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It: Chapter Two  (DVD)

8/10

Stars: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Bill Skarsgard

Director: Andy Muschietti

The latest offering in Hollywood's beloved genre, the sequel, hits the screen at a gluteal-numbing 169 minutes to enable director Muschietti to complete his version of Stephen King's classic horror novel which ended in the 2017 prequel, with the young members of the Losers' Club defeating supernatural killer clown Pennywise.

It's 27 years later and the now grown-up Losers' Club members have gone their separate ways - until once again people start disappearing in Pennywise's home down Derry, leaving the Losers' Club to reunite to once more dispose of the malign clown...

Muschietti and It screenwriter Gary Dauberman do everything that is required of them when the now grown-up Losers, summoned to Derry by resident Loser Mustafa, end up facing an onslaught of scary special effects ranging from a plateful of fortune cookies that comes horrifyingly alive as an assortment of diabolical monsters, to Pennywise at his most malign.

While Skarsgard, splendidly repellent as the killer clown, effortlessly steals the show, the adult Losers, led by McAvoy, do all that is required of them, managing to create credibly flawed human beings in settings marked by splendid state-of-the-art special effects.

Alan Frank

Canada/USA 2019. UK Distributor: Warner Brothers. Colour.
161 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 3, Drugs 1, Swearing 3.

Review date: 10 Jan 2020