as Pennywise. The kids also seemed to gain a lot of personality traits and were made more relatable to modern generations. Not to mention an actual explanation to, “They all float.”

I rate this 5 out of 5 stars, and recommend this to any fan of horror, or the original It.