It (1990) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Tommy Lee Wallace

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (novel)
Lawrence D. Cohen (teleplay) (part I)
(more)

Release Date:

18 November 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The Master of Horror unleashes everything you were ever afraid of.

Plot:

Seven youths have to defeat a demonic creature named Pennywise which dresses in a clown suit and terrorizes a 1960's town in Maine.

Plot Keywords:

Clown | Children | Bully | Friend | Supernatural

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Harry Anderson	...	Richie Tozier
Dennis Christopher	...	Eddie Kaspbrak
Richard Masur	...	Stanley Uris
Annette O'Toole	...	Beverly Marsh
Tim Reid	...	Mike Hanlon
John Ritter	...	Ben Hanscom
Richard Thomas	...	Bill Denbrough
Tim Curry	...	Pennywise
Jonathan Brandis	...	Bill Denbrough - Age 12
Brandon Crane	...	Ben Hanscom - Age 12
Adam Faraizl	...	Eddie Kaspbrak - Age 12
Seth Green	...	Richie Tozier - Age 12
Ben Heller	...	Stanley Uris - Age 12
Emily Perkins	...	Beverly Marsh - Age 12
Marlon Taylor	...	Mike Hanlon - Age 12
Olivia Hussey	...	Audra Denbrough
Michael Cole	...	Henry Bowers
Sheila Moore	...	Mrs. Kaspbrak
Jarred Blancard	...	Henry Bowers - Age 14
Florence Patterson	...	Mrs. Kersh
Jay Brazeau	...	Derry Cab Driver
Drum Garrett	...	Belch
Gabe Khouth	...	Patrick Hocksetter
Ryan Michael	...	Tom Rogan
Charles Siegel	...	Nat
Venus Terzo	...	Cyndi
Frank C. Turner	...	Al Marsh
Caitlin Hicks	...	Patti Uris
Tony Dakota	...	Georgie Denbrough
Steven Hilton	...	Mr. Denbrough
Sheelah Megill	...	Sharon Denbrough
Kim Kondrashoff	...	Joey
Noel Geer	...	Bradley
Chelan Simmons	...	Laurie Ann
Merrilyn Gann	...	Mrs. Winterbarger
William B. Davis	...	Mr. Gedreau
Susan Astley	...	Aunt Jean
Claire Brown	...	Arlene Hanscom
Gary Chalk	...	Coach (as Garry Chalk)
Terence Kelly	...	Officer Nell
Donna Peerless	...	Miss Douglas
Steve Makaj	...	Ben's Father (as Stephen Makaj)
Scott Swanson	...	Rademacher
Nicola Cavendish	...	Desk Clerk
Tom Heaton	...	Mr. Keene
Paul Batten	...	Pharmacist
Russell Roberts	...	Greco
Bill Croft	...	Koontz
Amos Hertzman	...	Chubby Kid
Boyd Norman	...	Gas Station Attendant
Helena Yea	...	Rose (as Helena Yee)
Suzie Payne	...	Female Cabbie
Megan Leitch	...	Library Aide
Deva Neil DePodesta	...	Bum (as Deva Neil De Podesta)
Katherine Banwell	...	TV Announcer
Douglas Newell	...	Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nell Geisslinger	...	(uncredited)
Laura Harris	...	Loni (uncredited)
Gary Hetherington	...	Police Deputy (uncredited)

Directed by
Tommy Lee Wallace

Writing credits (WGA)
Stephen King		(novel)
Lawrence D. Cohen		(teleplay) (part I)
Lawrence D. Cohen		(teleplay) (part II) and
Tommy Lee Wallace		(teleplay) (part II)

Produced by
Mark Bacino	....	associate producer
Allen S. Epstein	....	executive producer (as Allen Epstein)
Jim Green	....	executive producer
Matthew O'Connor	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
Richard Bellis

Cinematography by
Richard Leiterman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Blangsted
Robert F. Shugrue

Casting by
Victoria Burrows
Mark Tillman

Production Design by
Douglas Higgins

Art Direction by
Eric Fraser

Set Decoration by
Sandy Arthur

Costume Design by
Monique Prudhomme		(as Monique Stranan)

Makeup Department
Donna Bis	....	hair stylist supervisor
Susan Boyd	....	assistant hair stylist
Jayne Dancose	....	makeup artist
Bart Mixon	....	special makeup effects artist (as Bart J. Mixon)
Jo-Anne Smith-Ojeil	....	assistant special makeup effects (as Jo-Anne Smith O' Jeil)
Sydney Silvert	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
George Horie	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Patrice Leung	....	first assistant director
Sandra Mayo	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Craig Henderson	....	construction coordinator
Aaron Sims	....	character designer
Grant Swain	....	property master
Dan Platt	....	sculptor (uncredited)

Sound Department
Rick Patton	....	production sound mixer
Ted Johnston	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Tom Ruff	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Clancy T. Troutman	....	sound designer (uncredited)
James G. Williams	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Thomas	....	special effects coordinator
Bob Comer	....	animatronics (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Gene Warren Jr.	....	special visual effects supervisor: Fantasy II
David Emerson	....	optical camera (uncredited)
Michael Joyce	....	model shop supervisor (uncredited)
Bret Mixon	....	roto supervisor (uncredited)

Stunts
Kevin J. Andruschak	....	stunt double
Ken Kirzinger	....	stunts
Michael Langlois	....	stunts
Jacob Rupp	....	stunts
Mike Mitchell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Clothier	....	Steadicam operator
Chris Helcermanas-Benge	....	still photographer
Nick Kuchera	....	key grip
Jeff Upton	....	gaffer
Peter F. Woeste	....	camera operator (as Peter Woeste)

Casting Department
Sid Kozak	....	casting: Canada
Louise Mackiewicz	....	extras casting assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Ulla Hoeller	....	assistant editor
Bob Shugrue Jr.	....	assistant editor
Nigel Hollick	....	assistant editor: Canada (uncredited)
Reine-Claire	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ray Colcord	....	musician: synthesizer
Craig Pettigrew	....	supervising music editor
John Beal	....	music supervisor (uncredited)
Jimmy Bryant	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Ted Bauman	....	location manager
Jean Bereziuk	....	script supervisor
Jeff Gaffin	....	accounting executive
Gretchen Goode	....	production coordinator
Jodi Duncan	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Green/Epstein Productions
• Konigsberg/Sanitsky Company
• Lorimar Television
• Warner Bros. Television

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1990) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Argentina Video Home (1991) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (1999) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (1999) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Fazer Musiikki Oy/Fazer Video (1991) (Finland) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (2003) (Finland) (TV)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2003) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (????) (Spain) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Fantasy II Film Effects (special visual effects) (as Fantasy II)

Other Companies

• Clancy's Sound Vibrations  sound supervision

Also Known As:

Stephen King's It (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

192 min | Australia:168 min (25 fps) | Germany:182 min (25 fps) (2 parts) | Spain:179 min (25 fps) | Sweden:181 min (25 fps) | Argentina:190 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | South Korea:12 | USA:Not Rated | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Ireland:18 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (video rating) | Canada:PG (DVD rating) | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Buntzen Lake, Anmore, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Green/Epstein Productions

Trivia:

The night guard in the asylum is called Koontz, named after Stephen King's rival author Dean R. Koontz.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the film we see a tray of China cups filled up with water, and it is clear that rain is pouring onto them. Then a second later, the little girl on her bike appears, and you can see that it isn't raining at all her clothes are completely dry, as are her mothers.

Quotes:

Bill Denbrough: Audra, my brother who died...
Audra Denbrough: Yes, George.
Bill Denbrough: He didn't just die. He was muh-murdered.
Audra Denbrough: Why didn't you ever...
Bill Denbrough: Tell you? Because I forgot. Almost like it never happened. I know that this doesn't make any sense, but I have to go.
Audra Denbrough: But why?
Bill Denbrough: Because we made a pruh-promise.
Audra Denbrough: Why are you stuttering like that?
Bill Denbrough: I don't know. I used to stutter all the time when I was a kid.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Robot Chicken: But Not in That Way (#4.9)" (2009)

Who is David Graham if he's not the guy scared of Pennywise the Clown?

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Adapted from the epic novella by Stephen King,It is set in the town of Derry,Maine,in 1960.A series of gruesome child killings are going on,which seem to replicate similar events that happen every 30 years in the town,rounded off by a big disaster that causes similar confusion and devastation.Seven young kids are drawn together over the course of the summer to face off against a psychotic bully named Henry Bowers and his gang,as well as coming face to face with the perpetrator of the horrific killings,a monster which generally takes the shape of a clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry).One day,they decide to go down in to the sewers and confront and kill It once and for all.They believe they have done this,only to get a call 30 years later informing them that this is not the case and that they must now abide by a promise they made as kids to return once again to do battle with It if it ever returned.Now,as mature adults instead of naive kids (and therefore finding it harder to believe) can they be as successful?

Very rarely do adaptations of King novels translate well to the screen,with only a handful of exceptions,and the producers of this two parter certainly had an even harder job on their hands turning a book of over 1000 pages in to a film adaptation.Under the circumstances,one might say they haven't done too bad a job,but they've had to edit out a lot of key sequences (and even characters) from the book,and as a result,they've ended up with a script that's rather poorly written,noticeably lacking the nervous edge the book so entrancingly conveyed in better style.So many of King's books depend on us using our imagination to it's fullest potential,and being able to see things in our own way (thereby engrossing us so)and that is quite probably why so many film adaptations of his works are so ultimately under-whelming.Some of the scenes featuring the kids (i.e. when they're building the dam) have a certain sparkle and charm to them,but generally speaking,it's an unaffecting,gormless shambles that leaves a number of characters under-developed and some just left out entirely.

On the acting front,the child actors (with the exception of the one who played Bowers) fare better than the adult actors,with the exception,of course,of Tim Curry in terrifying form as Pennywise (one of the scariest characters in the history of cinema,never mind the fact he only ever appeared in a TV movie) and possibly Harry Anderson.Some of them are laughably bad in parts(especially the one playing the adult Bill when he tries to stutter,so sad when young Johnathon Brandis played him so well).Pennywise always gave me the creeps,possibly in a way no other horror movie character could,but all the other scary stuff is few and far between.At the end of the day,it was only ever a TV movie,and it is kept well within the confines of its perimeters.

Overall,it's certain performances and being a faithful,sincere enough adaptation of the novel it is based on that carries it along so well.Ultimately,though,if you want the real deal,you're gonna have to expand your mind and read the book to feel the full emotional punch.***