Stephen King's It (1990)

 Stephen King's It (1990)

As a child, the mini-series IT, based off the 1,300 page novel from author Stephen King, gave me nightmare after nightmare. Honestly, I only have one person to blame (other than King himself) and that is Tim Curry. Only Curry’s flawless Pennywise performance would be enough to keep up the nightmares. He made me despise clowns for a long, long time! About the mini-series itself, it is a solid horror series. It is elevated by Curry’s wicked performance, some strong scares (especially strong for a television production), and good performances from the majority of the child actors. Tommy Lee Wallace, who directed and wrote the screenplay, does a good job adapting the novel to the screen. There was so much he needed to cut from such an incredible novel with strong characterization. Sadly, some of the adult character plot points had to be removed. That said, Wallace was able to keep the strong centrality of Pennywise, which is important to the story whether it is on the page or screen. Split into two halves, the first half is the strongest with the child actors because of the character development and I found myself relating to the Loser’s Club. Plus, Tim Curry put on a strong front throughout the first half. The back half of the mini-series is good, and it held my attention for the most part, but it is a step down. The less we say about the climax the better. In fact, I can hardly remember how this series ended. Let’s keep it that way.

 

It is something of a minor miracle that this adaptation exists in the first place. In the late 80’s-early 90’s, many of Stephen King’s film adaptations were critical or financial failures at the box office. People were losing interest in this visual medium based off the prolific author’s works. On top of that, mini-series (especially horror) were rarely seen on television. There were strict broadcast rules because children have easier access to television than movies. One such rule is that blood cannot be flowing from a person, so the filmmakers had to work around that (and I think they did brilliantly). But times were a-changin! With the success of Twin Peaks and Tales of the Crypt, ABC thought it was time to bring the source material to life. George A. Romero was originally hired to direct but was replaced by Tommy Lee Wallace. A Romero version of the film would have been bonkers, but Wallace did a good job. Because the novel is so long, so many important plot points had to be cut, a “casualty of war” people deemed. Still, the essence of the film was saved.

 

It is the early 1960’s in the peaceful town of Derry, Maine. It is a small, sleepy town where it rains a lot. There is just one...terrifying issue. There have been several cases of children disappearances. These preteen kids known as “The Loser’s Club” have these horrifying, grim visions of Pennywise the Clown (Tim Curry) and they all agree to gang up to rid the town of this evil shapeshifter. Thirty years after their fateful encounter with the demon, the now full-grown adults return to Derry to stop this monster for all after more cases of children disappearing. Will they finally, once and for all, put an end to the creature known as “It?”

 

The casting was inspiring. Many of the actors had little to no horror experience. Some of the adult actors had connections with one another. Even if their characters are not particularly written or adapted well (sorry, Richie Tozier), the performances were more than competent. I particularly liked Richard Thomas as the stuttering Bill Denbrough.I liked Annette O’Toole as the only woman in the group, Beverly. As for the child actors, I liked young Seth Green. Despite some strong performances by recognizable faces, no one holds a candle to Tim Curry. Curry used a style of improvisation a la Robin Williams and he gave the clown a Bronx accent making it even weirder. Without Curry, this mini-series would have been dead in the water. The opening sequence alone was enough to give me crazy jitters. It took him more than three hours each day to get into the horrifying makeup. It’s so worth seeing this character transformation.

 

Overall, IT is well worth the watch even if it is to see Tim Curry bring Pennywise to life. The clown gave me nightmares, but that is the only thing that is truly scary. Wallace was more interested in the drama reminiscent of the classic 1986 drama Stand by Me. That led to a decline in quality for the second half. Despite the television limitations, I think this was a mostly successful adaptation. I prefer the movie versions that were made nearly 30 years later, but Tim Curry is the one that made many, many children afraid of clowns for life.

 

My Grade: B