IT [1990] (4 Stars)

I'm going to see the new version of "IT" in the cinema tomorrow evening, so I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to watch the original version today. The question everyone is going to ask is "Which version is better?" and I hope to be able to give an answer tomorrow.

After some consideration I've decided to call the film "IT" (with both letters capitalised). I don't usually use stylised spellings, but I want the title to stand out in my review.

"IT" is based on a novel written by Stephen King in 1986. It's claimed to be one of his best-selling novels, and some people say it's his best selling novel outright, but I haven't been able to find reliable sales figures. It's a very well known book. I remember talking to my mother about it, and she told me it's the most terrifying book she had ever read.

The 1990 version wasn't made as a film. It was a two-part mini-series made for television, each part running for 95 minutes. It was later edited into the format of a single film with a running time of 187 minutes. I've watched both versions, and I can verify that it's been done effectively. The cuts are unnoticeable to anyone who's never seen the two-part version. This is in stark contrast to other films edited from mini-series, such as "Joan of Arc", which was savagely cut to reduce the running time.

The story is about an unnamed creature that lives below ground in the town of Derry, Maine. It's been in the town for at least 300 years. It sleeps for 30 years, then wakes up for a few weeks to feed before going back to sleep. It eats children. While it's awake it ventures to the surface disguised as a clown. It also has psychic powers. It can see what is happening in other parts of the world, and it's able to give visions to individuals or groups.

The creature has a type of symbiosis with the town and its residents. When children disappear the police don't take it seriously, and the cases are soon forgotten. In 1960 a group of seven children, aged approximately 10 to 12, make a stand and defeat the creature, though they fail to kill it. In 1990 they reunite to battle it again.

The film is very frightening, but far from perfect. There are some points that are illogical, probably because of things omitted from the book. I've seen this happen in other Stephen King adaptations. When I watched the Tommyknockers mini-series several scenes didn't make sense, but I read the book a few years later and everything was made obvious. I haven't read "IT" yet.

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The Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival begins tomorrow and runs for 11 days. Of the 53 films being shown I plan to watch 43. I fear that I shan't have enough time to write reviews for the films. I need to sleep. I'm planning to publish small posts which consist of a photo, the film's description quoted from the festival catalogue and a rating; no words of my own. I might go back and re-edit some of the posts to add my own thoughts after the festival, especially for important films like "IT", but I make no promises.