IT!

IT! (1966)

This gem of a movie tells the story of a mild mannered assistant museum curator named Arthur Pimm (McDowell). While Pimm and his boss are investigating a fire at a warehouse they come across a strange statue that seemingly survived the fire that gutted the building without a mark on it. Pimm steps away to fetch something for his boss, who then screams and dies mysteriously. When the statue is put on display Pimm begins to suspect that there is something odd going on. And Pimm, who keeps his dead mother around and talks to her, knows something about strange. Eventually he figures out that the statue is a legendary indestructible Golem. So he tries to use it to impress the girl he likes. But things don’t work out well for him and eventually the government ends up nuking him and the Golem! While Pimm is reduced to carbon the Golem is unhurt, but without it’s master it just wanders off into the ocean.

So I really like this movie. The main story is pretty straightforward with the main character being a disenfranchised guy who gets the chance to show everyone up with the power the Golem gets him. The “monster” gets away from him and people die. If you think about it many creature feature movies use the same plot. Now this isn’t a bad thing because I love these sorts of movies. And IT! is a very well made movie that is always engaging and interesting. But what in my mind puts this movie ahead is the crazy subplot with the Pimm character hauling around the body of his dead mother. Not only is it a unique touch that makes this movie stand out, but it also provides the opportunity for some really funny lines. The cast does a good job with what is honestly some silly material. This is one of the few movies where Roddy McDowell really gets to be the star. I love his performance as Pimm. He goes from completely normal to carry your dead mom around crazy in such a way that I believed it. Well as much as I can believe anything in a movie about a Golem coming to life. McDowell was a hell of an actor and I put this next to The Legend of Hell House as his best genre performances when not buried under latex.

No review of a creature feature movie is complete without talking about the makeup effects. The Golem looks silly and is in no way scary. This probably isn’t helped by a suit that looks almost as awkward as the Tree Demon from the “classic” From Hell it Came (I love to name drop!). Sure the Golem might be indestructible and deadly if it can catch you. But it looks like a fat out of shape guy like me could easily avoid it. So how scary could that be? But I think that this is one of those movies where the goofy looking creature costume works.

This is one of the movies that I grew up watching on the late night shows when I was a kid. I was already a big fan of Roddy McDowell from the Planet of the Apes movies, but this movie made me an even bigger fan. I remember how much the shocking reveal of his mother scared the crap out of me, even more so than the Golem itself. All in all a great little horror movie that I highly recommend.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer