Pennywise: The Story of It, 2022.
Directed by John Campopiano and Gary Smart.
Featuring Tim Curry, Tommy Lee Wallace, Seth Green, Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Richard Masur, Brandon Crane, Adam Faraizl, Ben Heller, Marlon Taylor, Jarred Blancard and Emily Perkins.
SYNOPSIS:
A documentary exploring the cult hit mini-series, based on Stephen King’s iconic horror novel IT, Pennywise tells a story heard by few and showcases a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage and photos seen by even fewer.
Long before Andy Muschietti’s blockbuster take on Stephen King’s doorstop masterpiece gave Gen-Z a souped-up version of Pennywise, for a different generation the trip to Derry was something altogether more up-close and personal. Confronted by the indelible horror of IT while sat crossed-legged on the lounge room floor, taking in a two-part television event (or Saturday night VHS rental if you were in the UK), the likes of which simply do not happen in this world of binging and box-sets, left viewers with memory scars that were both good (the photograph coming to life, Georgie’s fate) and bad (the “is that it?” ending), all of which are addressed in John Campopiano and Gary Smart’s loving retrospective.
Dividing the doc into chapters, this journey back down the Derry standpipes covers everything from the casting process to the hall of mirrors amount of Pennywise designs that were considered for Tim Curry’s iconic clown. Refreshingly, it’s not all viewed through the lens of soft-focus nostalgia either, with as many anecdotes about what went wrong during the production process, as there are fond recollections from the cast-and-crew.
Director Tommy Lee Wallace (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) is on-hand to provide wonderfully honest accounts of how even they struggled with the way the finale turned out, echoing the familiar sentiments surrounding the divisive spider, while he’s backed up by writer Lawrence D. Cohen (Carrie), who talks of the difficulties they had transitioning from the arguably stronger “first night”, to the concluding part focusing on the grown-up members of the Losers Club.
While we’re on the subject of IT’s clown-killing collective, it’s great to see the likes of Seth Green (young Richie Tozier), Emily Perkins (young Beverley Marsh), and Brandon Crane (young Ben Hanscom) sharing stories about everything from their late co-star, Jonathan Brandis, to how they used to interact with an in-costume Tim Curry on set. We also get the other side of the story, with crew members detailing how the kids were sometimes a real pain-in-the-ass, especially the precocious Green.
In keeping with the structure of King’s source-novel we also get to spend time with some of the series’ adult iterations, and it’s heart-warming to see a healthy Tim Curry speak passionately about his time as the titular clown. It’s clear from the behind-the-scenes footage that he had a great time embodying something that would become nightmare fuel for generations to come. The same can be said about Richard Thomas, the grown up Bill Denbrough, who isn’t shy in revealing that the grown-up losers all probably misbehaved as much as their child counterparts.
Bar the odd piece of archive footage, including a wonderful opening scene in which he explains the origins of IT, the most glaring omission is the absence of a contribution from Stephen King, who by all accounts enjoyed their their take on IT.
If you’re a huge fan of the 90s mini-series and your heart burns there too, then Pennywise: The Story of It is a wonderful compendium piece and tribute to the memories, nightmares and those who created them.
Pennywise: The Story of It is available on Digital Download from 3rd October and Blu-ray & DVD from 24th October.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
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