It Review - A Good Screen Translation of Terror

The 2013 horror film Mama is neither memorable nor is it very scary: a cardinal sin for that genre. After a whole load of aborted yet tantalising attempts at remaking the Stephen King novel It (Will Poulter had a naturally evil face for Pennywise), the job falls to Mama's Andy Muschietti. By a wide margin, his take on the dancing clown/inter-dimensional fear monster is far more frightening, filled with disturbing, occasionally inspired visuals in the glommily filmed town of Derry.

Bill Skarsgård delivers a brilliant performance as the unsettling, moist-lipped clown. With a suspiciously saccharine voice and disjointed movements, he embodies an unnatural being of pure evil. Up against him are the Loser's club: seven young, promising actors, led by the angsty, stammering Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) and featuring the wisecracking Richie dolling out of the best lines (Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard). There's actually a reasonable amount of humour - some of it extremely dark - but ultimately the tone of the film is often akin to Goonies or King's Stand By Me. Only instead of subterranean treasure they find a subterranean monster that preys upon their fears with symbolic forms like a pic'n'mix bag of horrifying irony. Only the home-schooled Mike (Chosen Jacobs) is given short shrift, joining the club late in the game and receiving comparatively minimal screen time.

The first half of the book is adapted faithfully and effectively, with the final title card of "Chapter One" offering confident confirmation of a sequel. After over two hours of consistent trouser-shitting, gluttons for punishment can rest easy. This probably modern classic will get a horror follow-up that we can have faith in, seeing as the only stumbling point of this inaugural part is some occasional, cynical 'loud-noise-so-jump-you-manipulated-dickhead'.

A strong FOUR stars. Get ready for a gaggle of Hallowe'en pillocks dressed up and whispering "Hi Georgie".