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Stephen Kings: IT
Directed By: Tommy Lee Wallace
The Story
I.T has been on my watch list for around 15 years. It's one of very few old school horror classics that i never got around to watching, even tho i heard nothing but positive things about it. My friends have told me for years now how terrifying I.T was, and it's only now that the remake is coming out that i have finally decided to check it out. Now if i'm honest here i had a difficult time reviewing this movie. It's probably due to the fact it's almost 30 years old now, and obviously cinema and horror has moved on since this movie was released, but I.T has aged bad.... very bad. I'm not doubting this movie wasn't a good movie back when it was released in the early 90's, and i do believe that it was quite terrifying back then too. But this movie bored the living s*** out of me. I didn't find it scary at all. Not one single moment did i feel any type of horror, to be honest i laughed at how bad I.T really was.
Tim Curry was reluctant to take the role of Pennywise initially because he didn't relish the thought of being buried under so much makeup. When he played Darkness in Legend (1985), it was a difficult and demanding role, and the hours in makeup was still fresh in his mind. To compromise, Tommy Lee Wallace minimized the amount of makeup on Curry, and a lot wasn't necessary anyway because Curry's performance was so strong.
Tommy Lee Wallace felt that Part 2 wasn't as good as Part 1, because the adults weren't as magnetic to watch, especially when it came time to battle Pennywise.
The night guard in the asylum is called Koontz, named after Stephen King's rival author Dean R. Koontz.
On the day the kids go into the sewers, it was actually raining, saving the production crew the trouble of having to fake it.
Jarred Blancard (young Henry Bowers) hated having to call Marlon Taylor (young Mike Hanlon) a "******", and would often apologize to him before and after filming for his character's excessive use of the slur.
The Cast
Again this maybe because the movie is old and dated now, but i thought the cast were terrible. Part 1 the kids are cheesy as hell. And part 2 the adults are annoying as hell. It's a lose/lose situation. I thought Tim Curry was pretty good at Pennywise (clown), but even he became a little tiresome after a while - although i did really like his voice.
Movie Highlight
My highlight of this movie is definitely the opening 20 minutes. The opening sequence of the little girl riding her bike only to be killed by I.T was actually quite disturbing. Then we see little Georgie talking to the clown through the grid (drain) only to be also killed by the crazed clown made me think this movie was going to be awesome. But damn was i wrong. What follows is 3 hours of boredom. It literally turns from being a movie about a killer clown into a movie about a gang of kids becoming friends. Seriously; i thought i'd switched Stand By Me on by accident somewhere inbetween the movie.
My Verdict
Overall I.T pretty much sucks. It probably doesn't help watching this movie for the first time nearly 30 years after it's release, but i honestly didn't like much about this movie at all. It may have been scary watching it when i was 12/13 years of age, but it's not scary in the slightest anymore, and the ending is just plain stupid. Anyway, i'm still looking forward to the remake just to see how they approach things.
Stephen Kings: IT
Directed By: Tommy Lee Wallace
The Story
I.T has been on my watch list for around 15 years. It's one of very few old school horror classics that i never got around to watching, even tho i heard nothing but positive things about it. My friends have told me for years now how terrifying I.T was, and it's only now that the remake is coming out that i have finally decided to check it out. Now if i'm honest here i had a difficult time reviewing this movie. It's probably due to the fact it's almost 30 years old now, and obviously cinema and horror has moved on since this movie was released, but I.T has aged bad.... very bad. I'm not doubting this movie wasn't a good movie back when it was released in the early 90's, and i do believe that it was quite terrifying back then too. But this movie bored the living s*** out of me. I didn't find it scary at all. Not one single moment did i feel any type of horror, to be honest i laughed at how bad I.T really was.
Movie Trivia;
On the DVD commentary track, the actors note that Tim Curry's characterization of Pennywise was so creepy and realistic that everyone avoided him during the filming. Tim Curry was reluctant to take the role of Pennywise initially because he didn't relish the thought of being buried under so much makeup. When he played Darkness in Legend (1985), it was a difficult and demanding role, and the hours in makeup was still fresh in his mind. To compromise, Tommy Lee Wallace minimized the amount of makeup on Curry, and a lot wasn't necessary anyway because Curry's performance was so strong.
Tommy Lee Wallace felt that Part 2 wasn't as good as Part 1, because the adults weren't as magnetic to watch, especially when it came time to battle Pennywise.
The night guard in the asylum is called Koontz, named after Stephen King's rival author Dean R. Koontz.
On the day the kids go into the sewers, it was actually raining, saving the production crew the trouble of having to fake it.
Jarred Blancard (young Henry Bowers) hated having to call Marlon Taylor (young Mike Hanlon) a "******", and would often apologize to him before and after filming for his character's excessive use of the slur.
Again this maybe because the movie is old and dated now, but i thought the cast were terrible. Part 1 the kids are cheesy as hell. And part 2 the adults are annoying as hell. It's a lose/lose situation. I thought Tim Curry was pretty good at Pennywise (clown), but even he became a little tiresome after a while - although i did really like his voice.
Movie Highlight
My highlight of this movie is definitely the opening 20 minutes. The opening sequence of the little girl riding her bike only to be killed by I.T was actually quite disturbing. Then we see little Georgie talking to the clown through the grid (drain) only to be also killed by the crazed clown made me think this movie was going to be awesome. But damn was i wrong. What follows is 3 hours of boredom. It literally turns from being a movie about a killer clown into a movie about a gang of kids becoming friends. Seriously; i thought i'd switched Stand By Me on by accident somewhere inbetween the movie.
My Verdict
Overall I.T pretty much sucks. It probably doesn't help watching this movie for the first time nearly 30 years after it's release, but i honestly didn't like much about this movie at all. It may have been scary watching it when i was 12/13 years of age, but it's not scary in the slightest anymore, and the ending is just plain stupid. Anyway, i'm still looking forward to the remake just to see how they approach things.