Nerdly » ‘Pennywise: The Story of It’ VOD Review

11th Oct2022

‘Pennywise: The Story of It’ VOD Review

by Alain Elliott

Features: Tim Curry, Tommy Lee Wallace, Seth Green, Richard Thomas, Dennis Christopher | Written by John Campopiano, Gary Smart | Directed by John Campopiano, Chris Griffiths

I’ll be honest right from the start. I’m not a huge fan of the original It TV movie. I would have been seven when it was originally shown and I obviously knew about it or had at least seen the Tim Curry Pennywise image many times as I grew up, but it wasn’t until I was about thirty years old that I bought the DVD and gave it a watch. I think without nostalgia, it doesn’t hit quite the same and, for me at least, the first part of the remake blows it away. But the original has such a following and has such a cultural significance that it’s a very important movie for the horror genre.

Maybe unsurprisingly it’s also a great movie to produce a documentary on because of its history and that significance, there’s plenty to fill the two-hour run time – I assume it could have been even longer. So, what is covered you might ask? It begins with the book (and obviously its author!), the inspirations for the book, then the initial ideas for a TV series or film and the people who wanted to be involved and moving up to who then got involved. The cast and director gladly play a huge part in the documentary and then we get plenty of ‘behind-the-scenes’ chat and footage, ending with its release and legacy.

The movie never feels rushed at any moment. It could of course, always spend more time on certain things but as someone who learnt lots of new things watching it, I felt this was a great run through of the history of It. All of the talking heads seemed overjoyed to be there and be chatting about the movie and their parts in it. All of the main actors are there (unfortunately a couple are no longer with us) and it’s great to hear them all talk about how much they liked filming and how they all feel really lucky to be involved in the project. The director and producers seem just as happy talking about things and it’s great that the practical effects guys and composer get to have their say too and are rightfully praised for their roles. I don’t think Tim Curry does a whole lot of interviews currently, so it is great to hear from him, unfortunately all of the Stephen King footage is from when the movie was released, there’s no new footage of King but that is a very small ‘complaint’.

There are many great stories throughout the documentary, ranging from people who might have directed the movie or were originally going to be cast, to the kids causing trouble on set, to how the filmmakers had to work around TV execs demands. Everything is told in a really interesting way and the two hours fly by.

Fans of the original TV movie will adore this documentary. It’s like one big ‘making of’/’behind-the scenes’/ plus all sorts of bonuses featurette and there’s lots to love. For someone like me though, who doesn’t adore the original movie, it’s almost just as entertaining. I got to learn lots about the movie that I didn’t already know and it gave me a huge appreciation of the film and how it was made (I wish that spider looked as good in the film as it does here!). In fact, I want to go and re-watch the two-part film now! Pennywise: The Story of It is another must-see horror movie documentary.