It (miniseries)

Stephen King's It
Directed by	Tommy Lee Wallace
Written by	Stephen King (novel) Lawrence Cohen Tommy Lee Wallace
Produced by	Mark Basino Allen S. Epstein Jim Green
Starring	Harry Anderson Dennis Christopher Richard Masur Annette O'Toole Tim Reid John Ritter Richard Thomas Tim Curry
Cinematography	Richard Leiterman
Edited by	David Blangsted Robert F. Shugrue
Music by	Richard Bellis
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Television
Release date	November 18, 1990 (USA)
Running time	192 min.
Language	English

For the 1927 silent movie see It (1927 film).

It (also referred to as Stephen King's It) is a 1990 made-for-TV horror film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.

Production

The miniseries was filmed in New Westminster, British Columbia, which stood in for the town of Derry. An actual former movie house in New Westminster, the Paramount, appeared in several scenes in the miniseries, including an establishing scene where the young Losers go to a Saturday matinee and a later scene where the adult Richie drives by the theatre and sees a disturbing message from "It" on the marquee. In reality, the New Westminster Paramount stopped showing movies in 1983 and now functions as a strip club.

As part of the casting process, Rozz Williams of gothic rock band Christian Death auditioned for the part of Pennywise, going so far as to arrive at the audition in a costume he made himself. However, Wallace ultimately decided that Tim Curry's audition was of a higher quality. Footage of Williams' audition, in which he recites Pennywise's dialogue from one of the more sexually explicit scenes in the book, has circulated widely amongst Christian Death fans, and has given rise to (false) rumours of an "alternate version" of the film with Rozz in the Pennywise role and most of the excised content of the book restored.

Plot

It aired as a two-part television mini-series on November 18, 1990 on ABC, and loosely follows the plot of the novel. The first half of the film, set in 1960 (the novel is set in 1958), introduces a group of social misfits, the "Losers", as they meet and form a tight-knit group in the face of a cruel and intolerant world. They each individually come into contact with the child-killing monster, which they name "It", haunting their hometown of Derry, Maine. It usually appears as the thing the child victim most fears before taking the form Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Tim Curry).

The film opens with a young girl riding her bike singing Itsy Bitsy Spider. It is about to storm outside and her mother tells her to come on inside. The girl ignores her mother and tries to ride some more. But she hears children laughing in a distance. Then she hears a clown giggle. As she turns around the voice whispers "Hi". She sees a seemingly friendly clown; it is Pennywise luring her to his death trap. The film then flashes to her bike left unattended with her dead body beside it. She is found dead by her hysterical mother.

Spurred on by Bill Denbrough's desire for revenge on It for killing his younger brother, the Losers resolve to locate It's home in the sewers and destroy the threat to Derry once and for all. Henry Bowers, a disturbed bully, and two of his friends, Belch Huggins (Drum Garret) and Patrick Hocksetter (Gabe Khouth), follow the group into the Barrens and into the sewers, in a bid to ambush and kill them as revenge for a rockfight, in which the Losers easily won, saving Mike Hanlon. Bill leads the others into a vertical pipe, leading to the sewers. Stan Uris is pulled away from the group by Henry and Belch, where Henry pulls a pocketknife out. Meanwhile, Patrick has been ordered to ambush the group from another side. It, in an unseen form seen only from first-person camera movement (other than a bright light, referred to as the Deadlights) makes its way from under a grate and eats him alive. (This happens offscreen; the last thing seen is Patrick screaming before the camera goes into his mouth.)

As Bill, Beverly, Richie, Eddie, Ben, and Mike come to the middle of the sewers, they discover Stan is missing. In another part of the sewers, Henry prepares to kill Stan with the pocketknife as Belch restrains him. As Henry prepares to do so, It, only the Deadlights seen shining, bursts a sewage pipe. As Henry and Stan watch in horror, Belch is folded in half through the narrow sewage pipe and taken away by It. Henry calls his name but to no avail. It makes its way out of the pipe. Stan flees, and Henry's hair turns white from the sight of It's unseen form. Stan meets up with the group and they avoid looking into It's Deadlights. It vanishes, and smoke fills the chamber. The seven form a circle, although It attempts to break it by appearing as Bill's brother George, and Beverly's father, along with attempting to scare Richie in the form of a werewolf. As Stan repeats the Boy Scout Oath over and over, as if it were a mantra, It (in the form of Pennywise the Clown) pins him against the wall. As Pennywise prepares to devour him with Its fangs, Eddie sprays It in the face with his asthma inhaler, pretending it is battery acid. Half of the clown's face burns away, and Beverly cracks It's head open with a silver slingshot, revealing the bright light underneath. However, before Beverly can finish It off, Pennywise flips through the air, and is sucked through the drain. The group grabs his arms, only for the glove and one of the clown's claws to rip off, revealing a larger claw. The group argues and decide It is dead. After fighting It, and believing to have succeeded in killing It, they come out from the sewers and make a promise to return if It ever comes back. Little did they know that they would keep that promise 30 years later.

The second half of the film, set in 1990 (instead of 1985 like the novel), focuses on the now-adult Losers who agree to return home to Derry (except for Stan Uris, who killed himself when he learned It had returned) to destroy It once and for all. Again, the Losers must face not only the terrible creature, but also Henry Bowers, the bully who made their childhoods miserable and is now an incarcerated madman under the influence of It, who is determined to kill them all. It, in the form of Pennywise the Clown, appears to Henry on the moonlight as he watches from the insane asylum bed. The clown tells Henry he must go back to Derry and kill them all. Later, after It puts disgusting creatures in fortune cookies, at a restaurant reunion for the six of them, along with adults discovering Stan's head, used by It in the library refrigerator, It visits Henry in the form of the deceased Belch, who hands Henry his lost switchblade. It allows Henry to escape by appearing to the guard as clown with the head of a Rottweiler, although it is unclear whether It kills the guard or scares him away. In the meantime, as the six of the gang depart in their rooms at a hotel, Mike is attacked from behind by the adult Henry Bowers with a knife. Ben is distracted by It in the form of Beverly, who then scares him by appearing as Pennywise the Clown. Mike is stabbed and injured with the pocketknife, but is saved by Ben and Eddie, Henry stabbing himself accidentally, slowly dying.

After visiting Mike in hospital, he gives Bill the two silver pieces they once used against It many years ago. In the meantime, Bill's wife Audra has followed him from England. Audra stops in the middle of the night to ask for directions from a grizzled attendant at a gas-station. As Audra talks to him, the attendant (Boyd Norman)'s voice changes. As Audra prepares to leave, the attendant asks her if she wants a balloon. When Audra turns to face the man, he is now Pennywise the Clown. It repeatedly asks her if she wants a balloon, the Deadlights in his eyes hypnotizing her, before grabbing her (offscreen). The five surviving members of the adults make their way into the barrens and further into the sewers. Bill discovers Audra's purse. The adults are taunted by a phantom of the clown (It), before It vanishes into thin air. After It taunts Bill in the form of Georgie, stating it is "all his fault", until Bill repels It by saying Georgie's death was not his fault. The group finds a way through a small door believed to be It's lair, discovering many victims, including Audra, in cocoons, all in a hypnotic state. The five of them are finally confronted by It-- however this time as an enormous spider. Bill, Richie, and Ben are hypnotized by the Deadlights, located on It's abdomen. Eddie attempts to injure It with his aspirator as he did as a child, but as they are not children and do not believe, it is useless, but distracts It from his attack on the others. Eddie is grabbed and mortally wounded by It before Beverly shoots out the Deadlights with one of the silver slingshots. The others mourn Eddie, and chase It, killing It by dismembering the spider, Bill ripping out It's heart. The movie ends with a healthy Mike lamenting their future, and Bill breaking It's hold over Audra on the bike he saved Stan with as a child. The credits roll with Pennywise laughing one last time.

Cast

Adult Characters

Actor	Role
Tim Curry	Pennywise the Dancing Clown"IT" / Robert 'Bob' Gray
Richard Thomas	Adult Bill Denbrough
John Ritter	Adult Ben Hanscom
Annette O'Toole	Adult Beverly Marsh
Harry Anderson	Adult Richie Tozier
Dennis Christopher	Adult Eddie Kaspbrak
Richard Masur	Adult Stan Uris
Tim Reid	Adult Mike Hanlon
Michael Cole	Adult Henry Bowers

Child Characters

Actor	Role
Jonathan Brandis	Young Bill Denbrough (Buh Buh Billy Boy)
Brandon Crane	Young Ben Hanscom (Haystack)
Emily Perkins	Young Beverly Marsh (Bev)
Seth Green	Young Richie Tozier (Beep Beep Richie)
Adam Faraizl	Young Eddie Kaspbrak (Eddie Spaghetti)
Ben Heller	Young Stan Uris (Stan the Man)
Marlon Taylor	Young Mike Hanlon
Jarred Blancard	Young Henry Bowers
Drum Garrett	Belch Huggins
Gabe Khouth	Patrick Hockstetter

Other Characters

Actor	Role
Olivia Hussey	Audra Phillips Denbrough
Sheila Moore	Ms. Sonya Kaspbrak
Laura Harris	Loni (uncredited)

Deaths

• Laurie Ann Winterbarger: At the very beginning of the film, in the form of the clown, Laurie Ann was killed by It in her backyard. The actual cause of death is unknown. Her mother finds her under the washing line in the backyard. She is the first person to die in the film.
• Georgie Denbrough: In the form of the clown, his arm was ripped off when trying to reach for the wax paper sailboat that went into sewer drain; he bled to death.
• Belch Huggins: Died in the sewers as a light came from a burst pipe
• Stanley 'Stan' Uris: Committed suicide in the bathtub, after being haunted by his past memory of It. On the bathroom wall, 'It' is written in blood.
• Henry Bowers: Killed by Mike Hanlon after attempting to kill him, nearly succeeding.
• Victor Criss/Belch Huggins: Belch is pulled into a pipe in the sewers, frightening Henry so immensely that his entire head of hair turns white. Victor is picked off while off on his own, but the actual scene of his death is not shown. It's form was not seen, only the deadlights.
• Eddie Kaspbrak: Attempts to blast It's giant spider form with his inhaler, as he did when he was a child to Pennywise The Clown. However, in the spider form, It is unaffected-- picking him up and dropping him to the ground, fatally wounding him.
• Velma Daniels: Her body is found near the canal, severely mutilated.
• Koontz: It is in the form of the clown with the head of a Rottweiler, Koontz is mauled to death offscreen.
• Pennywise/It: Dies after being dismembered and having its heart ripped out by the Losers at the end of the movie.

Deaths

- *Laurie Ann Winterbarger: At the very beginning of the film, in the form of the clown, Laurie Ann was killed by It in her backyard. The actual cause of death is unknown. Her mother finds her under the washing line in the backyard. She is the first person to die in the film. - *Georgie Denbrough: In the form of the clown, his arm was ripped off when trying to reach for the wax paper sailboat that went into sewer drain; he bled to death. - *Belch Huggins: Died in the sewers as a light came from a burst pipe - *Stanley 'Stan' Uris: Committed suicide in the bathtub, after being haunted by his past memory of It. On the bathroom wall, 'It' is written in blood. - *Henry Bowers: Killed by Mike Hanlon after attempting to kill him, nearly succeeding. - *Victor Criss/Belch Huggins: Belch is pulled into a pipe in the sewers, frightening Henry so immensely that his entire head of hair turns white. Victor is picked off while off on his own, but the actual scene of his death is not shown. It's form was not seen, only the deadlights. - *Eddie Kaspbrak: Attempts to blast It's giant spider form with his inhaler, as he did when he was a child to Pennywise The Clown. However, in the spider form, It is unaffected-- picking him up and dropping him to the ground, fatally wounding him. - *Velma Daniels: Her body is found near the canal, severely mutilated. - *Koontz: It is in the form of the clown with the head of a Rottweiler, Koontz is mauled to death offscreen. - *Pennywise/It: Dies after being dismembered and having its heart ripped out by the Losers at the end of the movie.

Reaction and remake

Radio Times magazine in 2004 held a survey for the scariest program aired on television, in which It came first. The X-Files came second. Others on the top ten list included Twin Peaks, Ghostwatch and Tales of the Unexpected. The Sci Fi channel announced a 4 hour remake of the film which will be made sometime in 2009 or 2010. There are also whispers of plans for a theatrical remake.

The main criticism of the film is that it is vastly different from the book, for reasons including the task of preserving King's book while keeping the running time at a reasonable level, altering it to be sanitized for television (esp. sexual themes) as well as budgetary limitations.

However, the film has received praise amongst fans for Curry's role as Pennywise. Fans feel that his role was both scary and quite comical.

Many critics have also agreed that the first half of the story, which focused on the children's first encounter with Pennywise, far exceeded the second half in which the adult versions of the children fight It again.

DVD release

The film is now on a double-sided DVD with part one on the front and part two on the back. The "To be continued..." and the 1st set of closing credits at the end of Part one and the 2nd set of opening credits at the beginning of Part Two (unlike the VHS release) have been removed. It also features an audio commentary by the director and a few of the cast members excluding Tim Curry.

External links

• It at IMDb
• It at Rotten Tomatoes