9 / 10. The creepiest clown, balloons and childhood swoons. A frighteningly fresh adaptation, mainly due to its talented young cast and a diabolical Pennywise

IT Chapter One is a supernatural horror film based on Stephen King's 1986 book, it’s the second adaptation, following the 1990 miniseries. The film is directed by Andy Muschietti and written by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman.

In 1988, Bill Denbrough makes a paper sailboat for Georgie, his younger brother. Georgie sails the boat along the rain logged streets of Derry, Maine, where it falls down a drain. Georgie sees a clown in the drain, who introduces himself as "Pennywise the Dancing Clown", he entices Georgie to come closer ...

The following summer, Bill and his friends Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, and Stan Uris, and also newcomers to the Loser’s Club; Ben Hanscom, Mike Hanlon and Beverly Marsh, spend their time avoiding bully Henry Bowers and investigate Georgie’s disappearance, believing he may still be alive. What they learn about the town and its sinister evil presence leads to their worst nightmares.

IT Chapter One is a frighteningly fresh adaptation of King’s famous book mainly due to its talented young cast, who have a great script and believable chemistry with each other. Ben is adorable (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his crush on Beverley (Sophia Lillis) is so cute. Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Richie (Finn Wolfhard) are hilarious. The book IT, the 1990 miniseries, and this new adaptation all keep the story of the love and friendship that binds the Loser’s Club together at heart, and its power in the face of adversity, real and imagined – a theme in many Stephen King novels.

The book is VERY long, so a split into two parts was a good idea. The book starts in the 1980s when the kids are adults, and then told in flash backs, alongside the present, as they slowly remember their traumatic childhood in Derry, 1958. Events in IT Chapter One and Two are played out in a different order to the book. Here the kids come across a diabolical Pennywise in 1988 and then, 27 years later, in 2015, as adults. It makes sense to update the timeline and make the storytelling linear, and the update makes for some fun 1980s references; New Kids on the Block, movie references, the kids’ attire, etc.

The new Pennywise looks fantastic with his macabre make up and costume. He is creepy and amazingly acted by Bill Skarsgard, adding his own interpretation to the role. Pennywise is embellished with CGI which effectively adds to his nightmarish appearance and actions.

However, maybe because of my young age at the time, Tim Curry’s 1990 camp version of Pennywise still haunts me. The acting is not great by everyone else in the TV miniseries, but that first sight of IT in the sewer, and the deadlights hypnotising Belch and bending him slowly through the pipe backwards, was so unsettling. I’ll never forget it.

Curry’s Pennywise is given a cameo in the room full of clowns at 29 Neibolt Street, and there are loads of other great Easter eggs to spot …

“We all float down here.”