Drive-In Dust Offs: IT! (1967)

As a horror fan, sometimes you just want to wade in the waters of the absurd and inane. To bath in the bathetic, and wash in the ridiculous. If you’re up for a swim, throw on your trunks and join me for Herbert J. Leder’s It! (1967), a modern retelling of the Golem legend dry humped by Psycho. And if that description piques your interest, take the plunge with me, won’t you?

Produced by Seven Arts Pictures and distributed by Warner Brothers/Seven Arts, It! was released in the UK (where it was filmed) in July of ’67 followed by the U.S. in November. Frequently paired with Leder’s previous film, The Frozen Dead (’66), the U.S. print of It! was in black and white, as opposed to the glorious Eastmancolour on display and as intended. The film was also known as Anger of the Golem, and Curse of the Golem, but if I had my druthers, I would have called it A Boy and his Golem, due to the film’s focus on our antagonist and his stony friend. Whatever you want to call it, um, It! relies on the audience’s sense of disbelief to work. And It! works plenty.

Our story starts with assistant museum curator Arthur Pimm (Roddy McDowall – Planet of the Apes) and his boss Harold Grove finding out that the museum’s warehouse has burned to the ground. When they arrive at the smoldering ruins, all that remains is a tall, imposing statue. Within moments, Grove is struck dead as Pimm is distracted elsewhere. Pimm is so overwhelmed with grief that his first thought is his assumed promotion at the museum. Cut to Arthur’s home, where he eagerly tells his mother about his impending good fortune, as he pulls out jewelry for her to wear that he’s lifted from the museum. When he puts the jewels around her neck, we see that mother has a strong case of Bates-itis, and the necklace really stands out against her skeletal figure. You’d like to put a pin in that plot point, you say? Will do. Meanwhile, Arthur has the statue brought back to the museum for display, and the board of directors decides to bypass him for the promotion and brings in a new uppity curator. Speaking of procuring, Arthur tries to woo the daughter of the deceased Grove, Ellen (Jill Haworth – Horror House), who naturally wants nothing to do with him. After another death at the museum, Arthur realizes that the statue is responsible and wishes he could control it through his perceived psychic abilities (I didn’t write it, folks). A curator from an American museum, Jim Perkins (Paul Maxwell – Aliens), shows an interest in purchasing the statue when he realizes that it is in fact the Golem of Hebraic mythology. When Arthur learns that the Golem can be controlled with the possession of a sacred scroll, he sees the chance to have the most powerful (and deadly) creature in Jewish folklore do his nefarious bidding: get the girl, and become curator of the museum. What a madman.

Look, I haven’t even touched on the sights you’ll see. Shoddy bridge destruction? Present. Miniatures that Ed Wood would be proud of? You bet. What are your thoughts on a motorcycle rescue reminiscent of The Great Escape? That may be included as well. No matter which angle you’re coming from, It! offers weird delights. If I told you it was objectively good, I’d be lying. However, if I told you it was less than entertaining, I’d be lying as well. The film is just a whole lot of bizarre fun. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the military and their nuclear bomb. Forgive me.

This is the only film I’ve seen of Leder’s, and I think I’d like to see more. He does have a keen visual eye, and It! is beautiful to look at. Borrowing the rich palette from Hammer in an attempt to create a modern day gothic tale, he generally succeeds. He also offers a clever nod to Poe – whenever Arthur brings the Golem to life, you can hear its heart slowly pulsing on the soundtrack. A nice touch that adds a genuine aura of unease. If only Leder the stylist could have been in concert with Leder the screenwriter, he might have made more of a positive impression in the industry. It’s not that the premise is so outlandish (a revenge fantasy that Willard would pull off very well four years later), but Leder describes the events unfolding in such a nonchalant way that one would be led to believe that a ten foot tall stone monster wreaking havoc is as common as a traffic jam, or McDowall being melodramatic.

Thank (insert deity here) for Roddy McDowall. How often did he enrich the viewing experience by his mere presence alone? That’s rhetorical – the answer was every time. Whether headlining such horror classics as Fright Night or The Legend of Hell House, he always brought his unique melancholic nature to the mix. Coupling that with a spry obsessiveness (as he does here) produces an instability that makes for a riveting performance. We know right from the time that we’re introduced to his mother that Arthur is a few relics shy of a display, and while Leder does absolutely nothing with this early revelation (no dress up for Arthur, I’m afraid), it does provide McDowall with more opportunities to shine. The remainder of the cast does their best to keep a straight face throughout the proceedings, with a special nod to Haworth for her easy charm and disarming beauty. As for the titular creature, he is an impressive design – tall, with knotted, angular stone and a sunken, haunted visage; he’s certainly miles away from the previous stout cinematic incarnations. And Leder squeezes every dime out of his creation, giving him enough screen time that he should be co-head billed with Roddy. At least they spelled It! right in the credits – McDowall wasn’t afforded that courtesy.

A perfect shade of cockeyed inspiration, It! succeeds due to McDowall’s performance and a stubbornness on Leder’s part to bring his vision to the screen, regardless of where he gleefully borrowed it from. Frankly, any movie that pays homage to Psycho AND The Great Escape has got to be a blast, and It! is as refreshing as a cool dip on a hot day.

It! is available along with The Shuttered Room on a Double Feature DVD from Warner Brothers Home Video.