The revamped version of the 1990 movie It hit theaters across the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2017, just in time for horror-lovers to kick off the Halloween season a bit early.

Although many have not seen the original film adaption of It, many have caught on with the 2017 adaption’s creepy vibe. Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, It follows the story of seven teenagers around the ages of 13 and 14, as they are repeatedly tormented by a demonic entity that threatens to kill each one of them unless they band together to put an end to the evil.

The film is set in the fictitious town of Derry, Maine, where every 27 years a demonic shape-shifter strikes on the town’s children and takes them down to his lair in the sewers, where they are eventually killed.

The movie starts with the iconic death scene of Georgie; this memorable scene in the 1990 adaptation has been drilled into the heads of all horror movie fanatics. Bill, the leader of the ‘Losers Club,’ builds his little brother Georgie a paper boat to sail outside on a rainy day. While sailing his paper boat along the roadside puddle stream, Georgie’s boat heads down the sewer drain. He is then confronted by Pennywise, the dancing clown who tricks Georgie into reaching down to grab his boat. With his hand stretched out towards the demonic clown, Pennywise bites off his arm and drags him into the sewer where Georgie is last seen screaming.

Not only was this scene made much more unsettling in this new adaptation, but it was also way more gruesome. Unlike the 1990 film, in which Pennywise was seen grabbing Georgie’s arm as the camera showed his fangs, the new It shows Pennywise sink his sharp teeth into Georgie’s flesh and bite his arm clean off, followed by Georgie trying to crawl away in a puddle of his own blood, only to be grabbed by the leg and dragged into the sewer screaming for Billy.

Bill begins to deny his brother’s death and feels guilt ridden for letting him out that day all by himself. Shortly afterwards, Bill begins to vision Georgie running around the house accompanied by a frightening clown.

Bill’s friends also suffer from odd hallucinations. His germaphobic friend Eddie encounters a leper (a highly infectious person) by an abandoned house, and Stanley hallucinates a scary woman from a painting in the synagogue coming out of the portrait and pursuing him.

As the film goes on, Bill, Richie, Stanley, and Eddie begin to befriend other social outcasts who also share disturbing experiences. The group of friends soon refer to themselves as ‘The Losers Club’ and band together to put an end to Pennywise. Along the way, they face several obstacles, ranging from gangs, to parents, to their own psychological issues.

Following a struggle between the 7 Losers and Pennywise at the Neibolt house, the losers realize they survived because of each other. The group learns the power of teamwork and goes on to reassemble the following month and have a final confrontation with It.

What I liked about the New “It” was that it was fast paced and left us at the edge of our seats wanting to know what would happen next as compared to the older adaption which was 3 hours of a slow paced story that lacked action. It was like in every scene there was a fight to ensue or something unpredictable to pop out. Not to mention the movies several perfectly timed jump scares.

Although action packed and enticing, the movie could have done better in other areas.

First and foremost, It is not a demonic clown. It is a shape shifting entity that takes the form of your worst fears but prefers the form of a clown to lure its primary target of children. With that being said, it is understandable when It takes the form of other objects. However in the reboot, Pennywise doesn’t have much screen time because in a lot of the scenes ‘It’ appears in, it is in a different form. Considering his clown form is well renown, it was sort of a disappointment to see It most of the time as another form.

The reboot also over antagonizes Henry Bowers and his gang. Though he did play an important role in the old adaption as a thug and bully who occasionally beat up the losers, in the reboot Henry Bowers is more of a psycho killer and threat than It the actual creature was. In this new adaption, Bowers kills his dad, slits his name into Ben’s stomach using a pocket knife, and goes as far as almost blasting Mike in the head with a bolt pistol.

Aside from a few differences, the revamped “It” was able to convey the same story and messages from the old adaption and novel in its own way without having to rely on Nostalgia for it’s success.

It also served as a dark and sad take on the traditional story and made you feel bad for Bill and the other outcasts. All them had imperfect family’s, were held down by their parents, ex: Eddies mom put him on medication to weaken him so he can stay home, and Bill most of all, had to suffer from the guilt of Georgie’s death. Might I mention Georgie was only 7 years old.

But at times the movie was downright hilarious thanks to Richie’s constant spew of cuss and slang at every instance. He even went as far as referring to It as a “f****** clown”.

If you are a fan of horror movies with gore, easy scares, and some bad ass kids facing off a demonic clown, be sure not to miss “It”. Whether you have read the novel or are walking into “It” for the first time without knowing anything, you’re still in for or a treat.

I give the reboot of “It” a 4 1/2 stars out of 5, and I would go back to see it any day. Being a fan of the original, not only was I satisfied but I am more than eager to see the sequel to “It” as the movie ended with the Losers making a promise to return and put an end to It in 27 years if the creature was to resurface. What a cliffhanger!