Horror Report

Tag: IT

  • The clown that dominated Thanksgiving 35 years ago: Pennywise’s first dance in 1990

    The clown that dominated Thanksgiving 35 years ago: Pennywise’s first dance in 1990

    Revisiting the 1990 It miniseries is like stepping back into a time when horror on TV had to dance carefully around the censors and when a clown named Pennywise became an icon dancing on the little screen.

    I remember it well: I was ten years old, my homework half-finished, and the only way I could get to watch that eagerly anticipated TV event was by promising I’d get my work done. It was absolutely life-changing for a young movie fan like me.

    ABC took a pretty bold leap adapting Stephen King’s It for prime-time television. Sure, they had to cut out the more graphic and adult themes from the novel. The blood and gore was minimized to nearly nothing. The unsettling moments got toned down so they wouldn’t scare the living daylights out of a wide audience watching that night. But even with all those network limitations, they created something truly special.

    A big portion of the magic was Tim Curry.

    His portrayal of Pennywise wasn’t buried in monster makeup. It was a deceptively simple clown design—almost friendly on the surface, which somehow made it even more terrifying. Curry didn’t rely on special effects or gore but instead was able to subtlety have presence, voice, and a simple smile. That haunting, unforgettable smile. In a time when horror icons like Freddy and Jason dominated with blades and blood, Pennywise chilled you with charm and menace and a little paper boat for Georgie.

    The production itself had challenges. There were delays, rewrites, and debate within ABC about just how far they could go. But the cast, both kids and adults, brought heart to the screen. The chemistry was real, and despite the limitations of the format, they managed to breathe life into King’s story. Curry’s performance was so commanding that he overshadowed everything else and become the most anticipated part of the made for TV series.

    Yes, even that ending with the not-so-great giant spider was lousy.. but being honest, that part’s a bit of a punchline now when you watch it again.. but somehow Curry held the whole thing together and ages like a fine wine.

    There are no reports of any dramatic on-set accidents or major injuries. It wasn’t a famously chaotic set. Most of the struggles came from trying to condense King’s dark, emotional, and layered story into something suitable for 1990s television.

    At the time, the reviews were generally solid, especially considering the restraints of the medium.

    Stephen King himself was pleased with it. And now, all these years later, it’s still fondly remembered—not just for the scares, but for what it represented: a moment when horror tried something different. When it became a prime-time event. When kids like me rushed to finish their homework just to be scared by a clown.

    The 1990 It wasn’t just horror—it was appointment television. And for a lot of us, it still lingers in the back of our minds, floating there like a red balloon in the storm drain of memory.

    Tim Curry…

    He made us all really scared of clowns. And that was more than enough for TV…

  • CAN WE JUST STOP COMPARING SHOWS TO EACH OTHER AND ENJOY THEM FOR WHAT THEY ARE?

    CAN WE JUST STOP COMPARING SHOWS TO EACH OTHER AND ENJOY THEM FOR WHAT THEY ARE?

    Collider just ran an article about Welcome to Derry, which has been on HBO for several days now. According to their write-up, they’re leaning into the idea that this series has a Stranger Things feel — the whole “group of kids vs. a mysterious, looming evil” angle. And sure, on the surface, that does exist here. But Collider also admits the show is darker, creepier, and more adult — and we agree with that part completely.

    We’ve been watching, and this is absolutely not just a sci-fi nostalgia trip. It’s heavier. More sinister. It leans way harder into horror than Stranger Things ever did.

    It’s set in 1962 and follows the twisted early events that open the door to the version of Derry, Maine, we all know… the one haunted by Pennywise the Dancing Clown. And yes — Bill Skarsgård is back, fully locked in, bringing the same chilling energy that made the movies so memorable.

    Collider points out that the show goes further into horror than Stranger Things does, and they’re right.

    But what we don’t love is when headlines try to frame it as though the two are the same thing. Just because a story has kids in danger doesn’t automatically make it Stranger Things. If anything, you can argue the influence goes the other direction — It existed long before Hawkins, Indiana, bikes, walkie-talkies, and The Upside Down. The Duffer Brothers have openly borrowed (lovingly) from 1980s pop culture, which itself was shaped by King. So the lineage is clear.

    It sometimes feels like we can’t just enjoy entertainment anymore without everything being compared, ranked, and stacked in lists.

    Why can’t a show be allowed to stand on its own without being “the next” anything?

    So here’s where we land:
    We appreciate Stranger Things.
    We appreciate Welcome to Derry.
    They are both completely different experiences — and that’s the point.

    We’ll enjoy Welcome to Derry now.
    And when Stranger Things arrives in a few weeks, we’ll enjoy that too.

    But let’s be honest — the reason a lot of us are here is Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise. He was phenomenal in the films, and he’s already proving he’s going to bring something equally unsettling, memorable, and terrifying to this series.

    Just let good storytelling be good storytelling.
    No comparisons needed.

  • HBO MAX drops WELCOME TO DERRY Trailer

    HBO MAX drops WELCOME TO DERRY Trailer

    Happy Sunday!

    IT: WELCOME TO DERRY premieres in October 2025..

  • The story of “IT” coming in July to Screambox

    The story of “IT” coming in July to Screambox

    In a new documentary Pennywise: The Story of IT, filmmakers Christopher Griffiths and John Campopiano profile the famed 1990s made for television hit mini-series..

    There are exclusive interviews with the cast included in the documentary.

    Pennywise: The Story of IT will premiere exclusively on horror streaming service Screambox on July 26. The movie will also be available On Demand.

    That mini series was extremely important for horror and pop culture. Without its success, horror itself may have been demoted into the refuse bin of society..

    The series was bold and beyond some expectations–advertisers were also worried about a prime time child-killing clown.

    For my own part, I recall this event being life-changing for my childhood. It either scared me to hell or it caused a sudden love of horror, the kind of which that not even Freddy or Jason did.

    And yes.. while the new movies are quite fine, let’s face it: Tim Curry was the best Pennywise and defined all future portrayals..

  • IT has now made more than a half a billion dollars in global box office money It has become the…

    IT has now made more than a half a billion dollars in global box office money It has become the…

    IT has now made more than a half a billion dollars in global box office money

    It has become the highest-grossing horror movie of all time, toppling the 44-year record set by The Exorcist which grossed $441 million…

    There is some adjusting for inflation necessary..

    But what is also now necessary is seeing IT.. the must go to movie of 2017..

    from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2xOiknN

  • IT’S OFFICIAL: ‘IT’ 2 HITS SEPTEMBER 2019

    IT’S OFFICIAL: ‘IT’ 2 HITS SEPTEMBER 2019

    New Line and Warner Bros is celebrating a renewed interest in the box office with IT’s release..

    Today the two studios have announced the release date for the sequel to IT as September 6, 2019, where it will debut in regular theaters and IMAX screens..

    By that point, ‘IT’ may still be in some theaters.. the movie has been a complete and total phenomenon..And continues to do well..

    Though there has been no official announcement, it’s presumed that Andy Muschietti will be returning to direct..

  • IT continues to make some box office history

    IT continues to make some box office history

    IT easily beat mother! this weekend .. It wasn’t great competition, but it’s a good victory nonetheless.

    And some facts: In its first 10 days, the film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel has earned $218.7 million domestically, passing up Get Out ($175.5 million) to become the No. 2 R-rated horror film of all time behind The Exorcist, not accounting for inflation. 
    It is already the top-grossing September release in history. 
    IT will finish its North American run with north of $300 million.

    Overseas: IT is grossing $60.3 million in its second weekend from 56 markets for a foreign tally of $152.6 million and a stunning $371.3 million worldwide against a $35 million budget. 

    Highlights included a record-breaking horror opening of $13.8 million in Mexico.
    A perfect horror movie for the age of TRUMP.
  • It follows It

    It follows It

    The film IT is getting awfully close to $200 million.. It may surpass soon.

    I predict this weekend: It will be the number film for the second week in a row.. and maybe just as big..
    DEVELOING..

  • EW shares exclusive details of IT 2

    EW shares exclusive details of IT 2

    ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY has some exclusive details concerning the upcoming IT film (so as long as perfect things happen and the film is made, which I assume it will be) .. from the report:

    MIKE HANLON

    “My idea of Mike in the second movie is quite darker from the book,” the filmmaker said. “I want to make his character the one pivotal character who brings them all together, but staying in Derry took a toll with him. I want him to be a junkie actually. A librarian junkie. When the second movie starts, he’s a wreck.”
    Muschietti said he wanted to “infuse more agency to him in those 30 years we don’t visit.”
    “He’s not just the collector of knowledge of what Pennywise has been doing in Derry. He will bear the role of trying to figure out how to defeat him. The only way he can do that is to take drugs and alter his mind.”


    Pennywise’s origin and weakness 

    “It resonates with what the kids do when they go to the smokehouse in the Barrens,” Andy Muschietti says. “By inhaling these fumes from the fire they have visions of It, and the origin of It, and the falling fire in the sky that crashed into Derry millions of years ago. We’ve brought that to Mike, by the end of those 30 years Mike has figured out the Ritual of Chüd.” 

    No, that’s not a reference to the 1984 schlock classic C.H.U.D., which stood for “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers.” King’s Ritual of Chüd is more of a Lovecraftian spell, an old-world mysticism that involves a duel of imagination between the shapeshifting trickster and the children (now adults) who want to end It once and for all.
    But even as Hanlon sounds the alarm to his old friends that they must return, his addiction becomes just another demon he has to battle.
    When the Losers return, he won’t be facing it alone.


    Stan Uris 

    “There is something in the future for him, taking his own life, that finds its seed in this film,” Andy Muschietti said. “He is the one who doesn’t want to accept what’s going on. And being the one who didn’t want to participate he gets the worst part.”
    Those who’ve seen the movie know the part: deep in Derry’s sewer system, Stan separates from the group and comes face-to-uh-something with It in the form of the creepy woman from the painting in his father’s study. 

    When his friends finally find him, It has its comb-toothed jaws around his head and is sucking Stan’s face into its mouth. Although he survives, the memory and the traumatic stress he lives with makes him decide it’s a horror he can’t confront again.

  • What did NOT make it into IT and why it may be best it didn’t.

    What did NOT make it into IT and why it may be best it didn’t.

    IF you read IT by Stephen King, you may recall there were some elements that could have garnered the film an NC17 or above rating.. Group sex.. masturbation while torturing animals.. and Bevvie’s dad doing MORE to Bevvie than worrying about her..

    Lots.
    Lots of things could have upset the apple cart.

    What resulted was a stellar film that, in a perfect would, would be worthy of some Oscars (we know Hollywood doesn’t like to reward horror often however) .. If these few elements would have been included, perhaps the movie’s successful script would never have made it to cinemas..

    MOVIEPILOT has a bit more on the items that floated from the script into oblivion.  Read with caution.

    Concerning the MOST controversial of all (and there are a LOT), this:


    Lost in the sewers and with nowhere to turn, Beverley realizes that the only way for the group to escape is for each boy to take it in turns and put their “thing” inside of her. By losing their virginity together, the Losers’ Club can then once more tap into the power of the Turtle and find their way to safety. Yes, this scene is even more insane than the Deadlights themselves, no Muschietti didn’t include it in his adaptation and yes, Stephen King himself continues to defend the sequence, even now.

    Whether you believe that the sewer gang-bang should have appeared in the movie or not, it’s fascinating to see how Muschietti tried to remain faithful to #IT while still navigating the controversy of #StephenKing‘s original text. It’s no wonder then that Cary Fukunaga’s original script never made it into production. After all, there’s only so many controversial plot points one can add to a movie before the inevitable starfish attacks and incestuous rapes take things a step too far.

    The HORROR REPORT ponders if these omissions are such a bad thing. After all, the film was WILDLY successful and will most likely continue to be throughout at least the early autumn.. Ignoring some of these aspects of the book, even with Stephen King adamantly defending them, may have been the best decision ever made.. mainstream for the masses! The Loser’s Club wins.