In Defence of the original IT mini-series.

It is no secret to those who know the odd creature that is me, that I am obsessed with film. Movies of all varieties and genres grace the screen via my DVD/Blu-Ray player or streaming services that I abuse. It is a way of life for me, film has always sparked my imagination, taught me valuable lessons and in a way, furthered my education in areas I found interesting. And it all started when I was a child, as most things do.

I not only watched everything I could, marvelling at the way filmmakers and actors told these stories, but I read about film and television at every opportunity. Which before the internet and easy access to information, was not easy an feet. I spent almost as much money on film magazines as I did on going to the cinema or renting videos. In the pages of these publications, I first became aware of the concept of competitions.

I was like, ‘Holy shit! You can win these things. And then they’re yours.’ I was so in. The way competitions work hasn’t really changed, except how you enter. Back then it was stamp and envelope. And I used an office supply store’s worth of stationary supplies to enter everything I could.

And then, one strange but ordinary day, I got a package in the mail. I had won a VHS copy of what would not only be my introduction to Stephen King, its was the first movie I owned personally and started me on a road on movie collecting and a love of horror films. That VHS was, as you may have guessed, was a brand-new rental edition of the 1990 mini-series Stephen King’s IT.

I had no idea what the story was about from the title, when I slide that VHS into the VCR, apart for the cover art that had me enthralled (evil looking clown = awesome), but what a ride is was for the twelve year old that I was, and some would argue, still am. And I watched it. And watched the next day, and the next. I found it thrilling, both excited and scared shitless. And with every viewing, I saw something new, thought of new things, how certain characters felt and puzzled over their reactions and their place in the story.

Stephen King’s It was originally a two-part horror mini-series that aired on the American ABC network in 1990 and was directed by Tommy Lee Wallace (director of the underrated films Halloween III: Season of the Witch and Fright Night 2) and adapted for the small screen by screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen, who had earlier in his career adapted Carrie for Brian De Palma. When I watched it for the first time a little over a year later, the mini-series episode were edited together into a two and a half hour movie, so there was a lot missing when I first watched it. It wasn’t until it was released on DVD did the full version become available in Australia. You know, the place where I live.

The basic synopsis of the story (and by ‘basic’, I mean basic) is, a group if kids in the end of the 1950s become aware and then are stalked by an evil supernatural entity that uses the visage of a clown named Pennywise, to terrify its victims before killing them because fear tastes better. The kids band together and defeat the clown. They make a promise to return if the clown ever does return. And return he does. The one member of the group of kids that stayed in the small Maine town, calls all the other members of The Losers Club, and they all return to do battle with Pennywise, this time as adults in their 40s.

The event mini-series was a big thing in the 1970s and the 1980s, but between 1979s Salem’s Lot directed by Tobe Hopper and 1990s IT, there where none based in Stephen King’s novels, despite King being a hot property when it came to adaptions of his work. And that doesn’t seem to be changing. But before the mini-series was made it was first envisioned as a feature film and then as a 10-hour, 4-part mini-series to be helmed by King collaborator and horror legend George A Romero. This is something that King and Mike Garris got to do with The Stand mini-series in 1994 for the ABC Network, and I would have loved to have seen what IT that would have been with this kind of treatment. But it was trimmed down to two, 1 and a half hour episodes (2 hours when broadcast due to advertisements). Mainly due to the controversy steaming from elements in King original novel, budget issues and the constraints of network television at the time. So, Romero, The King of the Zombies, left the project and went on to direct another King property in 1990, The Dark Half. Instead and directing duties went to Tommy Lee Wallace, a frequent collaborator of John Carpenter’s.  

And an odd little piece of trivia I found is, both parts of the mini-series together is only 15 minutes short than It: Chapter Two (2019). How far we’ve come.

But why is this film/mini-series important, you ask? Hold your horses, I’m getting to that. The mini-series was very melodramatic, almost like a soap opera or a thriller ‘movie-of-the-week’ kind of thing. But what elevates the mini-series to a higher standard is the cast. The adult versions of the characters were played by veteran TV and film actors who new their craft with the likes of Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O’Toole, Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, John Ritter, and Richard Masur. Even Olivia Hussey (Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, Black Christmas, Death on the Nile, And the Ozploitation classic Turkey Shoot) backs up the main adult cast. They take the material they are given, which is not the best (because of reasons already mentioned), and elevate it to something greater than the sum of its parts. Even if they have to do a lot of dodgy reactions to flashbacks, they weren’t apart of. But it’s the younger versions of the characters that steal the show from their aging counterparts. The younger cast are amazing, I believe that is selling them short. Lead by Jonathon Brandis as the young Bill, and young Seth Green as Richie (who pretty much looks the same today) and Emily Perkins as the young Beverly who when on to star in Ginger Snaps trilogy. Directed Tommy Lee Wallace prefers the first part of the mini-series that features the younger cast because, in his words, ‘the adults weren’t as magnetic to watch as the children, especially when it came to the climatic battles with Pennywise’. Oddly enough, this is very similar to the criticism that the recent two films, IT (2017) and IT: Chapter Two (2019) received, with many preferring the performances of the younger actors to their adult counterparts in the follow up. It’s something about the honesty of the performances from the young actors, especially in a horror story like this, that comes off as more believable. We want to care about them, and so we follow them wherever they take us.

The heroes of a horror movie or series may not be what your interested in. Maybe it’s the monster, the bogeyman or the killer you’re watching these tales for. Because a hero is only as strong as the villain, after all. And boy, do we have a doozey here. Pennywise the clown is above all else what people remember about this mini-series, played with chilling perfection by Rocky Horror Picture Show alum, the iconic Tim Curry. But it would surprise you to find out, that Curry was no one’s first choice to play this role. Filmmakers and the studio went after Malcolm McDowell at one point, then Roddy McDowell (I think they may have been stuck in one section of the phone book for a while) and even shock rocker Alice Copper was in the running. But then there came Tim Curry. And as a kid, he scarred the shit out of me. Which is funny, considering Curry himself is scarred to death of clowns and wouldn’t look in the mirror when his make-up was applied each day prior to shooting.

Curry seems to have enjoyed playing this part. I mean, who wouldn’t have fun playing a mischievous killer clown? If you mix in equal portions of a children’s television host from the 1950s, serial killer John Wayne Gacy and Freddy Kruger and blend until smooth and pour over ice, then you have the cocktail that is Pennywise the Dancing Clown as played by Tim Curry. This movie monster had a personality all his own, and with a mischievous wink, enjoyed his work. Something I believe can’t be said of Bill Skarsgard’s portrayal in the later filmed version. While Bill is a very talented actor, and apart from some natural facial tics he put into his performance, it isn’t as memorial as the visual look of the character. Without Curry in this role, which was billed as ‘Special Appearance by’ in the credits, the mini-series would have been forgotten over time. No saying that the mini-series deserved to, by any stretch. It would have just been another network event mini-series, there to boost rating but ultimately disposable. But it is still remembered fondly by fans old and new to this day, and many believe, as do I, that it is because of Curry.

His portrayal of this evil entity Pennywise became a horror movie Icon despite he only ever appearing once and on TV, no less. Curry’s Pennywise is in the pantheon of modern horror movies icons alongside Michael Myers, The Tall Man, Jason Vorhees, Leatherface, Chucky and aforementioned Freddy Kruger. And while the make-up and costume added to the visage, Curry turned deposable entertainment into a legacy and a fan favourite that stayed in the hearts and minds of people who like a scary story. And the fact that they remade the story into two wildly, worldwide successful films I believe, in part, can be attributed of Curry and well as the immense popularity of his original creator Stephen King.

This mini-series is pretty easy to find. It pops up on streaming services, and you can easily buy a DVD or Blu-ray copy of the film in its complete form wherever you buy physical media. It’s out there, and you should give it a go. The film, I like to think if it as a film, is a very watchable slice of the late 80s -early 90s but Curry’s Pennywise has left a mark on horror film and television that is hard to be denied, even if you dislike the rest of the film. Horror fans owe it to themselves to watch this, because Pennywise is:

“Every nightmare you’ve ever had. I’m you’re worst dreams come true. I’m everything you ever were afraid of.”

Thanks for the Nightmares, Mr. Curry.