A part of me was hoping that maybe MAYBE I could review this movie in a serious way.  I was hoping that the movie would make up for my anger towards the book.  Alas, the answer is no.

I should note that there are two positive things that can be taken away from this movie.  One – TIM CURRY!  I mean seriously, it’s Tim Curry.  He…IS…THE…MAN!  I could do a whole blog entry on my love of Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue, etc. etc) but that’s not what this blog is about.  However, Tim Curry as the clown Pennywise – NAILS IT!  The second positive thing – the casting.  They really did a great job of casting this movie and getting all the right people to play all the right parts (RIP John Ritter).

So in case you are wondering about the movie (and have not read my epic blog post on the actual book) here are the cliff notes:

Stephen King’s It was a 2-part miniseries released in 1990.  Overall, it received mixed/positive reviews and a 67% on rotten tomatoes.  The film stars Tim Curry as Pennywise (the scariest clown EVER – that is until Twisty appeared on American Horror Story), Jonathan Brandis (RIP – SeaQuest will always live on!) and Richard Thomas as the young/old Bill Denbrough,  Brandon Crane and John Ritter (RIP – you better be making people laugh in heaven) as the young/old Ben Hanscom, Adam Faraizl and Dennis Christopher as the young/old Eddie Kaspbrak, Emily Perkins and Annette O’Toole as the young/old Beverly Marsh, Marlon Taylor and Tim Reid as the young/old Mike Hanlon, Seth Green (one of his first roles!!!) and Harry Anderson as the young/old Richie Tozier, and Ben Heller and Richard Masur as the young/old Stanley Uris.

The premise of the movie is basically the same as the book:

“Set in Maine, this is the story of a thirty year struggle against supernatural evil.  We follow a group of young men (and one woman!!) who call themselves “the lucky seven” from 1960 to 1990. The Seven emerge triumphant from their first encounter with Pennywise, a clown-suited horror who calls himself ‘the eater of worlds…and of children.“  But it’s 1990, and Pennywise is back in circulation.”

I don’t really know how to review this movie to be honest.  It was in 1990 – 24 years ago.  The acting is horrible, the special effects are horrible, there is just nothing to really be scared about (except for the terrifying clown).  And then there is the giant spider puppet thing at the end. As I said earlier, the only redeeming quality of this movie is Tim Curry.

With that said, if I were to watch this movie 24 years ago (I would be 7 years old) this movie would have scared the shit out of me.  Pennywise is fucking terrrifying.  That makeup, that hair, those fucking teeth of doom… yeah.  In today’s standards this movie may come across as corny and stupid and I would totally agree with that, but for a 90’s movie I can see how horrifying this would be.  Granted, the movie left out A LOT that would have added more to the movie (thankfully they left out the gang bang scene – the director didn’t think it was appropriate)  I think for the budget that they had they did a pretty good job for that time period.  Plus, they had fucking Tim Curry.

So is this movie worth seeing?  Not really unless you want a good giggle or you really want to see Tim Curry as a terrifying clown.  But I feel the only good way to give this movie a review is to break it up as if I was a 7 year old and as a 31 year old.

Shannon as a 7 year old in 1990:  4 skulls out of 5 skulls because clowns, more clowns, werewolf, mummy, clowns, giant spider, clowns and clowns.

Shannon as a 31 year old in 2014:  2 skulls out of 5 skulls because acting was bad, special effects were bad, and well clowns scare me.  But hey, Tim Curry!

That’s all I have tonight for you crazy kids.  I think I’ve sufficiently reviewed Stephen King’s book version of “It” and mini-series.  I think it’s time I take a break from clowns (and Stephen King) and focus my energy on being possessed by demons!

Shannon M.

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