With the universally derided The Dark Tower breathing down his neck, It director Andy Muschietti was under pressure to prove that the Stephen King adaption industry was not dead yet. And in hugely rewarding fashion, with the help of his cast of Stranger Things-style ‘loser crew’ teens, and Bill Skarsgård as the nightmare-inducing Pennywise The Clown, the Argentinian director put all those who doubted him to rest.

This is a terrifying film. It’s one which provokes not just immediate fear as you watch it, but a lasting feeling of discomfiture about the ways in which fear manifests itself, affects our understanding of reality, and ultimately controls our behaviour. Nowhere is this more shockingly realised than in Sophie Lillis’ portrayal of teenager Beverly Marsh. Having suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her father, Beverly cuts her hair off to make herself appear more boyish and fend off his advances, only for Pennywise, manifesting himself as the hair, to reach out of her bathroom sink to ensnare her. Each young character takes their turn in dealing with their fears, and each actor in turn delivers a virtuoso performance. So while it’ll obviously be a different cast for the second film (set 27 years after the first), the benchmark has been set with Part One.

Some will rightly criticise the frequent use of jump-scares over real tension-building horror as being Muschietti’s main directorial shortcoming, while others will split hairs over some of the differences between the film and the novel (I’ll put in a disclaimer that I hadn’t read the novel before I saw the film, which I don’t think is a bad thing), but other than that you’ll fault him for little else.

As a side note, It also got the author’s approval. Stephen King told early reviewers: “I had hopes, but I was not prepared for how good it really was.” Hear hear Stephen. Coulrophobes stay clear…

4/5

Out now.