Stephen Kingfans already know what a fantastic author the ‘Master ofHorror’ is, but when it comes to his works getting an adaptation, it unsurprisingly takes the Maine native’s creative and horrifying words to a completely new level. Now, before the adaptation of King’s mini-series,It: Welcome to Derry, premieres this year, fans can stream the making of one of his scariest movies to date for absolutely nothing.
Based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel, the 1990 ABC miniseriesITtells the story of a group of outcast children who become terrorized by the eponymous being,Pennywise the Clown, who crawls from the deep and dark sewers of Derry, Maine every thirty years to murder children. Of course, dressed as a dancing clown, the horrific being can easily attract kids, but this time, the Losers Club team up against him in a bid to finally destroy the evil and demonic entity. Frightening children and adults across the nation, Pennywise became a huge cultural phenomenon, going on to influence other horror films that focused on childhood trauma and supernatural threats, likeSummer of 84,The Prodigy, andEli. The monumental success ofIT, which drew in around 30 million viewers over its two parts, spurred a renewed interest in horror films featuring killer clowns, but Pennywise is often cited as being the worst of its sub-genre.
Pennywise: The Story of It Is Streaming for Free Across Multiple Platforms
Directed by Chris Griffiths and John Campopiano,Pennywise: The Story of ITexplores the cultural impact of one of Stephen King’s most iconic figures, Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The 2022 documentary peels back the many sticky layers of how the gruesome clown was created and how it went from King’s mind to words on a page and then to screen, uncovering its storytelling, production, and fandom that have solidifiedPennywise’s status as a horror legend.
The documentary also features interviews with co-writer and director Tommy Lee Wallace, as well as co-writer Lawrence D. Cohen and a host of cast members that includethe legendary Tim Curry(Pennywise) and Seth Green, who played the character of Richie Tozier in the original film. Although King does appear in a slew of archival interviews, he doesn’t make any recent appearances in the actual documentary, but King fans will be more than satisfied with what he has to reveal.
OnRotten Tomatoes,Pennywise: The Story of ITscored a very positive 100% rating, with an audience score of 94%. One critic’s review stated that the documentary was “essential viewing not only for fans of Stephen King, but also for genre film fans and aspiring filmmakers,” as another praised Tim Curry and “how he fought for a minimal amount of make-up to allow his performance to take over.”
Pennywise: The Story of Itis currently available to stream onTubi(although the site does update its movies frequently, so it’s a hit or miss if it’s still there), as well asAmazon Prime Video,YouTube, andPlex.
