Drawing on critical analysis of film, the horror genre, the Gothic, and Stephen King scholarship, this book considers Andy Muschiettiโs IT Chapter One (2017) and IT Chapter Two (2019) on multiple levels: as film (both as individual films and through their interconnected narrative), as adaptation, and as a barometer of the horror filmโs popularity among fans. Key points of consideration include the significance of the fictional town of Derry as a traditionally Gothic โbad place,โ the role of
1980s nostalgia in these two films, the complex navigation of memory and trauma, gender representation, queer representation, and the return of the repressed. The terrifying figure of Pennywise the clown is central to this analysis, including consideration of performance, costuming, and significance within the larger landscape of the โscary clownโ popular culture trope, and through comparison to Tim Curryโs iconic performance in Tommy Lee Wallaceโs 1990 miniseries. This Devil's Advocate contextualizes Muschiettiโs films within the larger landscape of Kingโs literary and popular culture influence, as well as the debate surrounding โelevatedโ horror and the โhorror boomโ of the late 2010s.