I KNEW THERE WOULD BE A CHANCE I would either have to ride in the ambulance with the paramedics or drive and meet them at the hospital, when I dialed 911. This was not what I expected when I drove over to check on a friend. I arrived at his house to find him acting confused and lethargic. Offering to make soup or some toast, he could not make up his mind. Instead, he told me he needed to pay some bills. I looked at him carefully, hoping to see some telltale sign to explain what was going on with him. With my imagination I was already checking off in my mind the list of possibilities that could explain my friend’s symptoms. Though I hoped things would calm down and return to some semblance of order, it was not to be the case. When he leaned into me and went limp, I had to support him as I led him down to the floor. Whatever fears I had about ambulances and hospitals was put on the side as I called for help. It seemed like only a minute before the paramedics arrived at the house. The lead man asked me what was going on with my friend; I went over the series of events that led up to me calling them for help. It was decided that my friend be taken to the hospital and that I should meet him there.      AS I DROVE TO THE HOSPITAL I glanced at the time on the dashboard and realized I was already past my bedtime. There was nothing I could do about it, so I made the conscious decision not to look at the time anymore. I kept telling myself I at least had my car with me instead of having to ride in the ambulance. The idea of seeing medics working on my friend gave me the chills. I do not think anyone likes being in a hospital and I am no exception. With the germs and sicknesses, besides all the medical procedures, I strongly dislike having to be in a hospital and now I was willingly driving myself to one. All my fears had to be contained or at least not interfere with what I needed to do for my friend. My anxiety increased as I entered the emergency room. I did not have time to think about what was going on because I was led to my friend’s room, where the doctor informed me it was a good thing I called for help. It just goes to show you there are times when one must put everything aside to do the right thing. The friends in this horror film certainly understood this concept.      IT HAD BEEN 27 YEARS SINCE the town of Derry experienced such an evil being. The group of old schoolfriends who encountered him back then vowed they would return to their hometown if he ever showed up again. Now that he did, they would have to overcome their fears if they were going to have any chance of succeeding in ridding the town of him. With Jessica Chastain (Dark Phoenix, Molly’s Game) as Beverly Marsh, James McAvoy (Atomic Blonde, The Last Station) as Bill Denbrough, Bill Hader (The To Do List, The Skeleton Twins) as Richie Tozier, Isaiah Mustafa (Horrible Bosses, Shadowhunters-TV) as Mike Hanlon and Jay Ryan (Go Girls-TV, Beauty and the Beast-TV) as Ben Hanscom; the casting for this movie could not have been better. Each adult actor was perfect as the grownup school child. Bill Hader was the big standout for me. What surprised me about this sequel was the fact it was more story driven than a series of horrific episodes. There still was blood and violence in several scenes but I thought the adult kids’ story lines were interesting. Clocking in at 2 hours and 49 minutes, the script needed some editing because this film was too long. Granted I was engaged most of the time, but there were a few slow sections in the script that could have been deleted. My fear of sitting through a series of gory horror scenes subsided as the story unfolded on the big screen.

2 ½ stars