Which is the better adaptation of Stephen King's IT?

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, it's been awhile since I made a blog like this. Hopefully I will get to see Pet Sematary remake soon. I really want to cover this as well but for right now it's time for IT. One of the leading examples of the fear of clowns in history. Regardless if it was the book, the mini series or the movies.

We all can agree that Pennywise is absolutely terrifying as a being. Easily one of the most op horror icons I ever heard of. Honestly just doing a blog on Stephen King alone is justice enough but doing such needed ones for my long list of blogs is even better. IT follows the story of a bunch of outcast kids that band together against a mysterious threat terrorizing their town.

I will be breaking this up into several categories. Keep in mind, both the mini series & the movies are done in two parts. So to help prevent confusion I will be calling IT mini series instead of 1990 version. After all, it has been edited to being a made for TV movie in some releases. But it still isn't technically a movie while the actual movies are well movies.

Round 1: The Losers Club


Honestly just doing Part 1 of both adaptations is very close. Both of them had a great selection of actors portraying their respective characters. Obviously, some changes were done for the mini series to allow it to air on TV. Despite this, I felt this actually came down to Part 2 of both their adaptations. I won't sugar coat this, the cast for Part 2 of the mini series wasn't great.

Yes they had some great actors but they just didn't make us fully believe it was them grown up. Also due to the fact the mini series got rushed from being in three parts to just two didn't help things. Honestly the book from what I know can be very confusing since it kept going back & forward with the characters on the stuff that happened.

I also felt the direction of the first IT movie keeping it mostly focused on their younger selves was a smart move. IT: Chapter 2 did allow some flashback scenes but I felt most of these were necessary. Also the actors alone was perfectly selected for that movie. Not only that, they nailed their characters picture perfect in comparison.

For me, just because of how obviously it truly is. I strongly felt The Losers Club in the movies is way better. Not only that, some of the best actors for the mini series was in the first part anyway. You really can't blame how this played out. I just felt one was given time to blossom while the others quickly died out from lack of water.

Winner: IT movie series


Round 2: Pennywise


Truthfully this was way harder than I was expecting this to be. Both actors Tim Curry & Bill Skarsgard knocked it out of the park with their performances. Honestly both of them gives us a terrifying take on the character. Let's be honest, in most scenes you are likely to get freaked out. Sadly once again Part 2 of the mini series did deliver some bad moments.

Like he suddenly steps from behind Henry with a vicious dog head attacking a security guard. I felt they could've given us a bit more satisfying than that. I mean come on, Pennywise mauls a grown man like a dog is palm stupid. Also there is how both Part 2 of their adaptations that ends we have to discuss.

I should mention Curry's portrayal uses a several different colored balloons while Skarsgard's only used red balloons. Curry's take also more directly used balloons in weird ways. I do like the movies gave us a perfect idea how truly terrifying Pennywise is. You can see how close this category alone was for me right?

Yes spoilers I am about to talk about major changes during the endings. In the mini series, Pennywise transforms into a stupid looking crab like spider creature I'm not kidding. But in IT: Chapter 2, Pennywise has a few insect parts while being a giant. I felt that worked way better than well that lol. You do get to see a lot of Pennywise especially in both IT movies.

Sure I wasn't a fan of Skarsgard's voice at first but it grew on me. Obviously Tim Curry went the extra mile by allowing his real hair to grow out for the character. To me, Curry looks more like an actual clown thus making him scarier. But Skarsgard looks scarier in looking more ancient in comparison.

Skarsgard also can move his eyes in a weird way that actually creep an interviewer out. Funny enough, IT movie came twenty seven years after the mini series. Obviously Skarsgard had more special effects used on his portray. I felt majority of them works well enough to get the job done. I actually felt Pennywise in Part 2 of the mini series was better than the actual cast I'm not kidding.

This came down to some unneeded Pennywise moments in the mini series. Also that stupid spider alone gave it to IT movies. Pennywise like Freddy Krueger can become whatever terrifies you. I felt their movie battle together even played out better than that of the mini series truthfully. Not even Tim Curry could save it.

Winner: Bill Skarsgard


Final Round: Source Material


I got a confession, I actually didn't get to read this book but it is in my Stephen King book collection. I do know a lot of moments are present in both versions. I'm sure there's people who are actually willing to directly break it down. I will just say this, both IT movies was taking a lot more from the actual book.

A good number of things got removed from the mini series due to not being allowed, didn't have the money or got rushed from three parts to simply being two. Regardless, it simply missing too much to win here. I felt both IT movies really took time to take so much from the book. To clarify, IT is still one of the author's longest books.

In fact, IT is one of the select few Stephen King books to have over a thousand pages. So in this regard, IT movies got way more respect from me. Honestly most moments, they shared simply had a bigger impact on me from those movies rather than the mini series. I am not truthfully trying to give the mini series a bad reputation.

There is a good amount of it I do like but not nearly as much as those movies. We get more Pennyise in both IT movies as well. I also liked more personal details simply excluded from the mini series are also present. Like they directly reveal more about the sexuality of several characters or Pennywise's origins.

Honestly, I really can't over look the mini series missing too much. Now if this were the case of The Shining. Sure the movie did so little from the book but ends up being more satisfying to watch. So clearly IT mini series not capturing that is a huge mistake. They had room to alter a few details while keeping it close to the book to spice things up that would've flied back then.

Winner: IT movies