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:

The Master of Horror unleashes everything you were ever afraid of.

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 | Children | Bully | Friend | Supernatural

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:

When Beverly is listening to the voices in the drain, one boy identifies himself as Matthew O'Connor. Matthew O'Connor is also the name of the Supervising Producer of the film. A girl in the drain identifies herself as Vicky Burrows. Victoria Burrows did casting for the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the friends are at the hotel, three of them decide to go up stairs to get things. They leave the living room area in this order Ben, Eddie, and Mike. When they turn the corner and go up the stairs the order is now Ben, Mike, and then Eddie.

Quotes:

Bev Marsh: Why does It have to be so mean?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Bucks (#2.11)" (2000)

What is your deepest secret fear?

"It" it's possibly the best TV adaptation of a Stephen King novel. Ok, that does not mean anything, because TV adaptations from King's novel usually leave a lot to be desired (Langoliers, The Stand...); but it is the one I've enjoyed the most.

This is an story about the fear itself. Your fears as a child, and your fears as a grown man. It's kind of a parable: when you're an adult and you think everything is under control, that monsters and ghosts doesn't exist, that they can't scare you anymore... Well, you're wrong: as "It" clearly shows, adults are much weaker than children when it comes to face your fears. At least that's my interpretation of this story of seven friends who had to fight against some kind of evil pressence in their little town when they were kids, and have to do just the same 30 years later, when they had almost forgotten of each other and what it happened.

The first part of "It", in which the children are protagonist, is way much more exciting that the second one (with the adult characters). That first part has reminded me (in some way) of another Stephen King's adaptation: Stand By Me. Definitely it is much more entertaining. I haven't read the novel, so I don't know if they've made a good work adapting it (if it's exact enough), but I suppose that other reviewers will have talked about it.

And there's not much more to say. The special effects are a little better than in Langoliers (no big deal, anyway), and though there're lots of ups and downs in the script, "It" achieves it objective: to entertain.

PS: Pennywaise's character is the most histrionic and crazy performance of Tim Curry since Frank N'Further.

My rate: 6.5/10