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For those of you lucky ones who have never seen this film, let me fill you in. It was a low quality film series made in the 90s, based on a book by sci-fi horror writer Stephen King. The exact details of the film are a bit fuzzy, seeing as how I have only seen it once over ten years ago. In the movie, Pennywise the demonic clown stalks a group of children, taking the form of their inner most fears before luring them into the sewer where It lives and killing them. Throughout the entire movie, this thing torments these kids by manifesting itself to them to feed on their fears. Perhaps the scariest part for me was seeing it coming up out of the shower drain and the blood coming out of the sink. I stood back from the shower drain for a while after this movie. What’s worse is that they are also being persecuted by a group of bullies. However, all of the bullies are murdered except for one, who is framed for the earlier murders committed by the clown. Well that’s just fantastic. Now no one is going to believe them because the adults think the case is solved. Imagine my terror here as a ten year old. Just describing this movie brings back old memories of watching this film. I’m reliving the same nightmare all over again.
Although I did not see this movie at the theatre, it still has to be the most emotionally evoking film I have ever seen, followed closely by a film called Crocodile, but that’s a whole other story. I saw It at home when I was about ten. A lot of people say, “I had nightmares after watching that movie.” I was just lucky to even sleep after that. Dreams were the only escape from the emotional hell that movie put me through. Throughout my life, I have been prone to anxiety problems (hereditary). When I get nervous or stressed, I get stomach cramps that usually pass once the big event is over. This movie made me violently ill for four days. I know it sounds absurd, but I was laid up in bed for four days after watching this movie. Perhaps it was just a coincidence and I just happened to get a stomach virus that night. All I know is that I became sick after seeing the scariest effing movie of my life. Either way, I’m blaming the movie.
All this was made worse by the fact that the sequel came on immediately after the first one….and I watched it, too. Am I insane? More trauma? I must hand it to the makers of this film. They know how to keep an audience interested even while scarring them for life. I have never been a fan of Stephen King. I have seen other movies based on his books, such as Cujo, Misery, Christine, The Shining, Children of the Corn, Carrie, and Pet Cemetery, but this one is the only one that actually scared me, though I have only watched these others more recently. I still have not worked up the courage to watch It again.
For those of you who enjoy good horror movies, I would recommend this film. Though some people say that the movie wasn’t scary at all, I have, to this day, never seen anything quite as terrifying. Maybe one day the movie will find me again and I will have the opportunity to face my fear. I’m sure not going out of my way to see it again. Until then, I’m just going to have to manage without. Maybe I’ll survive.
- Derek McClanahan