IT (Tommy Lee Wallace, 1990, USA)

IT is Tommy Lee Wallace’s quintessential 2-part 1990 ABC miniseries. Noteworthy not only in the history of horror but also in the history of the TV miniseries as a genre, the ratings success of IT launched a series of major TV adaptations of Stephen King works throughout the 1990s, including The Stand, The Shining, The Langoliers, and many others. IT proved the model was possible, in an era when horror - particularly horror involving children - on mainstream television was rather unheard of.

The production history of IT is as storied as a Hollywood production. Originally, George A. Romero of Night of the Living Dead fame, was set to adapt, but he lost interest when a multi-episode version was to be condensed into a shorter version. Director Tommy Lee Wallace (once John Carpenter’s right-hand man) and screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen (who wrote Carrie) came to disagreements about the second act in particular, which was subject to many revisions by Wallace. As with the Muschietti adaptation of It, the second act is the weaker of the two, though this adaptation intersperses the adult and children's stories (which makes it closer to the source material).

Thanks to Tim Curry’s turn as Pennywise and several clever effects, the film is remarkably unsettling even though it substantially neutered the source material. This adaptation is proof that constraints oftentimes make creatives adopt more interesting techniques. While the film’s major weak link is its finale, it can be ignored given the strength of the miniseries up to this point. There are some great performances, particularly on the children’s side, with Jonathan Brandis and Brandon Crane being amongst the standouts. While the miniseries definitely leans into sentimentality, this is also present in King’s novel. IT is a classic of television movies, and also a horror classic.

8/10