(PHOTO PROVIDED VIA GOOGLE)
***WARNING: THIS REVIEW DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS! BUT HONESTLY, CAN YOU REALLY SPOIL A MOVIE FROM 1990?***
RELEASE DATE: 1990
RUNNING TIME: 3 Hrs 12 Min
DIRECTOR: Tommy Lee Wallace
WRITERS: Stephen King, Tommy Lee Wallace and Lawrence D. Cohen
STARRING:
Tim Curry as Pennywise
Harry Anderson as Richie Tozier
Dennis Christopher as Eddie Kaspbrak
Richard Masur as Stanley Uris
Annette O'Toole as Beverly Marsh
Tim Reid as Mike Hanlon
John Ritter as Ben Hanscom
Richard Thomas as Bill Denbrough
Jonathan Brandis as Bill Denbrough (Age 12)
Brandon Crane as Ben Hanscom (Age 12)
Adam Faraizl as Eddie Kaspbrak (Age 12)
Emily Perkins as Beverly Marsh (Age 12)
Marlon Taylor as Mike Hanlon (Age 12)
Seth Green as Richie Tozier (Age 12)
Ben Heller as Stanley Uris (Age 12)
(VIDEO PROVIDED VIA YOUTUBE)
I know Halloween is more than a month away, but I feel that it is never too soon to get into the spirit. Halloween is personally one of my favorite holidays. There is lots of fun to be had and I get to enjoy trick or treating again with my daughter. Its amazing to see how excited she gets to dress up and go out for candy. So I figured I would start a new series of blog to get into the season and talk about all the great horror movies I watch and recommend for the readers to watch during their own scary movie marathons (trust me, I know you all have them every year). What better way to kick off the Halloween Movie Series than with Stephen King's "It".
As a child, I was not the biggest fan of the horror genre. In fact there was a point as a child when Michael Jackson's Thriller was terrifying to me. What can I say, I was young. But then I saw Stephen King's "It" for the first time (I believe it was 1992 or 1993, we rented it from a video store. Remember those?). That was the moment where my fascination for horror movies blew up and the storm of intrigue and curiosity hit me like a ton of bricks. I needed to see everything and anything I could get my hands on to watch. The fun that could be had by getting a scare with a group of friends was better than watching a comedy. Hell, some of the cheesiness in "B" horror flicks more than made up for the comedy relief.
"It" is the story of seven friends who all experience a brush with the supernatural during their childhood. It all starts when Bill's brother George is killed mysteriously while out playing in the rain. The seven friends then began to get visited by a creepy clown named Pennywise who knows all of their deepest fears and nightmares. After much deduction, they figure out Pennywise killed Georgie and aims to kill them and other children in their town of Derry. As the story progresses, they decide that they need to be the ones who stop Pennywise and destroy It for good.
I really don't want to give away the rest of the movie. I want you to see it. For those who don't know, "It" was based off of one of Stephen King's best selling novels of the same name. The film also spawned a remake that was just released which I have yet to see at the time of writing this.
I will say that the film is not perfect. It was a made for TV miniseries so don't expect a ton of blood and gore. Tim Curry does a fantastic job as Pennywise the Clown. The rest of the acting is spotty, you have some that stand out more than the others. Jonathon Brandis, John Ritter, Annette O'Toole join Tim Curry as the stand outs in the film. I give "It" a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Again, it's not one of the best works or adaptations in the world, but it created a life long live of the horror genre for me. That is why I have always held it in such regard. I just finished watching the film yesterday and had seen the remake earlier today. So look out for that review to come out soon. Please take the time to watch this film this holiday season. Enjoy IT, get lost in IT and have fun with IT.