It (1990) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Tommy Lee Wallace

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (novel)
Lawrence D. Cohen (teleplay) (part I)

Release Date:

18 November 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

From the King of terror, a chilling new dimension in horror.

Plot:

Seven youths have to defeat a demonic creature named Pennywise which dresses in a clown suit and terrorizes a 1960's town in Maine.

Plot Keywords:

Clown | Bully | Children | Supernatural | Friend

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Harry Anderson	...	Richie Tozier
Dennis Christopher	...	Eddie Kaspbrak
Richard Masur	...	Stanley Uris
Annette O'Toole	...	Beverly Marsh
Tim Reid	...	Mike Hanlon
John Ritter	...	Ben Hanscom
Richard Thomas	...	Bill Denbrough
Tim Curry	...	Pennywise
Jonathan Brandis	...	Bill Denbrough - Age 12
Brandon Crane	...	Ben Hanscom - Age 12
Adam Faraizl	...	Eddie Kaspbrak - Age 12
Seth Green	...	Richie Tozier - Age 12
Ben Heller	...	Stanley Uris - Age 12
Emily Perkins	...	Beverly Marsh - Age 12
Marlon Taylor	...	Mike Hanlon - Age 12

Also Known As:

Stephen King's It (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

192 min | Australia:168 min (25 fps) | Germany:182 min (25 fps) (2 parts) | Spain:179 min (25 fps) | Sweden:181 min (25 fps) | Argentina:190 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | South Korea:12 | USA:Not Rated | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Ireland:18 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (video rating) | Canada:PG (DVD rating) | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Buntzen Lake, Anmore, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Green/Epstein Productions

Trivia:

The movie the children are watching when they drop drinks and popcorn on the bullies is I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957).

Goofs:

Continuity: When they defeat Pennywise, he gets sucked into a small drain hole. You can see all that is sticking out is his wrist and hand. But when he grabs Bill a lot more of his arm is sticking out.

Quotes:

Young Richie: One out of ten. You're worse than I am, kiddo. At this rate, we might as well let that damn clown take us one by one.
Young Bill: Beep beep Richie. Who's left? Ben? Bev?
Young Richie: Yeah, and one of them better be good, Bill, because right now, you're in the lead with a pathetic three out of ten.
Young Bill: Richie, will you PLEASE shut up?
Young Richie: You know you don't stutter all the time?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man: Forbidden Fruit (#3.2)" (1996)

Who is David Graham if he's not the guy scared of Pennywise the Clown?

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Adapted from the epic novella by Stephen King,It is set in the town of Derry,Maine,in 1960.A series of gruesome child killings are going on,which seem to replicate similar events that happen every 30 years in the town,rounded off by a big disaster that causes similar confusion and devastation.Seven young kids are drawn together over the course of the summer to face off against a psychotic bully named Henry Bowers and his gang,as well as coming face to face with the perpetrator of the horrific killings,a monster which generally takes the shape of a clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry).One day,they decide to go down in to the sewers and confront and kill It once and for all.They believe they have done this,only to get a call 30 years later informing them that this is not the case and that they must now abide by a promise they made as kids to return once again to do battle with It if it ever returned.Now,as mature adults instead of naive kids (and therefore finding it harder to believe) can they be as successful?

Very rarely do adaptations of King novels translate well to the screen,with only a handful of exceptions,and the producers of this two parter certainly had an even harder job on their hands turning a book of over 1000 pages in to a film adaptation.Under the circumstances,one might say they haven't done too bad a job,but they've had to edit out a lot of key sequences (and even characters) from the book,and as a result,they've ended up with a script that's rather poorly written,noticeably lacking the nervous edge the book so entrancingly conveyed in better style.So many of King's books depend on us using our imagination to it's fullest potential,and being able to see things in our own way (thereby engrossing us so)and that is quite probably why so many film adaptations of his works are so ultimately under-whelming.Some of the scenes featuring the kids (i.e. when they're building the dam) have a certain sparkle and charm to them,but generally speaking,it's an unaffecting,gormless shambles that leaves a number of characters under-developed and some just left out entirely.

On the acting front,the child actors (with the exception of the one who played Bowers) fare better than the adult actors,with the exception,of course,of Tim Curry in terrifying form as Pennywise (one of the scariest characters in the history of cinema,never mind the fact he only ever appeared in a TV movie) and possibly Harry Anderson.Some of them are laughably bad in parts(especially the one playing the adult Bill when he tries to stutter,so sad when young Johnathon Brandis played him so well).Pennywise always gave me the creeps,possibly in a way no other horror movie character could,but all the other scary stuff is few and far between.At the end of the day,it was only ever a TV movie,and it is kept well within the confines of its perimeters.

Overall,it's certain performances and being a faithful,sincere enough adaptation of the novel it is based on that carries it along so well.Ultimately,though,if you want the real deal,you're gonna have to expand your mind and read the book to feel the full emotional punch.***