You’ll Float Too: Ranking Stephen King’s Film And TV Adaptations

It (1990)

Long before Andy Muschietti took the helm of the first cinematic adaptation of Stephen King’s It (due in theatres on September 7th), there was the 1990 television miniseries – which was so effective in its day that it arguably gave an entire generation of viewers a severe case of coulrophobia. Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, from a script he co-wrote with Lawrence D. Cohen (screenwriter of 1976’s Carrie), the series is most famous for the legendary performance of Tim Curry in the role of Pennywise – the shape-shifting demon who most often manifests as a child-eating clown.

Due to its broadcast on network television in 1990, the story necessarily excised many of the most disturbing aspects of the source material. In terms of Stephen King’s bibliography, It is one of his most troubling and harrowing works – not least because it involves a group of 12 year-olds fending off a horrific, malevolent creature, while dealing with the aftermath of such among themselves. However, it remains a seminal piece of work that ushered in a new era in horror television – an influence that soon extended into low-budget horror cinema, too.

Set in the town of Derry, in Maine, the story finds a community that seems to be willfully ignoring a growing number of child disappearances and deaths – including the younger brother of 12 year-old Bill Denbrough. Bill and his friends – a group of socially outcast pre-teens, calling themselves The Losers Club – do some research into the history of the town and into the current strange events befalling themselves and their community, and realize that they’re being terrorized by ‘It.’

‘It’ regularly reveals himself as Pennywise the clown, and torments the townsfolk – particularly children. When the group realize they must band together to confront and kill Pennywise, he explains to them that he eats the children he scares. Fighting off a dual threat of murderous bullies and a shape-shifting demon in the sewers beneath the town, the children prevail and vow to return to battle if It ever re-surfaces.

Thirty years later, the Loser Club has scattered to their adult lives around the world – but are called back to Derry by one member who remained behind. All signs point to the return of Pennywise, and the group must head into the fray once more to prevent further loss of life. In doing so, they confront their greatest childhood traumas together.

It is a classic tale, spawned of that cold prickle on the back your neck as you walk into a dark room alone as a child. The idea of a shape-shifting demon that feeds on juvenile fear is something that will always remain terrifying, as it cuts right to the heart of our childhood nightmares. Adding a giant clown into that mix makes for a potent cocktail of horror.