Following the scary clown craze that erupted last year, thankfully 2017’s clowns have been relegated to the big screen. In this, the first big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s mammoth classic (or at least, the first half), the scares are balanced with comedy and teenage banter, leading to something more akin to a coming of age film, than the straight out horror that it was marketed to be.

Set in the 1980s, the film follows a group of self-proclaimed ‘losers’ over their summer holidays as they ride their bikes and build their friendships. However, things quickly take a dark turn, as other kids start to go missing and they begin to be plagued by horrific nightmarish visions and are haunted by Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) the murderous clown.

What follows is a much deeper horror film (as you may expect from King) than those we are usually served, with fully dimensional characters, and an avoidance of purely cheap scares. The film flits between endearing moments of 13-year-old-crushes, brutally hilarious banter, and dark horrifying visions, but never feels inconsistent. The tones are balanced brilliantly, and an overall atmosphere successfully sustained, allowing this to be a unique creature that can have you laughing out loud one moment, and cowering in your seat the next. The horror moments are executed well – many are certainly fear inducing – but by virtue of the fact that many of the horrors are based in the fears of 13 year-olds, some come off as more comedic, and it is not always clearly whether they were intended as such. However, you are far more often laughing with the film than at, and Pennywise is certain to unsettle you, and make you pretty wary of circuses.

One of the highlights of the film is the kids. Each principal character is not only given more depth to feel real and rounded, but given their own scenes and glimpses into their home lives to back up their characteristics with background reasoning. Each of the young actors is brilliant too, breathing life into their characters and friendships to make them more believable. The biggest issue with character appears infrequently with Beverly (Sophia Lillis), the sole girl in the group. She is a well-written and very well acted character, and portrayed as a strong female role, however, too often she is relegated to ‘object of desire’ or ‘damsel in distress’ status. Even in one scene in particular, in which one member of the group asks who will go into a haunted house with him (this is a horror movie, so of course people go into obviously haunted places) and Beverly is the only one to raise her hand, she ends up being left outside as the more reluctant boys march in. It is frustrating. At least that one infamous scene from the book was cut out.

Skarsgård and his costume are also suitably creepy in tormenting the children, swinging between the terrifying and the mildly comic; it is a deserving portrayal of one of the most iconic of King’s villains. The CGI may detract a little from the fear factor, but works well in context.

Under Andrés Muschietti’s assured direction, this is an enteraining and tonally solid film that feels more Amblin-esque than horror, but that is no bad thing. It is a great time at the cinema, and seems like a sequel is pretty much sure, and it’ll have a lot to live up to.