I will always have a soft spot for Stephen King’sIt. Without It, no pun intended, I would not have explored the amazing world that Stephen King created. Like many kids my age, I became aware of the book due to the ABC Miniseries that starred a young Seth Green as well as established stars of the time like Tim Reid, John Ritter, Harry Anderson, and of course the legendary Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown, the It that scares the children of Derry, Maine.

Stephen King’s It on ABC was one of a series of miniseries based on his books that he had a hand in producing. You would think it was an odd fit for work of his kind, work that typically falls into the horror realm. If you’ve read the book, you would probably shake your head in confusion as to what ABC thought they could do with that book that would make it sell to middle America but they pulled it off. To me, the beauty of the miniseries like It, The Stand, and The Shining had to do with the restraint used in the script. They were able to pull off the same level of horror you came to expect from his work without having to spell it out for the audience. The horror came from your mind, which can create more nightmare landscapes than any Hollywood special effects department can.

When news hit that It was being remade as a Hollywood film, I had some trepidation. I thought back to that pointless Carrie remake of a few years back, a remake that apparently thought a legendary director like Brian DePalma needed some pointers in how to make a film by copping the feel of his work while adding in tons of unneeded special effects. When it comes to It, say what you will about the miniseries but for my money, it captured the story as perfectly as it was going to. Add to that Tim Curry giving his usual full throttle commitment to the role of Pennywise and you have a new movie that has a lot, and I mean a lot, to live up to.