It ★★★
STEPHEN King’s work hasn’t been treated wonderfully by Hollywood.
Sure it has thrown a lot of money at the man himself, having brought almost all his novels and short stories to the screen.
But critically all that cash has only amounted to a handful of great movies. Based on The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption at the top and Dreamcatcher and Riding the Bullet at the bottom, 1990’s It lies somewhere between.
Technically, it was a two episode mini-series made for television (the steel book Blu-ray is still complete with the fade-outs for ad breaks) but I’m sure it has played theatrically somewhere at some time.
I watched it in readiness for the soon-to-be-released remake which, based on the trailer, is going for a much more frightening aesthetic.
That’s not to say the earlier version isn’t scary. It certainly has its moments but also spends a lot of time engaging with its characters in the usual Stephen King manner, looking back on childhood and how the events and relationships formed then will echo throughout adult lives.
Most importantly for horror fans, however, it introduced us to the lasting character of Pennywise, the serial killer clown. Played with glee by Tim Curry, the character has been mined for umpteen films and television series.
While many of the special effects and creature sequences are of-the-time and now appear dated, almost all the Pennywise sequences remain creep and effective.
Like many of King’s novels, the story switches between two time periods. In this case one period is 1960 when the town of Derry (oft used by King) is gripped by a series of child murders while the other period is 20-odd years later in the same town.
In 1960 we follow a group of seven nerdy youngsters who, for some inexplicable reason, are all subjected to taunting visions of Pennywise that only they can see. The group ultimately tracks Pennywise to his secret lair where they endeavour to kill him.
Scenes from this timeline are interspersed with those from the later period when the same group, honouring their collective vow to return if the need occurs again, is re-united for a final confrontation with their nemesis.
Of the main cast, John Ritter and Richard Thomas are the most recognisable but there are no outstanding performances apart from Curry’s iconic role.
As you would expect with most King adaptations, the story is the strongest element. The director, Tommy Lee Wallace, was also responsible for the woeful Halloween III: Season of the Witch>