Stephen King's It

Rating:
Summary: a really good movie
Review: Of course the book is better, I mean, what movie have you seen where the book is worse? It's not as good as Halloween or the Exorcist, but it's still a good movie to watch when it's dark out. Annette O' Toole was very good and so was John Ritter. My favorite actor in this movie, though, was Tim Curry. I never imagined Mr. Curry playing an evil clown who eats children, but he plays it very well. Rent this movie, some seens will creep you out.

Rating:
Summary: Ludicrously Bad
Review: Given that this picture was produced for network television, I suppose I should have known what I was in for; however, there were enough approving onsite reviews without spelling errors in the title to give me hope for a little amusement, and perhaps a few honest scares. I've missed the creepy fun of some of those microbudget TV Feel-Bad Movies of the 70's; some of them, like Salem's Lot, or Devil Dog, The Hound of Hell, can really spook you if you watch them by yourself late at night. Sadly, made-for-tv horror movies have really been atrocious since the dawn of videotape in the early 80's; there is something so desperately unfrightening and sterile about the look of movies shot on video that I'm not sure it would be possible to wrench any atmosphere out of a film shot in this format. But in this case, the source material (one of Stephen King's throwaways) was so damn scary that it seemed almost impossible to screw it up.

Unless, of course, you're Tommy Lee Wallace, the director of this mess. I was convinced that this film was his sixth-grade honors project until I read his bio. At first I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, and blame the actors, who are mostly elementary schoolers. But perfectly fine performers, such as John Ritter, Richard Masur, Tim Curry, Annette O'Toole, and Seth Green perform their line readings as if they were acting in a low-budget porno. And for most of the movie Wallace seems to just plop down the camera in front of these boobs, without any thought to composing the scene, and watch them overact, as if their cheesy shrieks and hand-wringing were enough to scare us silly.

What's more amazing is that Wallace even neglects some of the basic tricks of the low-budget horror genre, that might have saved him if he had any instincts for suspense or terror. The whole thing looks like it was shot with the (flourescent) lights on, and nearly the entire film takes place outside, on apparently the sunniest day of the year; even the underground sewers are lighted like someone's kitchen. And the special effects are really bad; Wallace could've been more effective if he'd ditched all the fake blood, third-rate opticals, and jerky claymation in favor of 99 cent flashlights placed under the actors' chins. In honesty, no one involved with this picture, least of all the director, the cinematographer, or the editor, seems to realize that they're making a horror film. Scenes drag on interminably, sometimes to the point of catching the actors dropping out of character before someone yells "cut", and whenever a moment of fright is meant to be conveyed there is a close-up of Tim Curry in Kabuki makeup and plastic fangs going "boo!".

I cannot imagine that anyone over the age of 4 could be frightened by this picture. But then again, one Amazon user thought it was the best horror movie she ever saw--and if we assume she's seen Carrie, Rosemary's Baby, Nosferatu, Don't Look Now, Jaws, or something by real amateurs like, say, Hitchcock, that's quite a compliment. Could that be the true horror of a movie like "It"?

Rating:
Summary: Stephen King's: S**IT
Review: IT is silly and unfrightening. Horrendous acting. Amateurish directing. Pathetic dialog. Who wrote this stuff?? One particularly embarrassing scene has one of the main characters (an adult mind you) referring to the monster "IT" with this gem... "Why is it so...mean?!" Unbelievable. There are numerous cringe worthy scenes that are better suited for a middle school play than a serious movie.

Every attempt at shocking the audience is set up so poorly that you're never surprised, just disappointed. The extremely lame and unintelligible ending really irked me, and it was never explained. Is "IT" a supernatural demon or a badly animated stop motion crab monster from a Sinbad movie? You really see every cent of the $4.76 special effects budget on screen. If only Mystery Science Theater had used this movie for one of their episodes, it could have been the best ever. I found myself chuckling throughout this weak TV movie. IT is a total waste of time. If you want more chills and thrills, watch CSPAN or mold growing on bread.

Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: This was one of the best horror movies I ever saw. It had a good story, good cast, and good scenes. It's about a group of kids in a club called "The Losers Club" and are constantly being picked on by class bullies. They all begin to be stalked by a killer clown, which is really light. The clown's name is Pennywise and he has been around for thousands of years terrorizing and killing innocent children. The kids finally kill the clown and that day, they vow that if IT ever comes back, they will return to kill it.

And IT does come back. 30 years later. Then they have to kill IT, before IT kills them.

I dont want to give anymore away, that would just ruin the story for you.

When you watch the movie, be sure to look for the character Stan! Isn't he hot?

Rating:
Summary: this movie wasn't scary it was funny.
Review: Ok ill admit that at first the clown pennywise was creepy but after about 5 mins he wasn't scary anymore. the acting was bad the special effects laughable. This movie is just a bad movie for me not watchable

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best-Stephen King's adapations.
Review: When a malevolent force is being seemingly dead for the last thirty years in a small New England town in the state of Maine. The monster takes the shape of a Clown by the name of Pennywise the Clown, better known as It (Tim Curry), who is the eater of worlds and children. He uses the children by bringing them, thier innermost fear, bringing some to thier untimely death. Thirty years ago, a group of young pre-teens (Johathan Brandis, Brandon Crane, Adam Faraizl, Emily Perkins, Seth Green, Ben Hiller & Marlon Talyor), who thought, they defeated It. Now thirty years later, It has comeback on return feeding on children. When that group of Pre-Teens, now all grown-up to be unusually successful in thier work (Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Dennis Chistopher, Annette O'Toole, Harry Anderson, Tim Reid & Richard Masur), they now comeback to thier home town to destory It, once and for all. Despite It has become Meaner, Angrier and Deadlier that before.

Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace (Halloween 3:Season of the Witch, Fright Night 2, Vampires:Los Muertos) made a clever scary adapation from the excellent-Stephen King novel (Dreamcatcher, Sleepwalkers, Pet Sematary). Wallace wrote the Teleplay with Lawrence D. Cohen (Carrie, the Tommyknockers)-who did a fine job, although, there's a few elements from the novel are missing and this should've been a Three-Part miniseries instend of a Two-Part. The Cast is Excellent in this, that highlight this one. Only disappointment, when it comes to the climax, when It is fully given into a monster form is quite a put-down. That the only shame in this T.V. adapation. DVD has an terrific anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) transfer and an fine Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound. DVD only extra are an Entertaining and Often funny commentary track by Director:Wallace and Cast Members:Thomas, Ritter, Chistopher & Reid. The best thing about this flick is Curry's genuinely creepy performance is the most successful thing about it. Olivia Hussey and Jarred Blancard also co-star. It's well done film. Grade:A-.

Rating:
Summary: Quality Horror
Review: I can remember watching this as a child and it scared me half to death! Especially the first part which on its own i would give 10/10 When as kids they face the Evil Clown/Demon/Monster
'Pennywise' played to near perfection by Tim Curry aswell as the group having to deal with Racists and Bullies.The Second part is not quite as good and a bit of a let down and on its own i would give 8/10.When the group, now adults return home and have to fight Pennywise once again.But i cannot overstate how let down i was by the ending.All through both parts i was glued to screen but as soon as i saw Pennywise in his real form i just cannot tell you how much of a let down it was, i nearly laughed at the screen.I have never read the book but im sure it is better than the film adaptation But overall this film has:

Suspense,Horror and THE most terrifying Clown that youll ever see.

9/10

Rating:
Summary: Adequate chills an' thrills, but too much hammy acting...
Review: Alright, look, I was only gonna give this two stars, but since there aren't that many made-for-television movies that are even HALF as good as this, I decided to bump my rating up to three stars. The premise of the movie and some of the first half is pretty genuinely frightening, 'specially if you have quite an imagination like I do, and Tim Curry REALLY takes on the role of Pennywise well. In fact, if you watch this movie for anything at all, watch it for Curry as the deranged killer clown, as it is, hands-down, the most memorable performance in the movie. But, other than that, the most entertaining aspect is director Tommy Lee Wallace's stylish camerawork, and jus' watching the story unfold, as each of the character's begin to lose their grip on reality. I mean I'm not a fan of Stephen King's novels or movies at all (aside from 'The Shining', the movie, NOT the book, course that was more Kubrick than King), but he really laid down a pretty original and chilling tale here, that will really play on your psyche. But it's ruined by too much melodramatic dialogue, cheesy, unconvincing love stories, and all around hammy acting from the main players. The only really decent performance I saw of the seven friends was Harry Anderson, whose sarcasm and dry wit was DESPERATELY needed to give some spark to the lifeless and emotionless dialogue. Go 'head an' rent this one if you feel the urge, but, personally, I'd leave it at that. Is' jus' not somethin' I'd watch over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: "They All Float Down Here!"
Review: STEPHEN KING'S IT is arguably the best of the TV films based on a Stephen King work. While devoid of countless details from the novel that would have made the plot more understandable to those viewers who don't actually READ King, the movie is nonetheless engaging and downright SCARY!

One reason STEPHEN KING'S IT rises above standard TV-movie fare is the excellent cast. John Ritter, Annette O'Toole, Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, and Harry Anderson deliver stellar performances in their roles of adult versions of the story's protagonists, and Jonathan Brandis (later the teen-heartthrob co-star of TV's SEAQUEST DSV), Seth Green, and Emily Perkins do an excellent job of evoking childhood crisis and trauma in the flashback segments. But it is Tim Curry (yes, THE Tim Curry of ROCKY HORROR fame), as antagonist Pennywise the Clown, who really chews the scenery and steals the show. If Curry's marvelously malevolent merry-andrew doesn't make you develop coulrophobia (fear of clowns), he will at least haunt your nightmares for a night or two after your first viewing.

Another reason this flick rates so highly is that it is, simply put, a ripping good horror story. King is a master at realistically recreating the wondrous ambiance of youth and childhood, and in spite of the minor shortcomings in the film's recreation of King's plot, the atmosphere of the novel is perfectly translated to the screen. Besides that, King is also keenly aware that the things that scared us when we were kids are probably still lurking deep down in our grown-up psyche, just waiting to find a little mental crack to jump out of and give us a case of goose bumps and chills. The film version of STEPHEN KING'S IT finds that same little crack...then pries it wide open!

The long-awaited DVD version of STEPHEN KING'S IT is sparse on frills, but it does have an excellent feature commentary with stars John Ritter, Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Dennis Christopher, and director Tommy Lee Wallace. Of course, the picture quality is beautifully crystal clear, especially when compared to the VHS version, but purists should consider a few caveats before purchasing. First, the picture has been cropped a bit to simulate theatrical widescreen format. In comparison to the VHS version, which offers the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, there are small slivers of image missing from both the top and bottom. (To be fair, it should also be noted that the picture on VHS appears to be scrunched a bit horizontally to fit it into the TV "square," so it really doesn't seem as if all that much has been removed to create the faux widescreen on DVD.) Also, gone are the "To be continued" message and the second set of credits, both of which originally appeared between the first half and second half of the original two-part movie (these were included on the VHS).

So the new DVD version of this excellent movie should, for the most part, please King fans and general horror fans alike. For the movie alone, STEPHEN KING'S IT would easily rate 5 stars. But taking into account the adulterated aspect ratio and the slightly altered transition from Part 1 to Part 2, this DVD gets an overall rating of 4 stars.

Rating:
Summary: The eater of children
Review: This movie was excellent. The clown named Pennywise, also known as "IT" is really really scary. When I first saw this movie I thought it would be dumb, then I saw it and I loved it. The movie is about a few kids named Bill, Ben, Beverly, Eddie, Richie, Stan, and Mike. ...