With his first novel, Carrie, back in the early 1970’s, Stephen King was on his way to be the most successful horror writer of his generation. By the mid-1980’s, he became not just a best selling author, but also an icon. In 1986, his epic length coming-of-age novel It became an immediate best seller. In 1990, a TV mini-series was made giving life to what seemed to be an impossibly hard story to adapt to screen. Now in 2017, a new adaption focusing on the half of the book was released in September.

When a little boy disappears from the town of Derry, Maine, his older brother is convinced that he is still alive. As more people go missing, he and his group of friends, while fighting their own personal demons, are confronted by an ancient evil that has been terrorizing the town since its inception.

The movie had a rocky pre-production, with various screenwriters, actors, and directors leaving the production, but when the producers settled everything down and director Andy Muschietti took the helm, the movie remarkably turned out to not only be a fan favorite, but a critical darling. Dark Discussions takes a look at this somewhat surprising box office hit that has turned out to be one of the most successful horror films of all time.