12 Awesome Performances That Saved Underwhelming Films

You knew this was coming. The 1990 TV adaptation of Stephen King's epic - and epicly terrifying - horror novel was done as a two-part miniseries. It has gained a large cult following by TV film standards. It stars Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown, who's pretty much cinema's definitive killer clown.

With the recent film adaptation of It, the TV film has been back in the spotlight to some extent. Unfortunately, this will have led to many childhoods being ruined. It may have seemed cool back in the day, but this miniseries has aged appallingly.

Poorly paced, embarrassingly tame and on the whole pretty wooden, It was outdone by the remake in literally every way. In particular, the second half suffers since the kid actors in the first half out-act nearly all the adults and because Tim Curry isn't in it as much.

Tim Curry is undeniably fantastic as the sinister clown. The English character actor never fails to turn in memorable and unique performances and here he is both terrifying and enormously entertaining to watch. With his hammy and unforgettable villainous turn, he's allowed a character without that much screen-time to become a true horror icon.

If it wasn't for his iconic performance, the film would not only not be nearly as scary, but would've been forgotten a long time ago.