In 1990, IT made its first screen debut in a four hour miniseries. Based on one of the seminal works of the modern horror genre, IT created a generation terrified of clowns. But the book and series were so much more than a generic story of a scary monster. Incidentally, if you don’t have access to the series because of your region, you can stream it using the best free VPNs.
With the new screen adaptation of IT finally here, let’s take a look at how IT changed the horror genre forever.
- IT is an abstract, but terrifyingly real, monster
I mentioned that IT featured a terrifying clown. Well, that’s only a fraction of the case. Fundamentally, the monster that haunts the fictional town of Derry is incredibly abstract. IT surfaces every 30 years, but the town is never free from ITs contamination. IT takes many different forms, including the physical, but cannot be defeated by silver bullets or stakes to the heart. Not entirely, at least.
IT is the personification of a creeping evil, one that lives in adults and children, and has existed since long before the age of men began. And this complex monster set the stage for the future of horror, both on page and on screen.
Stranger Things can be seen as a direct descendent of IT. Once again, the monsters are both physically real, as well as existing in metaphysical abstraction. And some of the real horror comes from the hands of adults.
- IT eschewed easy solutions
What infuriates me about so many stories is that the best villains or monsters get the stupidest ends. Marvel’s cinematic universe is particularly good at creating villains who seem unbeatable. Villains who are more than just scary looking beasts. Then it defeats them by shooting them or blowing them up. Or with arrows and swords.
And the people miraculously saved? They go happily back to their old lives.
IT refused to do the same. Deus ex machina solutions went out the window. The consequences of ITs long reign do not simply disappear with a show of force. An exceptionally creative – and devastating – reaction is necessary. And after everything, the protagonists will never be the same. Everyone in the town of Derry will carry the scars forever.
- IT exploited nostalgia
Stranger Things is notable for exploiting ‘80s nostalgia, as well as our nostalgia for the classic horror flicks. But it owes this theme to its predecessor. IT was essentially a nostalgic tale of kids in the ‘50s (or 1960 in the screen adaptation). It exploited both the memories of the era, as well as the wonder of being a child again.
IT was by no means for children, but kids could relate to its characters. Adults could relate to the characters too, remembering what it meant to be young. Instead of the old refrain of “kids these days,” adults wished they could be kids these days. They remembered smoking as soon as they were out of sight of their parents. They remembered replacing their biological family with their chosen friends. And they once again appreciated that children do not have it easy.
Nostalgia has remained a staple of the genre. It is the perfect means to bring out the very real terror, the fear of monsters that every child knows.
