Stephen King's IT (1990)

 

"Hi there Georgie, I am Pennywise the Dancing Clown. You are Georgie. There! Now we know each other! Would you like a balloon?" Those chilling lines are a part of the shocking opening to Stephen King's IT, a 1990 television film that was shown in two parts and for the time was very shocking. Today on television, we've seen far worse and with Warner Bros. filming a theatrical remake, I wanted to look back at the original film and see how it held up.

'IT' was directed by Tommy Lee Wallace (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) and he continues to show his talents, despite his limitations with televisions' censorship and production values with this film. The story for those who haven't read the novel or seen the adaptation concerns a group of young teenage misfits who must battle an ancient evil only known as IT. The film continues with the young members as adults who must face their demons and finish IT off once and for all.

  First and foremost, the highlight of the film is of course Tim Curry (CLUE, Rocky Horror Picture Show) as IT/Pennywise who gives one of the most creepy performances I have seen. While not personally having a phobia of clowns, there's no doubt in my mind that they are freaky things for sure and Curry pulls that vibe off perfectly. He also manages to be quite humorous, with some lines making me laugh out loud. The other main highlight is the child actors themselves, who do much better than their adult counterparts. To be honest, the first part is definitely the best of the whole movie, with it having the most development, intense scenes, and the most entertaining. 

The second half with the adults returning to Derry to battle IT one last time really fizzles about halfway through. I don't think the problem is necessarily the adult actors themselves however, which many seem to point the finger at. You have some excellent actors in here such as Olivia Hussey and John Ritter who I always enjoy and they and the others do well with what they have. The problem with Part 2 I think lies in the story arc, pacing, and the writing. The adult versions of these characters just don't seem to get the same level of writing as the child actors do. 

The story also slows to a crawl in this part as well, with the finale becoming a rather cheesy and weak battle and resolution with IT. The film does indeed feel like a literal two part piece, in that they feel almost like two different films. The first part has all of the best scenes and the best filmmaking techniques, whereas the second part has to rely on dialogue and exposition in order to tell the story correctly. It actually reminds me heavily of 'Kill Bill' of which I feel the same way. That's not to say that the second half is terrible, far from it but I just prefer the segments with the kids.

Even now, 'Stephen King's IT' holds up well, mostly due to the performance of Tim Curry as the titular character. I highly recommend giving the film another viewing if you haven't seen it in a while. I even recommend the newly released Blu-Ray edition with some excellent commentary by Director Tommy Lee Wallace. 

 

 ((B+))