IT

I was a young teen when I was introduced to Pennywise the Dancing Clown, through both the book and the miniseries. I had seen the miniseries several times but had never got round to re-reading the book. After the remake last year, it reignited the love of Pennywise, and like the character itself, had lie dormant for twenty odd years. Now as an adult I felt I could indulgence in this character. Several t-shirts and artworks were brought, but what about the novel? The one that started the love to begin with. So I have started re-reading the book. And I wonder how does it feel compared to both the miniseries and the movie. This will not be a complete comparison as the movie only has the children’s story and not the adult’s story. But I never really liked the adults anyway. They were too adult for me.

IT is always about two timelines, the children’s story and the adult’s. In the novel, the tales are intertwined, shown more as flash backs, as their memories returns once their come back to their childhood home of Derry. The tale of the self-proclaimed “Loser’s Club”, seven teens who struggle to fit into the Derry area and then have to face IT, a clown that can manifest into your darkest fears. These manifestation can be “actually” monsters, like the Wolfman or the Mummy, or more symbolic, like blood for Beverley. Only re-reading the book as an adult, I realised that Beverley’s fear, is not blood, but menstruation, womanhood and what means for her relationship with her father. She does not know how, but she knows it will change forever.

Pennywise returns every thirty years to wreak havoc on the town. This is how we have both the children’s and adult’s story. In the miniseries, as I have hinted at previously, the children’s story is compelling as the child actors are genuinely full of anxiety and tension. Pennywise is a zealot when it comes to murdering and eating children, and has no qualms about killing people who comes into his path. There are some frightening moment in the miniseries, including Richie’s confrontation with the werewolf and Bill’s photo album coming alive. The second half is all about how their experiences with IT changed them, and IT seems to lose his “power”, once re-introduced to the adult “Loser’s Club”. And here lies the problem. Why is Pennywise wasting his time tormenting the adults, when he could continue to kill and eat children as he always has done. And the adult’s acting is so much more lacklustre when you compare it to the children.

That is why I will be interested in how the adults will be approached in the modern movie. While I enjoyed the styling of the new movie, I did not relate to the children in the same way that I did in the miniseries. I was forever getting confused who was Eddie, Stan and Richie, to me at least they did not seem as defined as character as in the miniseries. It is not to say that the acting was not good, it was believable. It was more to do with the scripting, I felt.

So, which is the best, the book, the miniseries or the movie? It will depend on what you are looking for.

With the book, you have to use your imagination, and if you are someone who has a joy for reading, this book will be ideal for you. There will always be people who prefer books to movies, and vice averse. The book does go much more in-depth behind the psychology of not only IT but the children. The book gives us not only the rhyme and reason for the motives of the “Loser’s Club” but also the Henry Bowers and his gang. The problem with King’s novels is that they can feel like you have read it before. In many ways, IT is an extended version of King’s novella “The Body”. A group of youngster, on the brink of entering their teenage years who share a terrible secret and have to face up and overcome the fear of the local bullies.

The miniseries plus points is Pennywise and his building sense of dread. As mentioned, when we are at the adults story, Pennywise is not as strong, but during the children tale, he creeps about, as the viewer you are not sure if he will be “clown” or “monster” when he appears on-screen. The movie IT is portrayed more evil, but this is all done through jump scares rather than through unease. I also prefer the portrayal of Henry Bowers in the miniseries, he seems more believable as the crazed bully. There is never likely to be a portrayal of Bowers that will fit with the book due to the cutting of one important scene between Patrick Hockstetter and Henry Bowers, but in the miniseries it gets as close to it as it can.

What the film does better than the miniseries is making Derry a character in it own right. It may be a cliché, but the atmosphere of the setting can enhance the feel of a movie. In fact, the movie makes it even more sinister than the book, with a neighbour completely ignoring the murder of Georgie. There is a toxicity that is ingrained in the movie that the miniseries did not really explore. It is only hinted at when Beverley talks about a neighbour ignoring Bowers harassing her. And while I found the overall feel of Pennywise in the miniseries more creepy, the violence of Pennywise is better in the movie. The visuals are intense, the scene with the projector is the garage was a scene I actually stopped breathing for. I think it depend what you are looking for if you want to know what is better, the miniseries or the movie. The miniseries, for me, focuses on character while the film focuses on atmosphere. The ideal movie would be a combination of both and maybe the adults story in the next movie might bring this together, finally.