It (1990)

There is a tendency among horror fans to scoff at the 1990 miniseries of It. This is largely due to the fact that the miniseries is an extremely watered down version of the popular Stephen King novel. It maintains the basic premise of King’s novel – six childhood friends reunite as adults to face an evil entity (that often takes the form of Pennywise the Clown) they banished nearly thirty years ago – but it lacks any real bite. It is a movie that is at odds with both diehard Stephen Kings and modern days audiences simply for the fact that it isn’t scary (nor gory, for that matter).  Yet, in the fall of 1990 it was a miniseries that no one dared miss – it was a huge talking point in my fifth grade classroom. I had not read the novel at this point in life (I was eleven and didn’t have the patience for an 1100+ page novel), so I had no idea where the movie was headed. When part one ended with Stanley Uris committing suicide in his bathtub, I was genuinely unnerved by this turn of events. The movie already killed off one of its main protagonists and it was only halfway over. What horrors would I witness in part two? Seriously, as dated as this movie is, this is still one hell of a cliff hanger. 

It’s really hard to explain to younger, modern audiences (who are exposed to gore on regular basis with shows like Supernatural) just what a big deal It was in 1990. It came out in an era when prime time television had to be suitable for the entire family (this was before the TV ratings system had been established). Therefore many of King’s more interesting ideas had to be discarded to make way for scares that while “frightening” weren’t too disturbing. It was common for all the local stations to air horror movies on Saturday nights, but cut out content that was deemed too violent and sexual; which means that King’s story was whittled down to its most basic plot structure.  In the novel, young Eddie first encounters “It” in the form of a leper, who offers to give Eddie a blow job. In the miniseries, Eddie’s first encounter with “It” occurs in the school shower room – the shower heads come to life and converge on Eddie, but he escapes completely unscathed. Pennywise then pops up from the drain and taunts Eddie – end of scene.  This is pretty weak moment, and is too reminiscent of the scene in The Goonies when the plumbing in the country club goes haywire, but it’s a case of the filmmakers doing the best they can with the restrictions placed upon them by the network.  However, in 1990 it was a bit jarring to this level of gore in a made for TV production (Billy’s family album leaking out blood, blood erupting out of Beverly’s bathroom sink, and an eyeball popping out of a fortune cookie).  This type of gore was a fairly tame to horror fans, but to an average viewer just wanting to check out something on the tube, this was pretty strong stuff.  Ironically, the Andy Muschietti version, despite having better special effects and more gore than its made for TV counterpart, is also fairly tame compared to more contemporary horror movies.  In fact, there is nothing in the new movie that you couldn’t find in an average episode of Supernatural or American Horror Story. That being said, the Andy Muschietti version is still an improvement on the 1990 miniseries (well, at least Chapter One is, I can’t speak for the upcoming Chapter Two). 

The TV mini-series is really a case of two halves – the first half, dealing with the Losers Club as children facing It is actually fair well done and entertaining, it’s the second half that is the problem (Tommy Lee Wallace admits as much in his commentary). Stephen King structures the novel so that it jumps back and forth between the 1950s and 1980s, so that while the characters are having flashbacks the reader is also being fed new information.  The first half of the movie follows this structure, after receiving the phone call from Mike Hanlon that It has returned, each grown up member of the Losers Club have a flashback to when they first encounter It. Wallace will often use match on action editing as way of bridging the present with past – for instance, a close up of an adult Ben biting his thumb nail is replaced with a close up of a young Ben biting his thumb nail. It’s an extremely effective way of not only linking the two time periods, but also matching the adult versions of the Losers Club with their younger selves. In the novel, Stephen King uses what I call a literary dissolve to link the two eras – whenever the novel transitions to the past the text will initially be in italics before settling to a normal font. It’s an effective way of easing the reader into a different time period. The second half of the miniseries, with a few exceptions, discards the flashback structure and as a result we are constantly being fed information that we already know. The entire middle act of part two is the characters gathering together in various rooms and sharing their memories of the past.  At one point, just before a commercial break, the characters decide to move to a different location so they can do even more talking.  It doesn’t exactly make for a compelling cliffhanger. It becomes fairly redundant and only the re-introduction of the bully Henry Bowers keeps it from slipping into complete boredom. It doesn't help that midway through the movie, Richie Tozier manages to find time to do a stand up comedian for the rest of the Losers Club. Aren't they supposed to be forming a plan to defeat It?  The actors do their best, but they are nearly defeated by the material. Interestingly, the 2017 adaptation drops the flashback structure entirely and is told from the perspective of the Losers Club as children. Honestly, I would be perfectly fine if the studio skips making a Chapter Two, because the adult portions are easily the weakest part of the Stephen King novel.  The story is absolutely magical when it centers on the children bonding together to fight It, but nearly devolves into melodrama when they return as adults.

  

 This will be a pretty unpopular opinion, but Stephen King is simultaneously one of the best and worst writers I have ever read (often in the same book).  He is an absolute master at setting up a premise and phenomenal when it come to character development, but then he will throw the most mind numbingly awful subplot that completely grinds the story to a halt. In the novel of It, Bill’s wife, Audra (an actress) senses that her husband is in danger and rushes to his rescue (despite being in the middle of a movie shoot).  She is immediately abducted by Beverly Marsh’s abusive husband, who is under the influence of Pennywise the Clown.  This turn of events is supposed to raise the stakes of novel, but it is completely undermined by the fact that Audra barely registers as a character.  In fact, Bill is completely oblivious to Audra’s plight (he is having an affair with Beverly while this takes place) that it does little in terms of upping the stakes. There’s really no time element at work (“We must destroy IT or else Audra will die”) and Audra is completely forgotten about until the very end.  The Audra story line is merely filler and could have easily been cut from the novel.  The movie, unfortunately, retains the subplot (sans Beverly's husband) and Audra is even less of a presence here than she was in the novel.  She has less than ten minutes of screen time and half of that is her in a comatose state, and she doesn’t exactly ingratiate herself to us with her nonstop whimpering.  Olivia Hussey is a fine actress, but she is completely ill served here. 

The best thing the mini-series (and the Muschietti version) has going for it is the terrific cast (with the exception of Hussey). The children are terrific, especially Jonathan Brandis as Bill. The character of Bill spends the entire half of the movie haunted by the death of his brother, Georgie, and has vowed to get his revenge on It. He is the leader of the group and Brandis does a great job projecting inner strength, despite Bill’s physical impediments.  Surprisingly, in the 2017 version, Jaeden Lieberher actually improves upon Brandis’ interpretation of the character by giving a genuinely heartbreaking performance. 

The adult cast are not as compelling and are fairly uneven in their performances; Dennis Christopher as the nebbish Eddie Kaspbrak stands out, but Harry Anderson is a bit much as the grown up Richie Tozier.  Tim Curry steals the show as Pennywise the Clown. There are people that complain that Curry isn’t scary enough as Pennywise - they often point to the scene when Pennywise taunts a grown up Richie in the library as proof. Except that It in the form of Pennywise isn’t meant to be scary but rather unnerving.  If It wanted, it could probably kills the Losers Club at any given minute, but rather It chooses to toy with them in the form of Pennywise because It genuinely enjoys playing the role of monster. In the novel, It takes the form of classic monsters like the Wolf Man the Teenage Werewolf the Mummy, not because they are scary, but rather popular icons of horror. When It takes the form of Pennywise the Clown, it engages in silly antics because that’s what clowns do.  In 2017 version, Bill asks the question, “What if this monster is eating kids because that’s what we’re told monsters do?”  Tim Curry’s scene chewing maybe silly, but is absolutely appropriate for this movie.  I also find it believable that Georgie would be fooled by this incarnation of Pennywise than Bill Skarsgard’s take on the character; mainly because Skarsgard is overly creepy from the very get go. Why would Georgie would take time to talk him instead of running away is a mystery to me?  On the other hand, Curry’s Pennywise convincingly puts on a mask of friendliness that it is easy to buy Georgie falling into his trap. 

While I enjoyed Andy Muschietti’s version of It, there was a part of me that missed the 1950s setting of the novel (the 2017 version is set in 1989). The Fifties are much better suited to the themes of Stephen King’s novel.  It was a fairly optimistic time in America’s history and all the everyday horrors were hidden below the surface.  There’s a scene in King’s novel 11/22/63, where the protagonist travels back to 1958 and comes across a WHITES ONLY sign - a harsh reminder that this era wasn’t the paradise it seemed to be.  In It, the town’s children a disappearing at an alarming rate, but the citizen’s of Derry turn a blind eye to it. They go on with the daily business like nothing bad is going on. On the outside, Derry has a pleasant appearance, but underneath its shiny surface there is pure evil going on.  

(SPOILER SECTION)
Finally, I would remiss if failed to mention how the mini-series of It has one of the greatest anti-climatic endings in TV history.  For nearly three hours, we are shown just how tricky and funny Pennywise the Clown is – he constantly plays tricks on the protagonists so they are unable to distinguish fantasy from reality – and then it’s time for the final showdown and It takes the form of a…..giant spider….a really crappy looking giant spider. In the novel, the showdown between the Losers Club is more on a metaphysical plane, in the mini-series our heroes defeat it by pushing it over and ripping out its guts. The actors do put on their best “scared” faces, but the giant spider prop is one of the silliest things ever shown on television – it looks like a refugee from the Colin Baker Era of Doctor Who.

Credits
Cast: Richard Thomas (Bill Denbrough), Harry Anderson (Richie Tozier), Annette O’ Toole (Beverly Marsh), John Ritter (Ben Hanscom), Dennis Christopher (Eddie Kaspbrak), Tim Reid (Mike Hanlon), Jonathan Brandis (Bill – age 12), Seth Green (Richie – age 12), Emily Perkins (Beverly – age 12), Brandon Crane (Ben – age 12), Adam Faraizl (Eddie – age 12), Marlon Taylor (Mike – age 12), Ben Heller (Stanley – age 12), Richard Masur (Stanley Uris), Tim Curry (Pennywise), Olivia Hussey (Audra), Michael Cole (Henry Bowers), Jarred Blancard (Henry – age 14), Tony Dakota (Georgie Denbrough), Sheila Moore (Mrs. Kaspbrak), Gabe Khouth (Victor Criss), Michael Ryan (Tom Rogan), Frank C. Turner (Al Marsh), Chris Eastman (Belch), Chelan Simmons (Laurie Anne Winterbarger), Florence Paterson (Mrs. Kersh), Merrily Gann (Mrs. Winterbarger), Steven Hilton (Mr. Denbrough), Sheelah Megill (Sharon Denbrough), Laura Harris (Loni).

Director: Tommy Lee Wallace
Teleplay: Lawrence D. Cohan, Tommy Lee Wallace. Based off the Stephen King novel.
Running Time: 187 min.