A brilliant film that helped define a genre

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

'It!' AKA 'Curse of the Golem' (1967).Been many years since I've seen this one - had a chance to see it again recently. It is an odd film, something a bit different from the normal horror films.The first of the film is how the statue came in to the hands of Arthur Pimm (McDowall) and the museum he works for, then comes some history on the statue of the golem, and after about 40 minutes you will watch Arthur (Roddy McDowall) go mad with power for he controls the golem. But how can the golem be destroyed? Not a bad film - it's quite fun! BTW it's Roddy McDowall's performance that makes this film good.7/10

THE PLOT: A London museum acquires a Golem, an indestructible Hebrew statue originally created to protect the community. The assistant curator (Roddy McDowall) discovers how to control the thing but uses it for selfish, destructive purposes. You know what they say: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.I've seen a few illustrations of Golems over the years where it looks very block-like (see Wikipedia), but none look like the Golem depicted in this film. Here it's pretty hideous and not block-like at all.I couldn't help thinking of "The Terminator" while watching, but "It!" isn't nearly as successful in giving the impression of an unstoppable force, which is likely due to budget constraints and lack of imagination.Jill Haworth is easy on the eyes, albeit nothing exceptional, and the rest of the main cast are good.BOTTOM LINE: The build-up is well-done and interesting but the filmmakers badly fumble the ball in the final act (it's not even remotely believable that this slow, cumbersome statue could hold off a platoon, let alone an entire battalion. Why don't they just storm around the stone creature since they ridiculously outnumber it?). Still, "It!" is worthwhile for a number of reasons, especially if you like Hammer films since it has a strong Hammer-esque vibe.RUNTIME: 96 minutes GRADE: C+

The introduction of the Golem statue sets an eerie atmosphere for the rest of the film. It tries to haunt you with the mystery that surrounds it. It is intentional for this story to move at a slower pace so the atmosphere can build. I thought it was a pretty cool effect for it's time. People growing up with today's CGI effects probably will not appreciate this. No blood and gore are necessary. Roddy McDowall adds to the fun with a great performance. His character is obviously disturbed and becomes more so as his obsession with the Golem grows. The saying "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" applies here. Try not to compare it to today's films. Just enjoy an unusual story and don't get hung up on the effects of it's day. Also, to my knowledge there is only one other Golem film that exists, the 1920 German silent version called "Golem, wie er in die Welt kam, Der".

**** SPOILERS **** This seems to have been written for a male teenage audience . The anti-hero Arthur Pimm comes across as a figure all alienated 17 year old lads will be able to relate to . He works for a completely unlikeable boss and finds the girl of his dreams is having it off with an older more sophisticated man . This is something I think we - And when I saw " we " I mean any male who`s ever been 17 - can all relate to that no matter what we don`t get what we deserve in life , we get considerably less than we deserve , especially where career and girls are involved , and we would just love if we came across a golem to control . Yeah that`d be brilliant send the golem out to waste anyone we didn`t like especially boys who were having sex with girls we fancied , man that`d be brilliant . Hey if I had one wish I`d wish for a golem in my christmas stocking . I think this feeling is called " teenage angst " or " male grief " but director/screenwriter Herbert J Leder puts a serious fly in the ointment by making Arthur Pimm a sort of British Norman Bates and I mean that literaly , Arthur`s mother is a decomposed corpse sitting in a rocking chair ! Yep he`s one hundred per cent whacko which means he becomes too over the top to relate to , and seeing as there`s so much teen angst and violent petulence on display Leder makes a mistake in casting Roddy McDowall as Pimm . McDowall is best known for his good guy roles and doesn`t make a very convincing sociopath especially when he was aged 38 when this was made , logically speaking the character of Pimm should be in his early 20s at the most . In other words Herbert J Leder seems to have misunderstood his audience There`s other flaws to the film . Despite the chilling image of the golem standing inside the burned out warehouse - A rather bleak one too I might add - IT! isn`t a very scary film and in many ways it`s just plain daft as we see the golem walking about under the command of Arthur Pimm