It (Andy Muschietti, 2017, USA/Canada)

Andy Muschietti’s It arguably launched the new Stephen King renaissance, which has continued to this day, with the series Welcome to Derry on HBO Max occupying the same universe as the film. It’s tremendous success - historically unprecedented for both a horror film and an R-rated film - proved King’s enduring box office power and led to the greenlighting of a number of other King properties. While that greenlighting has slowed down somewhat, it hasn’t slowed down that much (see the numerous King properties being adapted this year). Muschietti’s film also arrived in tandem with Netflix’s Stranger Things, another global phenomenon that arguably would not exist without King. These two similar properties fed off the success of one another. Pennywise, always known by horror fans, is now a horror icon on the level of Michael Myers, Freddy, or Jason.

The choice to split King’s 1000+ page 1986 novel into two separate films, one focusing on the child characters and one focusing on the adult characters, was a wise one. It is not surprising that the child section is the stronger of the two sections in the film adaptation, as this is the area where King and Muschietti both shine. The casting in this adaptation is pitch-perfect. The choice to bring the film into the 1980s (another parallel with Stranger Things) was also a wise one, keeping the period feel of the original property but also bringing something new that we didn’t see in the original miniseries adaptation from 1990.

It is an impressive feat, both as an adaptation of a tremendous novel and also as a film that manages to be genuinely scary. It manages to remain faithful to the original material while refreshing it for modern audiences. In this sense, it is one of the strongest King adaptations.

8/10