IT: Chapter 2 is a thrilling and terrifying conclusion to the 2017 hit,“IT”. The film follows “The Adult Losers Club” twenty-seven years after their believed defeat of  Pennywise and ended his reign of terror upon the town of Derry. History begins to repeat itself as some of the towns younger civilians begin to disappear, just like they had twenty-seven years prior. After some quick phone calls and a whole lot of pleading, Mike Hanlon summons the Losers back to Derry to face Pennywise once and for all to save their hometown.

The absolute best part of this movie is, like the original, the cast. In this film, we see the return of the losers club, in more than one way. Past and present versions of the characters fill this film with excellent performances. The standouts of the cast are one-hundred percent Bill Hader’s adult Richie Tozier, Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise and James Ransone’s adult Eddie Kaspbrak. Bill Skarsgard absolutely kills it as Pennywise. The sheer presence of Pennywise on-screen is unsettling and macabre. Each time he contorts his way onto the screen, whether its from a fridge or the shadows, Skarsgard’s Pennywise steals the scene. They’re perfectly cast in their roles and are highly reminiscent of their younger counterparts. I’m not saying the rest of the cast is lacking, but some roles did seem a tad underwritten. Shockingly, the two most underwritten roles come from James McAvoy’s Bill Denbrough and Jessica Chastain’s Beverly Marsh. 

The movie’s overall story is where I think it lacks interest, but not by much. The story kicks off when the Losers return to Derry and meet up for a well-needed reunion, but things begin to take a turn for the worst when Pennywise realizes they’ve returned. Not all hope is lost, because Mike has a plan, a plan to defeat IT once and for all, with a strategy that dates back thousands of years to the first people to came into contact with IT. The movie seems a bit dragged out in.certain scenes seem painfully unnecessary and carry on for longer than they need to. The movie still offers a good story with a few twists and turns that aren’t that big, but still add to the overall tone of the film and add to some of the character dynamics. I did find it neat to see the story shift to the past in order to tell the origin of IT and how it came to land upon the Earth and begin its reign of terror. Another plus about the overall story is that it’s able to stay, somewhat faithful to the source material, while not copying the book word for word. It does a good job of honoring that original source material published back in 1986 and written by acclaimed horror author, Stephen King, of which he’s said the IT Reboots are some of his favorite.

Now you can’t forget about the soul of the movie, the horror. This movie pushes that R rating into an unfounded limbo. This movie has some out of this world jump-scares and moments that could make the movie-goer’s skin crawl during their viewing. From 10ft tall old woman to fortune cookie bugs, this movie has it all. This movie gets bloody; the amount of blood alone could have earned a Pixar movie the R rating. Not a cent is spared when it came to making this movie something new and refreshing.

IT: Chapter 2, while not for the whole family, is definitely worth your money. The cast, the story, and the scares all come wrapped in a big bloody bow for your enjoyment. This movie definitely isn’t for those with a weak stomach and are easily spooked. For those who are looking for a great Halloween thriller to catch, this should be a top choice.