Pennywise: The Story of It

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

In 1989, television writer Lawrence D. Cohen was commissioned to write the screenplay for an ambitious adaptation of Stephen King's mammoth, 1,000+ page 1986 epic novella, It, in the form of a two part TV mini series. A project grand in scale and constrained by the boundaries of TV network censorship, the wild excesses of King's novel would have to be curbed, as well as a great deal of the novel to condense it for the time constraints, but somehow Cohen pulled it off, and his project became one of the best loved shows of all time, with a lasting cultural impact that has endured to this day.

If transferring a successful, well loved novel to the screen is a tricky enough endeavour, then getting a documentary about said screen adaptation out there is seemingly even tougher, as the producers of this affectionate account of the making and legacy of the 1990 small screen adaptation of Stephen King's epic novella can testify, with their efforts to crowd fund via the internet their pet project, appealing directly to fans of the film to donate to get the production rolling, that I can remember from around two years ago. And so the arrival of this film is in itself testament to how much the original film was loved. And even more so given what an in depth little number it is, stretching over the two hour mark, well over the length of most documentaries.

The passion of the makers has clearly spread around, as most of the original cast of kids make contributions, including those who attained some Hollywood success, such as Seth Green, who played the irrepressible wise ass Richie Tozier, but each are as uniquely insightful as the other, and provide an illuminating insight into what went on behind the scenes. The original adult cast also give some eye opening accounts, and even some minor supporting players, as well, of course, as the wheelchair bound, stroke stricken Tim Curry, offering his reflections on his key role as Pennywise the Clown. We learn that other actors, including Harvey Fierstein, had been considered for the part, but that feels all the more unthinkable as he still manages to ooze the unnerving menace that he originally projected all those years ago in that role.

For all its scope and ambition, it's low budget feel glaringly shines through, even if it's clear where most of the money went, and strangely, there's no mention of the box office smash 2017 and 2019 films, that brought the story to a new generation of horror aficionados. But the original TV film has left a lasting mark all of its own, and this ambitious, thoroughly panned out documentary, obviously made by people with a deep love of it, leaves you well aware of it. ****

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 2021 documentary "Pennywise: The Story of It" here in 2024. And needless to say that I did so in a heartbeat. I needed absolutely no persuasion to sit down and watch this, as the 1990 movie "IT" is a horror classic, and a mini-series that I still love very much.

If you enjoyed the 1990 version of "IT", then you most certainly have to sit down and watch this 2021 documentary. The documentary is just a treasure trove of insight into the mini-series, the characters, the design, the actors and actresses, etc. There is just an abundance of enjoyable information being shared throughout the 126 minutes that the documentary runs for.

"Pennywise: The Story of It" has a lot of good interviews with members of the cast, people having worked on the movie in one way or the other, and everything in between. And they definitely offer some great insights into their individual and collective experience of working on the classic "IT" mini-series.

This is a MUST for fans of the mini-series, no doubt about it. And it certainly is a documentary that I warmly recommend you to sit down and watch.

My rating of "Pennywise: The Story of It" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

This is a documentary that I meant to watch last October for a horror movie challenge I do every year, but life and time got away from me. I decided to sign up for Screambox for a year as they have interesting new horror movies and documentaries that I wanted to check out. This was one that I watched while working.

Now I wasn't old enough to remember when the television mini-series hit. When I started to expand my horror film base, Stephen King adaptations and reading his works was where I started. My sister and I rented this from the video store. I believe we also bought the VHS soon after. A slight problem is that I think I watched this out of order the first time. That didn't bother me too much though as I fell in love at that young age with this story.

This is a great documentary. They interview so many people behind the scenes like Tommy Lee Wallace, Lawrence D. Cohen, Bart Mixon and Richard Bellis. That is just scratching the surface. What I like here is that they give trade secrets and the issues they endured getting this made. This gets coupled with the on-screen talent like Tim Curry, Richard Thomas, Seth Green, Dennis Christopher, Richard Masur, Tim Reid and Emily Perkins. Again, that isn't everyone. We learn about how the children became friends and how they bonded with the adults to make this work seamless. It was interesting to hear the casting and the issues that they had with the network to get this to show how Wallace intended.

I would also say that this is a well-made documentary. They do well at splicing in clips, both from what aired and showing behind the scenes footage. It gives you a deeper understanding and for those that loved this mini-series, appreciation. Having checked this out now, I'm even more curious to revisit now that I know. I enjoyed my time with this quite a bit and worth a watch for fans for sure.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

A brilliant and welcome companion documentary for any fans of the 1990 miniseries. As a huge fan of Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary, I was stoked to hear that John Campopiano was working on a documentary about the 1990 IT miniseries and that most of the remaining cast would be part of it. The interview clips were great with the cast often reminiscing on the behind-the-scenes hijinx that went on during filming. It's nice to know that the process of making the iconic miniseries was a pleasant experience. If you're a fan of Stephen King or this miniseries, this is a much-watch! Thanks to the creators for their years of hard work to make this documentary.

If you are a fan of the original TV series IT, then you must watch this fascinating 2 hour insight, I'm not going to say anymore, just watch it. It contains a lot of information you may or might not know and it's great to see how the cast have aged over the years, or in some cases it barely seems like they have.