“It (1990)” Review

Tim Curry’s performance as Pennywise in “It (1990)” has now seeped into modern pop culture, especially around Halloween.

When I was a kid, one of the most iconic images I saw around Halloween was that of Pennywise the clown from “It.” Not the theatrically released series from 2017 and 2019, but the 1990 television two-part mini-series which has since been shown as a full film on home media. Every fall I saw that image of Tim Curry in clown makeup and I was constantly told that it was way to scary for my child mind. 

But as I became more of a horror fanatic as a teenager into my twenties, I have read a lot of Stephen King and seen a lot of his film and television adaptations. While original novel “It” and the two films from 2017 and 2019 based on the book I found to be very scary, when I watch the 1990 verision of the King’s work to be kind of disappointing. While “It (1990),” is definitely iconic for being the definitive version of the story until Bill Skarsgard donned the makeup of Pennywise nearly 30 years later, this is a film that is a mixed bag to say the least.

For those who have read the book or have seen the films, the television adaptation is very similar. In the small town of Derry, Maine in 1960, a group of kids known as the Losers Club, Bill (Johnathan Brandis), Beverly (Emily Perkins), Ben (Brandon Crane), Richie (Seth Green), Eddie (Adam Faraizl), Mike (Marlon Taylor) and Stan (Ben Heller) band together to fight an evil, shapeshifitng entitiy simply known as It who takes the form of their deepest fears, especially a clown called Pennywise (Tim Curry), and has been killing local children including Bill’s brother Georgie (Tony Dakota).

After seemingly defeating It, the Losers go on to live successful lives after leaving their hometown with Bill (Richard Thomas) becoming a mystery writer, Beverly (Annette O’Toole) a fashion designer, Ben (John Ritter) an architect, Richie (Harry Anderson) a stand-up comic, Eddie (Dennis Christopher) an owner of a limo service and Stan Richard Masur) an accountant while Mike (Tim Reid) stays in Derry. 30 years later, after getting a call from Mike that It has returned, the Losers return to kill It and conquer their fears.

It’s actually pretty easy to form an opinion of this film because the first half (originally episode one), which shows the Losers fighting It as kids, is legitimately good while the second half is nothing short of disappointing. I think this has to do with the fact that kids fighting a monster will always be more scary than adults doing to same thing which also is one of the biggest problems with the source material which is still one of my favorite King stories. 

While not overtly scary, there’s a good sense of atmosphere throughout the whole film and it’s creepy to watch. The child actors are amazing and each of them encapsulate childhood innocence which is being challenged by both It and other elements of their life like Beverly’s abusive father (Frank C. Turner) and bully Henry Bowers (Jarred Blancard) whose targeting of the Losers descends into insanity.

Some of the adults in the film are also pretty good and manage to convince you that they are these kids all grown up especially John Ritter as Ben. As far as I’m concerned, this is one of the best castings in a Stephen King adaptation rivaled only by Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in “Misery” or Bill Hader as a grown up Ritchie in “It: Chapter Two.” However, some of the adults, mainly Annette O’Toole and Richard Thomas, overact to the point where they don’t feel like older versions of the kids or even real people.

The performances of both Tim Curry (Center) as Pennywise and the young cast of kids are what made “It (1990)” memorable for so long.

I actually do recommend this film because there’s a lot to enjoy in the film in a way the filmmakers probably didn’t intend. It’s a decent introduction of Stephen King to younger audiences, which might seem strange since it was labeled for so long as a scary film that kids couldn’t watch, but it’s really not.

I can kind of understand how people were afraid of this film when it first came out, especially since fellow killer clown John Wayne Gacy was still well-known at the time having been arrested in 1978. But as someone who saw this film when I was 14 years old and had been told it was scary all of my life, it’s about as scary as “Beetlejuice” with just as funny of a demonic entity. 

Tim Curry may be creepy at times and he certainly gives the role his all, as per usual, but he’s more funny than scary. After all, he is a clown.

But all of the charming child actors and Tim Curry can’t save the second half of the story which even the director, Tommy Lee Wallace, has admitted to not liking. Not only is the adult overacting distracting but, because the Losers Club are adults, there’s nothing to be frightened of and it’s more boring than anything.

The first half was creepy because It was attacking the Losers Club as kids which is a lot different than having adults being targeted. The film adaptations made 30 years later knew to make the threats different when they were older as well as have a different tone. Instead of being completely scary, both “It (2017)” and “It: Chapter Two” have a great mix of scares and laughs which make them all the more unique.

The biggest problem with the miniseries, which overarches the entire experiences, is that a messed up and frightening book has basically been neutered by ABC, the network that broadcast the mini-series. While changes had to be made when adapting this into a miniseries, certain parts of the book I don’t ever want to see in an adaptation (readers of the book know exactly what I’m talking about), the kills are mostly off-screen and have little to no blood.

Why on Earth would you adapt a scary Stephen King novel and not have any blood or gore? I certainly don’t ecpect the film to be as disturbing as the book but there has to be something scary to make it a worthy adaptation. Miniseries before and since “It (1990)” had more blood and gotten away with it and, four years later, ABC would adapt another Stephen King story, “The Stand,” faithfully which included being more graphic than the “It” miniseries.

Despite all of these problems with the story and the lack of frights, director Tommy Lee Wallace did his best with the unreasonable limits ABC imposed. He’s a talented man who has been an editor of several John Carpenter productions, including “The Fog,” “Halloween” and “Big Touble in Little China,” and even directed the atmospheric “Halloween III: The Season of the Witch,” which is somewhat divisive among fans for being the only film in the series with no Michael Myers. 

The film may not be scary but it still has a lot of personality to it. As good as the recent adaptations of “It” have been, I will always have a soft spot for Tim Curry and how desperately the film tried to make balloons scary. It may not be perfect, or even good for that matter, but “It (1990)” is still an enjoyable film to watch and either love or mock for its strange choices. What else can I say but “we all float down here!”