DISCLAIMER

THIS MOVIE IS A RATED R FILM. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WATCH IN THEATRES UNLESS 17 YEARS OF AGE AND UP OR WITH AN ADULT.

This last Saturday night, at a very very late showing, I watched the sequel to the classic Stephen King horror story, “IT Chapter Two”. This modern horror film was directed by Andy Muschietti yet again and included not only the same charismatic cast of kids from the first film, but also some new and familiar faces. Actors like James McAvoy, Bill Harder, and Jessica Chastain made an appearance as the now grown-up Losers Club with the incredible Bill Skarsgård continuing to scare the pants off of viewers as Pennywise. 

Starting with an inside look into the lives of the Club in present time (roughly 2016) as adults, “IT Chapter Two” spends quite some time highlighting the similarities and differences between the characters as kids from the first movie and their lives now. After reintroducing them, the movie’s plot begins to thicken when Mike, a character who never left the town of Derry like the rest of the group, reaches out to each of them individually saying he wants to reunite their old friendship. They meet for the first time in 27 years at a restaurant and chat casually about how they’ve been, keeping the mood light. It’s there that Mike then decides to reveal the real reason he wanted to bring them all together again: Pennywise is back and he believes they have the power to stop It once and for all.

With much convincing, they finally split up to each find a token from their childhood that’s needed to perform the “ritual” Mike is hoping will put an end to the terror of Pennywise for good. All the while, each character is experiencing flashbacks AND present encounters with It as adults. And that, of course, is where the real horror aspect of the film begins.

“IT Chapter Two” didn’t seem to have as many jump scares as your typical horror film, but manages to still get your skin crawling, just in other ways. Most of the time, the monsters and creatures that It would manifest itself to be or create to scare the Losers were sickeningly terrifying and almost too gory to look at. If anything, most of the horror was gross rather than scary. There were a few moments where I had to look away because the gore was too much to handle. Of course, most scary movie fanatics enjoy aspects like that and expect to see lots of blood shed. To make up for the disturbing images and monsters, the movie included a lot of comedic relief. Especially between the characters Richie and Eddie, most of the laughs came from their interactions with each other. It was refreshing to have a movie that can make me screech in horror one minute but then have me doubled over in laughter the next.

Adding on to the hilarious characters, the actors and actresses casted for these roles were SPOT ON and had incredible similarities to the actors and actresses that played the Losers Club as children. Seriously, the casting was scary good (no pun intended). Not only did they look  similar, but they also managed embody the same mannerisms, body language and speech. When introducing them in the beginning, audience members who are familiar with the first movie will almost immediately be able to recognize who is who. 

Sadly, the one thing that kept me from enjoying the movie to its fullest potential was the fact that it was 3 hours long and went on for longer than necessary. The climax of the movie seemed to just draw out on and on and could’ve ended way sooner than it did. Adding to that, the plot line in itself was also just straight up confusing as some points. There were gaps that weren’t filled until later (if you even managed to catch them) and made for a perplexing experience. With that, a long, drawn out movie with a hard-to-follow synopsis can lose interest of viewers. But of course, I don’t think it makes “IT Chapter Two” any less of a good movie.   

If you take anything from this article, it should be that it’s a very intense film (hence it’s rating) with several spine-chilling scary features that will leave you awake at night. I wouldn’t even attempt to watch it unless you have a strong stomach and have prepared yourself for the mental loops it will throw you in. “IT Chapter Two” manages to fully captivate the horror audience while not straying too far from the book, which is nice to see in an on-screen remake. Overall, I would give it a fairly high rating, but personally don’t find it as entertaining as the first film. And if you are thinking you can just waltz into the theatre and handle this movie like it’s no big deal…think again.