The new “IT” comes out September 8th 2017 and currently has the most viewed movie trailer in history currently placed at 24,000,000 views on youtube. Because of the new movie’s release I decided to take a look at the original. Going in i had high expectations for how scary it is. I had read the first 40 pages of the book and that was already pretty scary. So i thought that the film would be pretty scary. Boy was i wrong.

The film opens with the iconic paper boat scene, pennywise played by Tim Curry is very good. But he’s not scary. This scene is very good and pulled right from the book. But from then on, it’s comedic genius. Tim Curry’s performance has resonated with people for so long and I could see why. He does a good job of having a creepy face when contacts and fake teeth are applied but other than that it’s just a weird clown. His delivery of lines is misguided and comedic. The director, Tommy Lee Wallace, didn’t have as good a grip as someone more professional would have. I’ve read that George A. Romero was supposed to direct the mini-series and had permission to turn it into a 35 hour mini-series, i would have much preferred this considering Mr. Romero’s filmography (The Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead,and Land of the Dead).

Pennywise, something that struck fear into many, is now a comedic relief. “Excuse me, sir. Do you have Prince Albert in a can? You DO? Well, you better let the poor guy out! A-ha! A-ha! A-ha!”, this is the FUNNIEST line in the movie. Pennywise sits in library screaming that line. I love this scene. This film has many scenes like this.

       The film tries to make everyday things scary. Like balloons. In the book it tries this but with Stephen King’s marvelous detail it works.  But the film fails at this. The ending of the film is the BIGGEST let down I’ve ever seen. All the characters from the film engage in battle with IT, a giant poorly made spider that moves slowly. The way our heroes kill this beast is not being afraid and beating the crap out of it. Yes. This ending is both poorly made acting wise and visually.

        This film does not hold up at all in 2017. It is hilarious in its “scares”. I highly recommend this film for its hilarious moments. This mini-series has a TV-MA rating, just a warning.