Tommy Lee Wallace
It

I am the worst nightmare you've ever had, I am the most terrifying of your nightmares come true, I know your fears, and I will kill you one by one.

A shiver runs up your spine when the cheerful and menacing face of Pennywise the clown, after pronouncing these few, terrible words, twists into a sinister laugh.

We are talking about "It," the 1990 TV miniseries written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and based on the novel by the master of contemporary horror, Stephen King.

Where to begin? It is very difficult because this "It" by Wallace (as well as the novel) is a truly monumental work, full of flashbacks and narrative devices. Despite King's novel being very complex, Wallace and Cohen manage to write a lively screenplay that does not bore (the film lasts over 180 minutes). The fear and tension remain high from beginning to end, in a crescendo of increasingly dramatic situations that, unusual for King or horror films in general, will lead to a happy ending. Or maybe not. Those who watch the film will understand.

The story, quite simply, is that of a town terrified by an incurable evil, a malevolent figure that awakens at regular intervals, lives in the sewers, kills children, and causes great massacres before going back to sleep. Evil personified. Or rather: evil made into a clown.

Pennywise, (this is the name of the spirit, although the protagonists prefer to call it "It"), is not an ordinary clown, does not amuse children but kidnaps them and makes them his victims. He transforms, can become anything he wants, and feeds on wickedness.

At this point, one cannot fail to mention the perfect, inimitable, terrifying, excellent interpretation that actor Tim Curry gave to this unusual character. It gets under your skin, you can feel his evil, his chilling laugh, and his terrifying roar. All the other actors (despite being quite good themselves) do not uphold Curry's performance.

The film unfolds into a more simplistic plot compared to the novel, cutting additional scenes of the protagonists' adolescence and other "sexual" backgrounds that would not have been suitable for a television audience.

And this is precisely the point. Television miniseries. I am sure that Wallace would have been a great filmmaker, equal to his inimitable master, Carpenter. Yet he made very few films for the cinema. His direction here is at the limits of perfection. Wallace knows when he needs to dare more and when to be more reserved, he knows when to create mystery and tension or when to frighten suddenly. A cinematic feature film would not have had the same pathos as this two-episode miniseries, and the director's choice was a conscientious one. 

All that remains is to advise you to gulp down this "awful film" in one breath and surrender to your deepest fears. 

Many balloons floating, Georgie, floating balloons...