IT

Adapted from the book by Stephen King, this 80s homage (set in the 80s) is about a group of young boys about 12 on the cusp of puberty.  As part of their coming of age, they start to realize that their town of Derry, Maine is not what is seems to be.  Kids disappear and adults do nothing about it.  The lead character Bill's brother Georgie has "disappeared" and Bill suffers from a guilt about it.

Georgie has fallen victim to Pennywise the Dancing Clown, played by Bill Skarsgaard.  Pennywise is a Satanic force, tempting his victims to choose the evil side.

In fighting the violence of the age of a budding pubescent kid in the 80s, a disparate group of 6 comes together to discover in Encyclopedia Brown fashion, that a dark force is in the Derry sewer.  And the epicenter of the sewer just happens to be the location of the haunted house in town.  And you know what happens when you go into a haunted house in the movies...

But to call it simply a horror movie gives it short shift.  It's a horror movie like Raiders of the Lost Ark might have been a scary movie (which it was).  Lots of 80s movies shine through - in no particular order:

Raiders of the Lost Arc/ Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Stand By Me
River's Edge
Breakfast Club
Breaking Away
Angel Heart
Halloween
Lethal Weapon
Batman (see the movie marquee)
Nightmare on Elm Street
Back to the Future
Ordinary People
The Fugitive


Good themes of horror movies that no one is coming to save you but yourself.   Very subversive in its description of the complacent adults of Derry.   That is probably the scariest part - the town itself.

***** Highest rating!