10 Best Horror Movies Turning 30 In 2020
3. IT
Technically a cheat as this is classed more as a miniseries but the early adaptation of Stephen King;s seminal novel delivered the finest evil clown this side of John Wayne Gacy in the form of Tim Curry's Pennywise. A popular internet meme offers to judge you based on where you know this actor from and this writer will judge you if the answer is not IT. The movie defined coulrophobia, encouraging at least three generations of people to skip over any grate that they find in the road.
IT is a generally faithful adaptation, sticking closer to the format of the book than the recent cinematic efforts. This iteration finds its clear strength in Curry's performance but that is not to say that the rest of the cast don't rise to the occasion.
Some of the child actors and the adult actors vary in their strength (shout out to a young Seth Green in the role of Richie Tozier) but all do their best with the material available to them, as allowed by the censors at the time. This has become something of a cult film, etched into peoples' memories as one of the first horrors that truly shocked them.
You don't need to travel far to find someone who can quote Pennywise in some form or another. The third act of the film lets it down, owing to a lack of funds. Hats off to Bill Skarsgård, but Curry remains the seminal evil Clown.