The heavily awaited sequel to the 2017 horror smash-hit is finally out for the world to see. And after the first chapter grossed over $700 million worldwide (becoming the highest grossing horror movie of all time), it’s successor has some comically-large clown shoes to fill. In honor of the new flick, let’s take an admittedly personally biased look back at some of Stephen King’s “greatest hits.”
The first story on this list should feel very familiar to anyone who contributed to It: Chapter 1’s massive box office, because before it was made into the two-part film series, it was a made-for-television miniseries which aired on ABC in 1990. The two part adaptation of the mammoth novel featured Tim Curry and his iconic rendition of King’s infamous murder-clown, Pennywise. As a child, I was absolutely terrified of this unsettling, off putting jester, long before I ever worked up the nerve to sit down and actually watch the movie. Each night, I would make routine checks under my bed to make sure he hadn’t somehow snuck off the screen and into my room. My mind created a spectre far more terrifying than any actual movie could portray, especially with the strict television censorship guidelines the creative team behind the film were constricted by. Since the creature only existed in my mind (apart from startling sudden appearances at the front of DVDs in video stores and libraries), it was tailor made to be the most terrifying entity I could possibly imagine, not unlike the actual function of the character in the book and its various adaptations. Eventually, I forced myself to watch the movie (after reading a plot description, as to not have anything too surprising catch me off guard), and the movie is nowhere near as terrifying as I had built it up to be in my mind. Although not particularly scary, the miniseries is still a pretty enjoyable watch, partly because Curry’s clearly having the time of his life playing the sadistic shapeshifter, performing to such an extreme degree that it makes real clowns look nuanced by comparison.
Next up is a film I only saw in its entirety fairly recently, having previously caught snippets of it when it would occasionally play on TV. Stand by Me is an 80s movie that you’ve seen in other forms even if you’ve never watched or even heard of the film; if a movie or show that came out after 1986 features a group of kids galavanting off to some grand adventure while growing up in the process, the makers of it were probably inspired by this endearing tale of adolescence. The movie has a bit of a timeless feel to it, even though it’s set in 1959, a time period now far in the past. You get that feeling of nostalgia that remakes and throwbacks nowadays love to capitalize on, even if you yourself weren’t alive then, or never had adventures like these kids do (I grew up in the 2000s, had an aggressively uneventful childhood, and rarely went out with friends, especially not to find dead bodies). The movie manages to create this feeling of remembrance by portraying the characters as real kids, the kind you remember from real life and not the way kids so often act in movies and TV shows, especially ones made nowadays. They curse, tell awful jokes, and fight, just like real kids do, especially when adults aren’t around. Dialogue that sounds like real kids seems difficult for an adult writer to pull off convincingly, but every line sounds like something you could hear down the halls of any middle school. They also have problems they deal with, real problems that don’t resemble humorous inconveniences like the ones seen in most media. Chris is upset about how people always assume the worst of him, and has stopped trying to do the right thing because of it. Teddy is stuck with an abusive father who’s mentally scarred after serving overseas, and teased for having such a “crazy” father. And Gordie’s parents have ignored him ever since his older brother died in a car crash. The characters are treated not just like children, but like people. For that alone, it’s worth checking out.
Another movie I’ve only fairly recently had the pleasure of seeing is “The Shawshank Redemption,” and it’s a classic for a reason, proving to be just as good as people say and, possibly, even better. The movie’s brilliance lies in its ability to make you empathize with its main characters, which is difficult, seeing as one has supposedly killed his wife and another openly admits to killing his. The film really makes it’s audience feel like they are stuck in prison with these felons and, as several characters gradually do, the audience becomes “institutionalized,” viewing the prison as a home and the only world that truly exists, since their only contact with the outside comes from incoming inmates. Decades pass in the film, but the only real indication of passage comes from the occasional changes in Andy’s posters. Which leads into another reason the movie is so impressive: it is a masterclass on the art of setup and payoff. Every aspect of (spoiler alert for a twenty-five year old movie) Andy’s escape plan is foreshadowed and set up ahead of time, from the tools he uses to dig out, to the poster he uses to hide his tunnel, to the clever way his skill with banking pays off for him. Nothing is pulled out of the air, and it makes the movie incredibly rewatchable. And of course, the catharsis of witnessing these characters you’ve grown so close to get the freedom they deserve is second to none, and likely the reason this movie continues to be talked about to this day. Many cite the iconic scene of the just-escaped Andy looking up in the rain as a huge, uplifting moment, but I prefer the quieter victory that occurs shortly after. The newly released Red is staying in the same home that Brooks, the former prison librarian, once did after his release, who hung himself in despair after being “institutionalized” from so many decades at Shawshank, not unlike Red, who is also struggling to adjust to a world he no longer recognizes. Before dying, Brooks etched a note above the doorway that read “Brooks was here.” You are worried Red might be heading for the same fate when he pulls a chair up to the doorway, but when you realize he carved the words “So was Red,” it hits hard in the best way possible. It’s difficult to put into words what that feeling is, but it makes me wish more movies were able to produce it.
Probably the biggest time commitment on this list, 11.22.63 is an eight part miniseries available for streaming on Hulu. While it does take longer to get through than any of the other entries on this list, it is well worth the time it takes to watch. Based on one of the less famous novels by King involving a time travelling school teacher named Jake Epping and his plan to stop the assassination of JFK, the series plays like an eight hour movie, with not a second of time being wasted on anything that doesn’t push the story forward. The series features some of the most tense scenes in any King adaptation, from an upcoming murder to a deranged ex-husband. The way time travel operates is interesting and different from other time travel stories while creating new challenges Jake has to deal with. There is only one time and place you can travel back to, and every time you go to that spot the timeline is reset, so Epping cannot go directly to his destination and must solve problems on the journey there. As a sucker for time travel stories, it may hold more appeal to me than to others, but the finale is one of the most tense, gripping, and heartbreaking episodes of a series I’ve ever seen.
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