The catalogue of Stephen King movie adaptations is enormous, containing award winning masterpieces and b-roll campy horror films. As a result, it can be hard to determine before hand if a new adaptation will be worth while.

This year, we were treated to two of King’s most recognizable works, The Dark Tower, and It. Unfortunately, The Dark Tower was met poorly as a failed recreation of King’s immense and intricate series. It is a shining light to meet The Dark Tower’s failure. While it doesn’t properly follow the book, leaving out several key points, and only goes through the first half, It is a brilliant work of suspense combining horror.

It can be very hard to make a remake, and it is very rare that the remake is better than the original. It has by far out done it’s predecessor. Whereas the 1990 version is clearly a product of it’s time, campy and awkward, Muschietti’s version is significantly darker in both tone and production.

The film comes off as very reminiscent of Kubrick’s The Shining, (an adaptation of another King work, which he notoriously hated) in it’s method of building suspense. Unlike The Shining, however, It has the continual reminder that the characters are being hunted. Director Andy Muschietti beautifully creates a creeping, uneasy feeling in the back of your mind, allowing you to forget what movie it is you’re watching.

The structure ping pongs back and forth between the dynamic of five young boys and one girl, and explosive sequences of horror and suspense. For his fifth role as director, and his american debut, Muschietti has completely outdone himself.

Surprisingly, the child actors do an amazing job. With the exception of Finn Wolfhard (Mike in Stranger Things), it’s almost every single one of the children’s first major role in a large production. In many ways the film is primarily a drama, focused on the relationship of the group, with the horror lying in the background and consistently fueling the plot.

For fans of Stephen King, horror, and thrillers alike, It is a must see. After a summer of duds and flops, there is finally a must see summer film to end the season.

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