It Chapter Two is not quite at the same rare, crowd-queasing calibre as its predecessor

The first It movie in 2017 took over a billion dollars worldwide to become the highest-grossing horror movie of all time. In Chapter Two the spectacular scares are still there, but this is a looooong movie that drops the fear-factor from wild to mild.

In It Chapter Two, clownophobia takes a back seat to closure.

This is not to say that dreaded circus freak Pennywise ain’t the true star of the show in this massively anticipated sequel.

The powder-faced perv with the bulbous head and the blood-red balloons is still staring out at the world from the storm water drains of our nightmares, always at the ready to lure another young innocent to an icky early demise.

However, It Chapter Two is also saddled with the daunting task of burning off every last loose end in Stephen King’s sprawling, 1100-page book.

The first It movie in 2017 only got half the job done (and then took over a billion dollars worldwide to become the highest-grossing horror movie of all time).

Pennywise is superbly played by Bill Skarsgard once again.

Therefore you need to be warned right upfront — It Chapter Two is a long, long movie. Much, much longer than feasibly required. The duration does not leave much spare change out of three hours.

The spectacular scares are still there. But in the gaps between, the fear factor drops from wild to mild.

Like The Losers’ Club themselves — that Stranger Things-ish group of teens who took on the creepy carnivorous clown in the previous instalment — you’re going to have to put in some serious time and effort if you want to see Pennywise perish once and for all.

So where do we start with a movie that often seems like there may never be an end in sight?

Well, The Losers’ Club is as good a place as any. The seven-strong membership is now all grown-up, with the narrative time frame having moved on some 27 years since we last saw them.

If you know your It mythology, you will recall that Pennywise — never one to show any respect for the laws of physics, mortality or, for that matter, dieting — generally manifests himself every 27 years or so for more sinister snack-attacks.

Every member from the Losers Club gets an extended flashback to their childhood.

Though spread far and wide by their respective careers and marriages, the Losers are summoned back to their hometown of Derry by the only one of their number brave or dumb enough to still live there.

Mike (Isaiah Mustafa), the local librarian, has noticed plenty of recent bad juju that could only be the work of the long-forgotten Pennywise (superbly played once again by the eerily menacing Bill Skarsgard).

An urgent SMS is sent out, and most of the Losers drop everything to pick up the fight against their shapeshifting nemesis once more.

Most prominent among those on a mission to commit clownicide are James McAvoy as Bill (now a famous writer), Bill Hader as Richie (now a famous stand-up comedian), and Jessica Chastain as Beverley (now on the run from an abusive husband).

To return to the sizeable matter of the bloated running time, there can be no denying the many regular lapses in urgency ultimately means that It Chapter Two is not quite of the same rare, crowd-queasing calibre as its predecessor.

The Losers Club return to their hometown to end Pennywise for good.

Every Loser gets an extended flashback to their youth — some even get two! — so that the popular young stars of the first movie get to stick around in the sequel. Which means more time goes on the clock.

As for set-piece spook-’em’-ups, many trained eyes out there will soon spot some sequences are carrying visual effects that are not quite up to par.

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However, all is forgiven once It Chapter Two tightens the screws in its final act and the Losers close in an overconfident (and, by this point, way oversized) Pennywise.

Will the clown go down? Or is a door left ajar for an It Chapter Three set at an old folks’ home 27 years from now?

IT CHAPTER TWO (MA15+)

Director: Andy Muschetti (It)

Starring: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Skarsgard, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa.

Rating: ***

Take a last long look at the clown duels