It (1990 film)

Stephen King's It Novel 1986

It is a horror novel by Stephen King released in 1986. The novel was the 22nd book written by him but was the 18th one written under his real name. Spanning more than 1,000 pages, the book covers the experiences of seven children who are confronted with the existence of an evil monster. The monster "Pennywise" appears in the form of a clown to exploit the fears of children. The plot is structured on two narratives covering two different periods. The first one covers the period when members of the Losers Club were kids living in Derry. During this period, individual members of the group come in contact with Pennywise at different points and the second period covers their encounter with the Dancing Clown as adults.

Stephen King has stated that his idea of the book first came to light in 1978 but it took him three years to begin the work on it in 1981 which was eventually finished in 1985. The author has also stated that he wanted the main character of the book to be similar to a troll just like the one in the children's storybook "Three Billy Goats Gruff". Beyond that, he also wanted the book to cover the lives of the child characters as they grew into maturity.

As for the Pennywise character, King was most interested in creating a character that children were very familiar with but yet, afraid of. After flirting with several characters, he arrived at one that fulfilled the role he wanted for the book. Since clowns scared children, making a clown the main antagonist for the book felt like a perfect fit at the time. Eventually, this turned out to be the case.

After the release of It, the central theme of the book became familiar concepts in later works written by King. The novel won the 1987 British Fantasy Award. It also received a World Fantasy Award nomination and a Locus Award nomination that same year. Publisher Weekly magazine listed It as 1986' Best Selling hardcover fiction book in the US.

The book has also been adapted into two different miniseries ever since. The first being the 1990 series with Tim Curry as the main character and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. The second series was a duology with the first part released in September 2017. The second part is billed to be released by September this year on September 6, 2019. The movie was directed by Andy Muschietti.

Part I

In the town of Derry, Maine, six-year old Georgie Denbrough is lured to a storm drain when his paper boat drops down into it. He encounters a seemingly friendly man dressed in a clown suit named Robert Gray who calls himself "Pennywise the Dancing Clown." Pennywise tempts Georgie closer with promises of candy and balloons, exclaiming that they all float down into the sewer. He says that Georgie can float too before revealing his true nature, grabbing him and viciously tearing his right arm off. His older brother Bill is overwhelmed with guilt for inadvertently sending Georgie to his death and is terrorized when his picture comes to life, giving him a stutter from the trauma.

He befriends several similar "misfits." One is Ben Hanscom, a loyal, determined, overweight and ingenious builder from a home broken after the death of his military father. He is terrorized by visions of his father trying to goad him into the sewer plant. Another is Eddie Kaspbrak, a hypochondriac, asthmatic boy who is frail and shy. Kaspbrak is taunted and harassed by Pennywise (who shows a strong dislike towards him for being "girly"), while attempting to shower at school.

The group later includes Beverly Marsh, a tomboy with an abusive father and a dead eye with a slingshot. She believes Bills stories when her bathroom is destroyed by a geyser of blood (courtesy of Pennywise) that he helps clean up before her father gets home. Richie Tozier is a comedic red head who isnt afraid to stand up to the school bully, Henry Bowers, and his friends. He is a movie buff, which prompts Pennywise to attack him as the Wolfman. Stan Uris, a Jewish boy scout and bird watcher, who is the next to see It in that summer when he is trapped by a mummy in an abandoned house. Mike Hanlon, an African American student facing a difficult time as a new student and resident of Derry, often finds himself in the crosshairs of the racist Henry Bowers as well. Mike is last to see It when his photography book comes to life showing him and the others Pennywises history as he threatens the group.

As each of them face their greatest fears (as well as Henry Bowerss harassment), they vow to avenge the deaths of George and every other child killed by "It." They reason that since Pennywise feeds off of the imagination of its victims that it may likewise be vulnerable to the weaknesses of the forms it assumes. Beverly trains with a slingshot using silver slugs made from a pair of earrings. The Losers travel into the sewers followed by Henry, Victor Criss, and Belch Huggins as payback for a rockfight a month ago. They enter in the main sewer hall and discover Stan is missing, as he had been pulled by Henry and Belch. Henry orders Victor to create an ambush on the remaining Losers but is killed by It. Meanwhile, just when Henry is about to kill Stan, a mysterious light bursts through a sewage pipe and both Stan and Henry watch in horror as Belch is dragged through the pipe and eaten. When the light returns, Stan escapes while Henry stands transfixed turning his hair white. Pennywise spares Henrys life and continues searching for Stan.

Stan reunites with the others and tells them the "deadlights" are far worse than Pennywise, and the losers agree not to stare into the lights. Pennywise catches the Losers and grabs Stan. Just as Pennywise is about to eat Stan, Eddie wounds Pennywise by spraying him with his inhaler which he imagines to be filled with battery acid and Beverly cracks open the monsters head with her slingshot, revealing the deadlights. Pennywise somersaults in the air and vanishes into the ground. Before he is completely gone, Bill pulls Pennywises glove and the glove slips off Its hand revealing a three-fingered claw and then It disappears in the drain. With their job done, the seven vow to return some day if ever It returns. Meanwhile, Henry escapes the sewers, is arrested and sentenced to life in an asylum for confessing to the murder of all the children and his gang of friends.

Part II

Mike had become the only member of the Losers Club to remain in Derry after the events of the 1960s. His memory of the events are still completely intact, and when he hears of the mysterious, unexplained death of a little girl who is murdered in her back garden (shown in the films prologue), he begins to suspect It has returned. He calls up each of his friends, who have all become successful in their own right. Bill has become a horror novel writer married to a beautiful actress named Audra; Ben has become a famous architect as hed always wanted; Beverly has become a fashion designer; and Richie has become a late night TV comedian. Eddie owns a successful limousine service and Stan has become a real estate broker. Having moved on into comfortable lives and having barely a glimmer of the memories of that summer, they are all traumatized by the memories awakened by Mikes phone calls. While they agreed to return as promised, Stan is unable to cope with the fear and kills himself, writing the word "IT" on the bathroom wall with his blood.

Upon the return to Derry, their reunion is lighthearted until terrifying events unfold that test their resolve. Beverly encounters a kindly old woman in her old home who tells her that her father is gone, but the woman is more than she appears. Pennywise locates Bill at the cemetery where he is paying a visit to Georgies grave. There, the clown taunts Bill but the latter makes it known that he remembers him and does not fear him anymore. Ben sees the skeleton of his father, which is still trying to get him to return to the sewers; later, the groups reunion dinner comes to life and tries to attack them. Pennywise, unable to kill them because his influence over them as adults is limited, pretends to be Belchs ghost and sends Henry to do the job (after killing the asylum night guard). Henry manages to attack Mike and wound him, which forces Bill and others to consider another direct confrontation with the clown. Eddie and Ben manage to kill Henry in a struggle.

With Henry dead, It is prompted with the task of killing the Losers on its own. Meanwhile, Audra follows Bill to Derry but falls under the influence of Its "Dead Lights" and is made catatonic by him. As the five remaining "Losers" find their way to Its cave they are confronted by his true form; a massive, hideous spider-like creature that mortally wounds Eddie when he steps forward to save Ben and Bills lives. Once again, Beverly is able to use her slingshot on the creature; this time the strike rings true and mortally wounds It. In their rage, Ben, Richie, Bill and Beverly slaughter and dismember It. Afterwards, they return to Eddie, they tell him It is finally destroyed. Eddie, glad that their long-time childhood enemy is dead, dies in his friendss arms. They are able to leave, taking Eddies body and the catatonic Audra with them. They later bury Eddie in the Derry Cemetery.

In the aftermath, Mike marks his own fading memories of the past as a sign that It was truly destroyed that time, and the adult Losers Club can return to their lives as the memory of the traumatic events fades entirely, Richie gets a part in a movie and he partners up with a man thats exactly like Eddie, Beverly and Ben get married and one week later Beverly is pregnant, Audra, still catatonic from her encounter, is coaxed back to life aboard Bills old bicycle "Silver" when he takes her to outrun Its fading influence the same way he did when the bike helped Bill while trying to save a young Stan who was frozen with fear. All as it was, they realize that they can now move on with their lives. As they leave Derry behind, Pennywises evil laugh is heard one last time.

Tim Curry's Role in It 1990

Tim Curry is a British actor who firstmade a name for himself when he appeared on a stage production dramacalled The Rocky Horror PictureShow (it was later remade intoa film). His performance on this production was a hit but whateventually made him a global movie star was his performance as"Pennywise" in 1990 picture It.

Stephen King's It , the miniseries attracted more than the desired public reaction whenit premiered on television in 1990, and Tim Curry had a lot to dowith that. Playing the role of Pennywisethe clown was something that came naturally to Curry. The producers of the series and Stephen King(the book's author) wouldn't have hoped for a better antagonist.Before the production kicked off, quite a few actors and actresseswere considered for the role. Among them were AliceCooper, Roddy McDowall, andMalcolm McDowellbut choosing Curry was an easy decision.

Tim curry at FAN EXPO Canada

After landing the role at the time, Currywas quoted to have said that he turned the idea of being a clown"upside-down" to appear a lot more scarier than usual. Hisability to bring a very crude form of vileness to bear on thePennywise charactermade the production an outstanding success. Furthermore, Curry wasalso able to speak in a brash Bronx accent to scare children and hesure did.

The IT movie is an adaptation of StephenKing's book IT, andthe central theme is based on fear, blood, and horror. Just like in the book, Pennywise is the main antagonist feuding with a group of protagonists called The Losers Club. The LosersClub is a group of out cast children who discover the existence of Pennywise the fiend, and vow to do all that they can to kill him. The sadistic monster (Tim Curry) has an innate ability to transform itself into a devious predator that preys on the worst fear of its victim. Taking place in two different periods (when members of the Losers Club were kids and later adults) , the character of Pennywise doesn't change but becomesviler with age.

Due to the wonderful acting skills of Tim Curry and other members of the Losers Club , the movie became a massive hit in the US. During airing, IT was watched by more than 37 million households. Created at a production cost of roughly about $22 million in today's value, the movie increased Tim Curry's career profile which led to him landing more roles in subsequent movies.

Brandon Crane's Role in It 1990 (Ben Hanscom ~ Age 12) 

Brandon Crane played the role of Ben Hanscom who was a member of the Losers Club. During the movie, Ben went by different aliases. Some of them were Benny by his mother, Fat Boy by the Bower Gang, Haystack by Ritchie, Piggie by Belch, Porker by Victor and Egg Boy by Pennywise the Dancing Clown. 

In the movie, the young Ben aged 12, was the smartest kid in the group but struggled with weight issues. Shy and loathed, he initially had very few friends and was often bullied by Henry Bowers and other members of the Bowers Gang. During the plot, he befriends other members of the Losers Club. With their help, Ben stands up to Henry, and later on, along with other members of the club, they rise against It the monster.

After going through intensive physical conditioning, Ben Hanscom loses weight as a high school student. His decision to lose weight was down to the ridicule he received from a nasty gym teacher who often made jokes about his weight. Brandon's role ends with the end of Hanscom's early years. The adult Hanscom was played by the late John Ritter.

Character Pennywise | Creature | Clown in It 1990

In the novel and movie, Pennywise is a malevolent character possessing cosmic evil powers and preying on the children of Derry, Maine. Pennywise appears roughly every 27 years under different guises with the ability to change the form, as well as to manipulate people to go unnoticed. This main character of "It" was played by actor Tim Curry in the 1990 movie. In addition to the name, the character is also known by several other aliases some of which are The Dancing Clown, The Derry disease, Robert "Bob" Grey, The Teen Werewolf, Mrs. Kersh, Deadlights among other names.

In the novel, It is an ancient monster originally referred to as Glamour who is thought to be billions of years old. Although it lived on Earth for eons of years, it originated from a void/dimension located outside another universe called Macroverse and is older than Earth itself. due to its shape shifting abilities and being from another universe, their species was called Deadlights  but it was also not sure hence the creature got the name “IT”

As it began to manifest its real features in the form of a clown, the Pennywise name came into character. Just like in King's novel, the character' favorite form "The Dancing Clown" was largely used in the movie for the most part. But besides the clownish character, the directors of the movie also use a combination of different forms. Some of them include

1 "It" appears to a potential victim as either a loved one or friend to lure them into a trap.

2  Appearing as the target’s worst fear

On several occasions during the series, It also calls itself Robert "Bob" Gray. Why the author chose to use this name as an alias is not clear but many suggest that King tried to use real-life characters to enliven the character of the main antagonist (Pennywise). What is worthy of mention is that the "Bob Gray" alias was the name of a true-life child-eating cannibal, Albert Fish who reportedly used this name during his life to hide his identity. For what it's worth, the alias stuck to the Pennywise character and was used by Tim Curry interchangeably along with his Pennywise moniker.

When Pennywise first made an appearance in its first scene, it seemed like a harmless and happy clown to regularly entertain or occasionally frighten little kids all for fun. Appearing so was a key character trait of Pennywise and this way, it was able to entrap so many of Derry's innocent kids. Its a real interest in children wasn't initially quite clear to viewers. After a short while though, viewers are exposed to the uncomfortable and terrifying reality of Pennywise' cannibalistic tendencies. Pennywise's main goal is to survive by feeding on human flesh. The preference for children over adults is based on two reasons. 

Firstly, children are easier to scare and manipulate. Secondly, according to Pennywise, children's flesh tastes a lot better than those of adults (a point Pennywise references throughout the movie).

After Edward Kaspbrak and other members of the Losers Club became aware of Pennywise's existence, there wasn't much they could do about it as kids. However, when the Dancing Clown surfaces again several years later, group members (now adults) hatch a plan to deal with the menace once and for all.

Reception

The director of the movie, Tommy Lee Wallace and the producers got the desired reaction they had hoped for. As at when the film made its debut on television, Pennywise was regarded as one of the most grotesque and vilest characters ever to make an appearance in a picture. Tim Curry played the role so well, that it became a reference point for other horror movie characters in other movie productions.

Although Curry's Pennywise act was greatly lauded, the movie had its fair share of critics. Chief among them was Rotten Tomatoes scoring the movie an average score of 59%. Most of the film's critics felt directors went too far with the Pennywise character, and that exposing children to such a character could have a negative psychological effect on them.

It is also interesting to note that the term "coulrophobia" (fear of clowns) and the concept of an evil clown was popularized by Stephen King's Pennywise character.

The dissenting views were something Curry and the producers regarded as a compliment. The motto was to scare people out of their skins. And they sure did.

Adam Faraizl's Role in It 1990 (Eddie Kaspbrak ~ Age 12)

Edward Eddie Kaspbrak is the character played by Adam Faraizl. Eddie is one of the members of the Losers Club who duels with Pennywise the Dancing Clown as a kid in 1958 and as an adult in 1985.

Eddie's first encounter with Pennywise (It) is at a Derry train yard. The young Eddie often visits this part of town to view the trains as they pass through the yard or listen to choristers at a neighboring Gospel Church nearby. On this particular day, as he makes the short trip to his favorite spot, he is suddenly drawn to a decrepit building nearby (No 29, Nebolt Street). As he stands transfixed staring at the building, a disheveled and terrible looking homeless man rises from the ruins and chases after Eddie who runs for dear life. Initially, Eddie thought that the affected man had touched him but that wasn't the case. His phobia for the disease was only used by the Dancing Clown to prey on his fears. This unplanned meeting at No 29 Nebolt Street will eventually set up a chain reaction of encounters between members of the Losers Club and Pennywise.

Adam Faraizl's role ended as the young Eddie Kaspbrak.

It poster 1990

Cast

Broadcast history

It originally aired on ABC as a two-part television movie in 1990 on the nights of November 18 and November 20. Part 1 was the fifth highest rated program on Sunday nights with an 18.5 rating and watched in 17.5 million households. Part 2 was the second highest rated program on Tuesday nights with an 20.6 rating and watched in 19.2 million households.

Subsequent broadcasts were delayed until November 1991 due to an alleged copyright violation brought by the producers of Crazy College, who claimed that Tim Currys clown make up was directly copied from one of their own characters, Petsy McGee.

Reception

Stephen Kings It received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics and television viewers. Tim Currys performance as "Pennywise" received praise for capturing the novels interpretation of the character. The film has a 67% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews. The film was also praised for the performances of the child actors.

Home media

The film was released on VHS in early 1991 after the films initial broadcast. The original VHS release had two separate tapes, one with Part 1 and the other with Part 2. A later VHS release (circa 1997-1998) part of the now-defunct "Warner Bros. Hits" line contains the entire film on one tape. All VHS releases of the film are out of print.

The film was released on DVD in 2002 on a double-sided disc 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) were removed. The DVD version of It also features an audio commentary by the director and cast members. The films aspect ratio has been cropped to give it a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio.

In 2013, Warner Home Video released a DVD set called "Triple Terror Collection" that contains It as well as two other Stephen King productions: Salems Lot, and The Shining.

A Blu-ray release has yet to be announced.

Music score

2-CDs release of complete score by Richard Bellis released November 15, 2011 in two-parts.

Track listing

1. "Main Title I" – 1:52
2. "Enter the Clown" – 3:04
3. "Georgie Dies" – 4:17
4. "Ben Gets The News" – 0:51
5. "Punks" – 2:18
6. "I Hate It Here" – 1:53
7. "Bedroom Jazz Source" – 2:24
8. "The Slap" – 1:45
9. "Die If You Try" – 4:02
10. "Richies Talk Show Play-Off" – 0:34
11. "The Beast - First Encounter" – 2:05
12. "Mike Remembers" – 0:58
13. "Mike Joins the Group" – 5:07
14. "Pennywise" – 0:39
15. "Circus Source" – 1:10
16. "Target Practice" – 2:51
17. "The Sewer Hole" – 3:13
18. "Stan Gets Nabbed" – 4:27
19. "The Fog" – 3:25
20. "The Pact" – 1:43
21. "Stans Suicide" – 0:50
22. "End Credits I" – 1:00

1. "Main Title Part II" – 1:51
2. "The Graves" – 1:48
3. "Library Balloons" – 2:53
4. "Bens Flashback" – 0:35
5. "Skeleton On the Pond" – 0:40
6. "Guillorys Muzak" – 1:27
7. "Hydrox" – 2:49
8. "Audra" – 1:45
9. "Fortune Cookie" – 1:54
10. "Silver Flyer" – 2:22
11. "Leftover Stan" – 1:52
12. "Henry and Belch" – 2:20
13. "Every Thirty Years" – 1:56
14. "Audra Arrives" – 2:02
15. "This Time Its For Real" – 4:26
16. "The Smell of Death" – 1:59
17. "Somethings Coming" – 4:00
18. "The Spiders Web" – 5:11
19. "Hi Ho Silver" – 4:33
20. "End Credits Part II" – 1:00

Remake

On March 12, 2009, Warner Bros. announced that a remake of Stephen Kings novel had started. Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Doug Davison are set to produce. The screenplay is currently re-written by Dave Kajganich. On June 7, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the novel would be adapted into a two-part film, directed by Cary Fukunaga with David Kajganich and Chase Palmer as screenwriter; Jon Silk, David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith as producers and John Powers Middleton as executive producer. The names and timeline will also be changed hinting that the remake will now take place in the mid-1980s and 2010s as opposed to the late-1950s and mid-1980s like in the novel and early 1960s and 1990s like in the original TV miniseries. The cast has not been announced yet. In March 2015 Cary Fukunaga, confirmed the start of the shooting for June 2015 in the New York area. As of May 2015, Will Poulter was in negotiations to play Pennywise. However, over Memorial Day weekend 2015 director Cary Fukunaga dropped out of the project due to "clashes" with the studio over his "artistic vision".

On June 8, 2015, in an interview with Moviefone, Tim Curry who portrayed Pennywise in the miniseries gave his blessing to both the new film and his successor, Will Poulter, wishing him "good luck" stating that the role of Pennywise is a "wonderful part".

Questions & Answers

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