It! (1967) User Reviews

Overlooked & Misunderstood Monster Movie Matinée Gem

[Steve_Nyland · 7/10 · 13 December 2006]

Herbert Leder's IT!, or CURSE OF THE GREAT GOLEM (the name the film really should have had) is one of the most bizarre and eclectic little monster movies ever made. It's a misunderstood or better yet misguided little project that had really good intentions, a decent cast, a respectable mid-line budget, some decent writing, but ultimately falls a little flat. My association with the film and enthusiasm for it is nostalgic: This used to play on our Monster Movie Matinée and Eivom weekend afternoon/evening local film slots. At the age of 11 or so I thought it was one of the coolest movies ever made ... my more mature mindset sees it's flaws but still loves every stupid, stiff, very British minute of it.

Roddy McDowall plays a very strange young man named Pimm who works for a respectable British antiquities museum and happens upon a statue slated for display there which may or may not be one of the last of the Golems -- clay juggernauts of destruction made by Hebrew alchemist/artist mystics to protect their people from outside oppression. They are infinitely strong, completely indestructible, and have absolutely no will of their own. The problem is that such power corrupts humans infinitely as well, and once you get started on being the most powerful 24 year old nebbish on the planet it's hard to make yourself -- and It -- stop. Especially when you can't get rid of the damn thing. The film is broken up into three stages: Part one involves a series of strange unexplained deaths in and around the museum that McDowall rather slowly realizes must be the work of the Golem. Part two involves his quest to learn how the thing works and his rapid descent into near madness after he learns the secret. And part three involves his ultimately futile attempts to get rid of the thing as it ruins his life, rampages across the countryside, drives him completely insane, and finally walks off into the ocean after the British Army tries to blow it up with an atom bomb. Presumably it is still wandering around down there somewhere.

Along the way we meet various people who touch on Pimm's life, most notably his stuffy museum curator bosses, the pretty daughter of one of them (Jill Haworth), a couple of British police inspectors (one of them cult horror legend Ian McCulloch), and a visiting expert professor on Golemology from America. We also get to meet Pimm's mother, who is dead, and her partially embalmed body is Pym's partner in life. He "borrows" rare jewels from the museum for her to wear, fixes her tea and after dinner toddies while he talks with her about the day's events, and introduces her to others with a kind of blasé offhandedness that suggests we are getting it wrong by reacting with horror to the corpse. The scene where Pimm, the Golem and his mother terrify a museum matron is the best laugh in the movie. All the while the power of the Golem is getting under his skin, leading to the film's finest scene where he asks a Hebrew scholar to translate a script that had been etched into the Golem's side. The subsequent scenes of destruction as the Golem runs rampant pale to the chills sent down the spine by the old man's solemn intonation.

Another great scene is when Pimm loses control of a situation and orders the Golem to commit murder for him, and it is at that point that the narrative begins to spiral out of control. We see a few scenes of carnage but for the most part the film is McDowall's, and fortunately even in 1966 he was a good enough actor to more or less carry the project. His Pimm has an odd ambiguity about him that is certainly "evil", yet sympathetic in the way that is very reminiscent of Anthony Perkins' PSYCHO character. We actually feel suspense hoping he will not get caught and perhaps figure out a way to free himself from the curse of the Golem, but alas he torches an elderly librarian, barricades himself in a secluded manor, and pouts like a spoiled brat when Jill Haworth tells him he is about to be blown up with an atom bomb.

All this is a good premise, but aside from a single incident when Pym looks at the Golem's arm's to see them bent, looks back up in astonishment at it's face, then back down at the arms to see them straightened, then back again to gawk at the stone face, the film lacks any kind of artfulness, existing more as an act of "craft". At one point Pym even tries to light the thing on fire by spilling fuel oil all over it and the director allowed him to shake the can and snarl "This will finish you ..." like he was Daffy Duck. One other problem the film has it is that it was made at the wrong time: By 1966 London was going "mod" and this film is about as square as they come. Hammer Films was making big waves with their Gothic shockers and a stiff, somewhat talky movie about a giant walking slab of clay didn't have much resonance compared to Christopher Lee in his Dracula cape. IT! was more or less forgotten except as off-hour TV viewing for 11 year old boys who would think it was the coolest thing ever made, perhaps.

7/10 nonetheless: Deserves a restoration for DVD where IT! could prove to be a cult hit of some magnitude ... and if anyone ever is of the mind to put one together, give me a call.

Norman Bates has a Golem!!

[surman-2 · 7/10 · 23 December 2008]

I saw this film in the theater when It came out when I was 11 years old. I'm surprised how much I remember of It after viewing It over 40 years later. The basic premise is if a Norman Bates type character(Roddy Mcdowall) had a Golem to do his bidding. It scared me in 1966 and its great fun to see again. The Golem reminds me of the tree creature in "From Hell It Came", great Saturday matinée movie fun. Roddy McDowall is always fun to watch and would have made a passable Norman Bates. His character in It, Arthur Pimm , Is sometimes crazed, sometimes remorseful, sometimes sad and definitely quite madly insane. The writer/director was also responsible for penning the "Fiend Without A Face", which still holds up as one of the most frightening movies of the 50's.

Mimics A Hammer Horror.

[meddlecore · 6/10 · 2 November 2021]

When a museum warehouse burns down, the only item left intact is a stone statue from Czechoslovakia.

However, when the museum curator and his assistant go to inspect it...the curator winds up being killed.

His assistant is a bizarre young man, who lives with his mother's desiccated corpse.

And he steals jewels, in order to deck her out.

After the death of his boss, he gets excited, because he feels that he should be next in line for the job.

But the owner of the museum goes over his head, and hires an outsider...who's a bit of a fascist...to take his place.

That's when he discovers the mysterious powers possessed by this equally mysterious statue.

And it's ability to kill...

Because it turns out that it is a Jewish Golem from 1550...the oldest known of it's kind.

And, as the centuries have past...it has only become more impossible to destroy.

All you need to get it to do your bidding is a magic scroll.

And a few deaths later...he finds this scroll, for himself.

Now he holds unfathomable power in his hands.

But will all this power go to his head?

First things first, he uses it to take out his new boss, so as to implant himself as the new curator.

He's been trying to woo his old boss's beautiful daughter...and get he and his mother a new house.

So he seeks to exploit the Golem's power to achieve these ends.

A fellow curator from an American museum tries to warn him that using the abilities of the Golem for selfish reasons, could cause it to go rogue.

But is it already too late?

Has he lost control of this supposedly mindless killer?

He's certainly lost control of his own ego, anyways.

Now, the only way to stop them...is for the military to intervene.

Ultimattely leading to the film's explosive conclusion...

Produced by Britain's 7 Arts, the film is shot in the style of a Hammer Horror film.

And considering such, it has really beautiful colour and mise en scene.

It's biggest flaw is it's attempt to spin in the bizarre psychology of the main character, which seems a bit forced...even unnecessary.

And the ending is also a bit rushed.

That being said...the story really is quite entertaining.

6 out of 10.

" Created for a good, it's purpose is nothing short of ultimate destruction "

[thinker1691 · 7/10 · 26 June 2009]

Anyone who has every followed the rich full and popular life of actor Roddy McDowall, knows and understands that here was a very underrated individual. Praised by the high and mighty for his unflagging integrity as well as his immeasurable friendship, he played many parts, but was seldom seen as a heavy. This film is called " IT " and has him playing Arthur Pimm, a museum curator who discovers a strange and powerful statue. It's original intentions were benign at first, the statue does whatever he is ordered to do. Eventually however it's limitless abilities leads to self-aggrandizement and disaster. From petty theft to ultimate murder, Pimm eventually realizes that such power in the hands of even the most innocent individual can and does lead to corruption. Despite becoming delusional and diabolical, his character is seen as pathetic and obsessively two dimensional, yet Roddy makes him dependent and sympathetic. The film is not considered among McDowall's best, indeed it is still a milestone for his many fans. Much time has elapsed and today stands as a cult Classic. Easily recommended to all. ****

A very modern reworking of an old folktale

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 10 April 2013]

Long before "The Golem" (1915, 1917, 1929 and, again, in 1936), the story of this mythical clay statue was a Jewish folktale. The most famous version (portrayed in these three movies) is set in Prague. The local Jews are being persecuted and a rabbi builds a clay man. And, invoking the powers of darkness, he can control it and make it kill with impunity. Now, decades later, "It!" is an updated version--going on the assumption that this creature somehow was discovered in the 20th century and its secret is revealed to an unhinged young museum assistant curator (Roddy McDowell). You know he's unhinged in the opening scene, as he apparently keeps his mother's corpse at home--dressing it and talking to it as if she is alive! Later, when he discovers how to control the Golem, he uses it to exact revenge against people who have mistreated him.

"It!" is a very nice update to the old story. While the creature is a bit hard to believe at times, watching McDowell play such a crazy guy was actually a lot of fun. Overall, a very good horror film provided you suspend disbelief and just enjoy.

By the way, during the film McDowell's character refers to the movie "The Golem" but apparently incorrectly says that it's a 1924 film. A minor mistake, I understand.

"You become it & it becomes you." A pretty odd little British horror film.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 16 October 2009]

It! is set during the 60's in London where a large fire has destroyed a warehouse, museum curator Harold Clark (Ernest Clark) is called to see if he can salvage anything so he & his assistant Arthur Pimm (Roddy McDowall) take a look through the burnt out ruins. Amazingly the only think worth saving is a seemingly perfectly preserved sixteenth century Czech carving of a large man, Grove mysteriously dies in the ruins & the statue is taken back to the museum where it is put on display. Then an electrician also dies near the statue as it suddenly falls on top of him, Pimm is sure that the statue has something to do with the death's & when American expert Jim Perkins (Paul Maxwell) says he thinks it's an authentic Golem his suspicions are confirmed. Pimm discovers the secret behind bringing the Golem to life in order to do his bidding but the power soon goes to Pimm's head...

This American British co-production was written, produced & directed by Herbert J. Leder & is a rather odd little film that I imagine many won't have even heard of let alone seen. I am not quite sure what the makers of It! were thinking but the overall message seems to be that absolute power corrupts although in the case of Pimm who just happens to stumble on an infinitely powerful Golem he's more than a bit mad to start with as he steals jewels from his museum to give to his dead mummified mother whom he keeps at home. Yeah, there's a definite Norman Bates from Psycho (196) vibe going on here even to the extent Pimm steals his mothers corpse back at the end. The story starts off alright with this living Golem thing but then is looses it's way as Pimm who finds a way to control the Golem uses it's infinite power to try & impress a bit of skirt, yeah sure the blonde chick is sort of cute but she's just a bird & if I had infinite power in my grasp I can think of better ways to use it other than to try & get inside some girls panties. At almost 100 minutes it's a bit too long with a laughable ending in which this slow lumbering Golem manages to keep the entire British army out of a fenced castle where Pimm is holded up, can't they just go round the back or something? So while It! has a message & is watchable for what it is it's a little bit too odd to appeal to the masses & a really prolonged silly climax spoils a fairly decent build-up.

It! does look very much like a Hammer horror production from the period with lavish sets, costumes & nice colour photography & the Golem itself does look quite imposing & creepy at times to start with but once it comes alive & starts walking around it looks a lot sillier. There's no real violence or gore & little actual horror either as the film focuses on it's moral message about the corrupting influence of power. There's a poor sequence trying to show the destruction of Hammersmith bridge & the dropping of a nuclear warhead which date the film badly & are also sloppily edited. At one point Pimm is given a 3 pound a week rise which at first I thought was rather low but then realised that I have never even had a pay-rise that much even more than forty years after this was made.

Filmed in the UK this has nice enough production values although it's maybe not quite as good as the best hammer films from the period. The late veteran actor Roddy McDowall gives an suitably unbalanced performance while Jill Hayworth ably provides the glamour.

It! is a strange film that is hard to categorise & as such maybe it's worth a watch if your after something a bit different but the ridiculous climax & an overall lack of something stops It! from being a forgotten gem, more of a misplaced piece of costume jewellery.

Original and highly entertaining

[RonellSowes · 10 January 2021]

It!,Curse Of The Golem or whatever title you might have heard it by, is an obscure but unique and very entertaining film. The idea of making a horror flick with The Golem as the 'monster' on it's own is a pretty original concept. On top of that, the way it plays out ultimately concluding with an atomic bomb being utilized isn't something you normally see either. While I might praise much of this film for its originality, the part of Pimm and his mother's cadaver is completely contrived from Psycho. It feels so rehashed that it distracts from the overall viewing. The film stars Roddy McDowell,who while being a fairly talented actor isn't well suited to too many roles. However,his odd personality is just right for this one. The rest of the cast is made up of decent unknowns but this isn't the sort of picture you watch for great performances.

It! is an imaginative,amusing and even perhaps slightly creepy film that will leave you wondering why it is so unsung.

Beware! The One And Only Golem Walks The Earth.

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 7/10 · 9 June 2022]

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of It!; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.50 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.25 Acting: 1.50 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 6.75 out of 10.00

I am, have been, and will always be a Roddy McDowall fan. When I saw the movie stared the great man, I had to give it a look-see, and I am glad I did. It's not a great movie, but it is highly entertaining, thanks mostly to McDowall.

The story is your basic 1970s fodder. Man finds a monster he can control and uses it to kill his way to his heart's desires - who needs hard work? That said, I did enjoy the opening sequence as it kind of rings true. There's a raging fire at a museum's storage facility, and the only thing to survive is a seven-foot statue. Most of the treasures unearthed are indeed done so accidentally. It's an odd-looking effigy that looks crude in its workmanship but somehow manages to exude menace. Pimm quickly realises there's something supernatural about the figure and sets his mind to finding the truth. And once the murders start, Perkins - an American buyer - and Scotland Yard set out on another path of truth-finding. One thing I would have included in the story would be more on Pimm's background. I loved this character, even the individual's excentricities like stealing the jewels for a day or two so his mother could wear them. Is this something she would bully him into, or is it a recently formed transgression - Something he decided was a good idea after retrieving his mother's corpse from her grave? Oh, yeah! And why did he do that? These questions are unanswered, and I don't think that was a good idea. It makes the peculiar events feel excessive to the story's concept and not one of its components. However, McDowell does well with the scenes though he's no Anthony Perkins. I liked how Pimm realised he'd gotten too deep into the evilness of power and wanted to make amends. Most people in stories of this ilk are completely consumed and never see the error of their ways. It was refreshing.

The director of this little treasure is also the writer, and he's equally skilled in both fields. The direction could have been better. Though he subdues the lighting and adds thunder and lightning, it's not nearly atmospheric enough. There should be an underlying dread to all the preliminary and primary scary scenes. You should feel unnerved, but, sadly, you don't. But the worst thing is the painting. When the Golam topples a bridge, we get to see the aftermath. Though not having a great budget, instead of a set model, we see an artist's rendition of the devastation. Regrettably, the limited money didn't stretch to a good artist. I paused the scene for a few minutes but still couldn't recognise what I was looking at - It was a mess. They must have spent the cash on the cast and the Golam's outfit. Even though it's simplistic and not too frightful, it looks okay, and you cannot tell it's rubber. There are times when its arms are down and others when they're at forty-five degrees, and you cannot distinguish any creasing in the material. In too many similar films, the monster's garb unintentionally lets the film and the creepiness down.

The cast is more than adequate. McDowell, as always, is superbly entertaining. And though he appears to perform most of his roles with tongue firmly in cheek, his characters always come across as believable and relatable - as does Pimm in It! And even though he's broken in a twisted way, you still warm to him, which is a strange feeling to possess for the murderous villain of the picture.

It! Is a Sunday afternoon watch on a cold rainy day. You're happily stuffed with Sunday dinner, the fire's warming up the room nicely as rain streams down the window pane, and you need something easy and enjoyable to waste a little time. Should you have a copy of It! Or have found it on a streaming service, then get under the duvet, grab a warm drink, and enjoy It!.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror list to see where I ranked It!.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Herbert J Leder Misunderstood His Audience ?

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 14 September 2003]

**** 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

Try It...You Might Like "It!"

[ferbs54 · 6/10 · 16 December 2012]

I have a feeling that I wasn't the only baby-boomer boy to fall in love with British actress Jill Haworth after seeing her, over 50 years ago, in her very first film, 1960's "Exodus." Then only 15 years old, Jill--via her sweet portrayal of Karen, a tragically fated Jewish immigrant to the new Israeli state--was certainly an actress to move hearts and garner attention. Over the next few years, that attention was mainly centered on her budding romance with "Exodus" costar Sal Mineo, and as the decade wore on and the '70s began, Jill gradually became enamored by those devotees of less mainstream, more "psychotronic" fare. Today, Jill is admired by those horror fans for her appearances in five films: the 10/14/63 episode of television's "The Outer Limits," the one entitled "The Sixth Finger" (an especially fine episode, by the way) and four middling, British theatrical films, "It!" (1967), "The Haunted House of Horror" ('69), "Horror on Snape Island" ('72) and "The Mutations" ('73). Although the last of these films has been available on DVD for some time, "Haunted House" and "Snape Island" only seem to be viewable via an occasional airing on TCM, and "It!," until recently, had never been available on home video. "It!" was the only horror picture of Jill's that I'd never seen, so it was with great pleasure that I learned of the Warner Bros. DVD release that pairs "It!" with another British horror film from 1967, "The Shuttered Room." Besides their common year of release, both films were creations of Seven Arts Productions and both feature a beautiful blonde actress in the lead role (Carol Lynley, in the case of "The Shuttered Room"). And sadly, both films feature rather disappointing endings, although the Lynley film is clearly the more artfully composed of the two.

In "It!," we meet a rather odd assistant museum curator named Arthur Pimm (played by the great Roddy McDowall, one film away from "Planet of the Apes," and referred to by everyone as just "Pimm"). Pimm's sole existence seems to consist of coveting his boss' job at the museum (the film was partially shot at London's Imperial War Museum), lusting after his coworker Ellen (well, he's got good reason...she's played by our Jill!), and purloining jewelry from the museum to drape around the neck of his mother, with whom he shares an apartment. Oops...almost forgot to mention that Pimm's mother is dead, a corpse with a marked resemblance to "Psycho"'s Mrs. Bates, bunhead, shawl and all! Pimm's life markedly changes for the better, however, when the museum acquires a 3,000-lb. Czech statue that turns out to be no less a figure than the legendary Golem...the stone figure that is, according to myth, able to come to life and perform services for those who know how to animate it. And when Pimm discovers the mystical scroll that enables him to do so, he realizes that powers for vengeance and advancement--not to mention impressing the heck out of Ellen--are now within his grasp....

Never rising above a mediocre level of entertainment, "It!" yet still reveals itself to be a film of modest pleasures. Roddy, of course, is simply marvelous, an actor in complete control of his every vocal inflection and facial nuance, and he almost makes his whacko character an object of audience sympathy. Jill is sweet and appealing, as usual, although she is given too little to do, while the film's various supporting players are uniformly fine. Director Herbert J. Leder, who had previously written the script for the miniclassic "Fiend Without a Face" (1958) and directed "The Frozen Dead" (1966), has brought this particular picture home in a fairly prosaic, unimaginative manner; a little more style might have helped some. The FX in the film range from good (the walking Golem) to poor (the sight of the Hammersmith Bridge that the Golem destroys at one point), and the picture gets progressively loopy as it draws nearer to its atomic ending. The film also sports some very bizarre touches, such as when Pimm hallucinates the naked Ellen in his bedroom one night, only to realize, to his horror, that he is actually seeing the corpse of his mother. Unfortunately, the film makes pretty much nothing of the fact that Pimm DOES live with his dead mother; this little tidbit has seemingly been added to the film to serve as a mere character quirk! I also could not figure out how the Golem managed to kill curator Grove and the museum electrician early on, it supposedly being a creation with no independent will until activated by Pimm and that scroll. Equally bewildering is the film's final reel, in which Pimm is said to have just stolen his mother's body from a mortuary (Wha? How'd she get THERE?) and kidnapped Ellen from her apartment (Huh? How did he accomplish this, and why were we not shown this key scene?). A decidedly mixed bag, "It!" is a film perhaps best watched with your favorite 8-year-old, or by Jill Haworth completists, such as myself. It is certainly pipsqueak stuff when compared to the 1973 Roddy film "The Legend of Hell House" (one of the real horror champs), but yet still makes for a modest evening's entertainment. Try it...you might like "It!"

What a Weird Little Movie

[ragosaal · 5/10 · 7 March 2007]

This sure is a weird little horror film. In fact, there are not many real highlights -perhaps none- I can find in it in terms of the issues that make a movie (budget, direction, script, camera work, photo, colour, locations, settings, edition, music, cast ...). However, every time I catch it on TV -always by chance- I get hooked up and can't help watching it till the very end. I really couldn't say why.

This unpretentious not scary horror film, sort of silly too, has a strange fascination on me. Roddy McDowall's preserved dead mother on a chair is not original ("Psycho" was first and better by far); the Golem is no big deal as a monster and doesn't even look menacing enough; no frightening situations really; McDowall has done many better jobs in his career and though Jill Haworth is a beautiful woman no doubt she is not quite my type. In fact the only interesting sequence I can rescue out of "It!" is when the stone arms of the Golem appear in different positions between shots at the museum in front of an amazed Arthur Pimm (Mc Dowall).

A great film? not at all; a good film? not in my opinion; a watchable one? I wouldn't say that either. Yet I don't know why I am interested, perhaps because I find it sort of original and really odd. Who knows?

An enjoyable oddity of British horror.

[Nightman85 · 10/10 · 18 December 2008]

Disturbed museum curator is haunted by a hideous hulking stone statue, but when he discovers the power to control the indestructible thing he seeks out harsh vengeance.

Well-made British horror film is an engaging and unique treat for those that enjoy clever and untraditional genre films. The story is solidly engulfing and nicely paced, pulling the viewer into the mystery of the Golem statue and its deranged master. The late great Roddy McDowall does a splendid performance, as usual, as our lead who's on the verge of madness. The supporting cast isn't half bad either, though they admittedly pale compared to McDowell. The other big star of this film is the Golem statue itself. The makeup work on the imposing statue is quite good and the image of that statue is something that's stayed with me for over 10 years.

All around, a solid genre film that's definitely worth tracking down for both fans of British horror and fans of McDowell.

*** out of ****

"It" stands out by your uniqueness and Roddy McDowell's unmatched mannerism !!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 5 July 2020]

Roddy McDowall always played weird characters with his peculiar mannerism, associate with a slight deranged mind, he plays the odd Arthur Pimm which work in a Museum at London as curator's assistant, when a Museum's storage burning left intact an old stone statue from ancient Hebrew's tale, which it cann't be destroyed by any means, the weird Arthur lives with her skeleton of his died mother, something alike Norman Bates behavior, after Curator's death Arthur has hope to replaces him at Museum, the commission board nominee the old Prof. Weal a stringent chief, who want get rid of hideous object, then he becomes in a new victim, in face a bad reputation of the statue, due the murders, the Americans sent an expert Jim Perkins (Paul Maxwell) to confirm its authenticity to make an offer to take it to New York Museum, he finds on stone statue some ancient written on old Hebrew language, the wise Arthur takes it to an old Rabbi to translate it, now in possession of the secret he gets reveal the hidden mystery across an old scroll at statue's feet and put it in his mouth, then it getting life at your command and will, also he was in love by a daughter of the late curator Ellen Grove (Jill Haworth) actually an unrequited love, aside all oddity Roddy McDowall made it interesting due his fabulous acting, also the eerie Golem as the statue was named by the press, the final is contrived and spoils a promising picture, enjoyable for your distinctiveness!!

Resume:

First watch: 2013 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD-R / Rating: 7.

IT! (Herbert J. Leder, 1966) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 3 March 2009]

I have been aware since childhood of this British horror movie (via large color stills taken from it found in one of my father's books) but, despite knowing of its recent DVD release in the U.S., only now did I manage to check it out on Cable TV channel TCM UK. American born writer-producer-director Leder lends his modest London-based film a colorful look reminiscent of Hammer horrors while updating the Hebrew legend of the Golem for the 20th Century. Roddy McDowall (delivering a performance that is much better than the material he has to work with) plays an ambitious but disturbed museum curator who occasionally bestows his mummified mother (whom he keeps in her favorite living-room armchair) with precious stones lifted from his workplace, ineffectually lusts after his lovely blonde colleague (former Otto Preminger protégé Jill Haworth) – in a startling sequence, he envisages her lounging practically naked on his sofa before turning into his skeletal mother as he approaches her! – and is constantly harassed by his superiors. When a warehouse fire conveniently highlights the lifelike presence of an indestructible sinister statue, McDowall gradually realizes what he has come in possession of and, inevitably, makes use of his own power over it to further himself in life, both socially and romantically. Unfortunately for McDowall, both Haworth and the statue are also being pursued by visiting American curator Paul Maxwell (unsubtly named Perkins – if you catch my drift) who, necessarily, even gets entangled in the ongoing police investigations (one of whom is played by future Euro-Cult regular Ian McCulloch) of the piling murders surrounding the re-emergence of the Golem. Although the film is certainly entertaining fare, particularly for hardened genre fans, one cannot help but notice that several opportunities (especially for black comedy) are sorely missed along the way; the Golem's demolition of a bridge, then, is merely a weak matte painting (to say nothing of some very obvious day-for-night shots) and the climactic confrontation between the rampaging statue and the proverbial Army is somewhat risible as they keep shooting at it with bigger and bigger weapons (from bazookas to tanks) to no avail! Even 'It' seems to despair at their ineptitude as the Golem proceeds to drown itself in the nearby Thames soon after! This is all rather lame script-wise since we had previously been told that water cannot harm the 400-year old statue…but, perhaps, its suicide is meant to be taken metaphorically since it has been revived for destructive purposes rather than the protective ones it had originally been created for.

A Living Statue

[Rainey-Dawn · 7/10 · 22 May 2016]

'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

McDowall is delightfully coy...

[Sleepy-17 · 30 May 2000]

...and the production expenses are laughably low. Tongue-in-cheek to begin with, this unpretentious "shocker" is quite funny in its absurdity. The secondary characters are remarkably earnest, and Jill Haworth is exceedingly gorgeous. Love the nuclear warhead!

What Is A 'Golem?'

[riverheadestelle · 7/10 · 12 October 2005]

I saw this movie only once. For those who might be wondering about the creature itself, I'd like to add some background. This British horror movie uses the concept of a being from Jewish folklore, really. The Golem is a creature that is not really alive - the Jewish equivalent to the zombie. However, it usually appears on the scene with some sort of mission: to help somebody living wrap up unfinished business, or to act as a protector, avenger, whatever. According to Jewish folklore, the creature is made out of mud or stone and is controlled by placing a tiny sacred scroll in its mouth (if the person controlling it is brave enough!) The movie was interesting to watch, but it could have been better. It only stands as a period piece from that decade when all sorts of low-budget horror flicks were being made.

Momma's Boy Gets a Piece of the Rock

[BaronBl00d · 4/10 · 1 July 2006]

Highly implausible story about a museum curator that soon discovers the secret scroll that brings to life a real Golem to do his bidding. This part of the story is inventive yet not wholly convincing. The set designs, the acting, the direction, and the Golem itself all look and feel authentic at times, yet the script has so many problems that none of these things are able to gel like they should. Roddy McDowell plays prissy, circumspect, socially awkward Arthur Primm very well. I almost even believed he was interested in sexy, sultry, blonde Jill Haworth! His performance helps give the film a bit of credibility, but the film, as early as the first scene where we see Primm alone, tries to turn a golem story into a golem and Psycho story as Primm talks to his mother and then we see her dead skeleton dressed in dressing gown in a chair after having heard her talk with her son. Director Herbert Leder isn't quite sure what he is trying to do here in this film. Wiithout the Psycho touches, It! might have been a pretty entertaining film if a little more development had gone into Primm. I know Leder was trying to show us WHY Primm was the way he was, but, c'mon, pulling a Norman Bates on an English museum curator that otherwise seemed to live and function pretty normally wasn't the way to go about IT. It's possible but, as I said, highly implausible. It also takes away from the story of the Golem. Why was it in the museum? Why did it kill first and secondly when it had NOT been invoked by the scroll? The explanation of the Golem myth was interesting and the character acting is very able all around with Aubrey Richards and Ernest Clark standing out as McDowell's superiors. While the first half of the film manages to create some slow-paced suspense, the second half quickly dissolves into one ridiculous scene after another - with an English country manor, the Golem, and nuclear weapons figuring into a climatic end. For a more complete introduction into Golem lore, see the German masterpiece Der Golem.

Don't know what to make of this movie

[savagesteve13 · 7/10 · 3 May 2012]

This decidedly British production is part horror film and part black humor. The two stars are definitely Roddy McDowall as the rather flippant and mentally ill Arthur Pimm, and the Golem which racks up a body count when nobody seems to be looking. Initially I didn't understand why Pimm took the mysterious deaths with very little concern until I found out later he's about 2 cans short of a 6-pack, keeping his long-dead mother in his house and having tea with her on weekends. Everybody is of course extremely British, and there's an odd streak of young angst and jealousy as Pimm sees himself get insulted, fired, and the girl he likes get taken by a smooth talking American curator who is as buff and groomed as a NASA astronaut. The fun really begins when the Golem "cheats" and tells Pimm where the scroll is, and when he activates the Golem you hear a creepy heartbeat sound and a greenish cast is on the Golem's head. The creep factor was blown away though when the Golem didn't walk, it goose-stepped....oh man was it unintentionally hilarious. It was a pretty creepy statue however, I wouldn't be able to sleep in the same room as that thing. McDowall was relatively old when this movie was shot but he looked quite young due to his slight frame and youthful features. Jill Haworth was sultry and I could certainly understand why Arthur was totally gaga for her. She had friend zoned him in a major way. As with all good movies, it has a nuke in it, nuff said.

The movie was long but never really boring, just interesting in a curious way, and very very British.

Feeble

[adriangr · 4/10 · 5 March 2011]

This is a very poor attempt at a horror thriller in the "golem" genre. The story is wafer thin, the script and character development is dire and the special effects are certainly not special. There are so many disappointing things in the film, you'll feel completely unsatisfied at the conclusion of it - that's if you've lasted that long Where to begin...? Well, plot wise, a fire at a warehouse reveals a previously hidden statue that is promptly put on display in a museum by assistant curator Arthur Pimm (Roddy McDowell). Pimm is a twitchy, suspicious man who lives alone - except for the corpse of his dead mother, dressed up in gown and wig and propped up in a chair! Right from the start you need to know that this element of the plot is one of the most throwaway aspects of the whole story - there is no explanation or background on this, it's just there. Presumably it is just to re-enforce the idea that Pimm is a bit crazy, but they really could have explained it.

Right from the start, Pimm starts to wonder about the statue, especially as it seems responsible for a death in the first few minutes of the film. More deaths occur (not very dramatic ones), and Pimm starts to uncover the truth about the statue - that it is in fact a Golem which can be brought to life and controlled. Pimm is an unhappy man with a crush on a pretty museum worker, who dumps him for an altogether more macho American museum curator...I'm sure you can guess what happens next.

Well what happens is, a pretty shabby attempt at a "golem on the rampage" film. The film barely shows anything of the creature coming to life. The statue isn't bad, it's actually very ugly and quite creepy, but apart from moving it's arms and walking about slowly, very little mayhem is ever seen on camera. This is a huge fault of the film as a whole, it takes the cheapest way out of every big scene by cutting away from every major event. The golem destroys a bridge...we see it walk under the bridge...raise it's arms in close up and rattle some rubber girders...cut to Pimm and policeman looking shocked...cut back to a PAINTING of a collapsed bridge (the worst effect in the entire movie). The golem springs Pimm from a police hospital. We see...the golem bash down one fake brick wall (from the inside, we don't see stone arm actually hit brickwork on the exterior shot). The hospital is deserted...Pimm and the golem just stroll away through the fresh hole. Oh yes and the golem also kills people...all we see is Pimm (usually) looking shocked while the murder takes place off screen.

The worst part of the film is the climax (I guess the spoilers start here...), which sees Pimm and his golem blockaded in a country house. The set-up for this is hilarious, two detectives talk to someone on the phone and then say to each other "It's Pimm! He's got the golem, he's kidnapped the girl, stolen his mother's corpse from the mortuary (which makes the fact that he's had her corpse in his house all this time a total lie), and stolen a hearse!" All of which sounds very exciting, but all sadly not shown on screen. Pimm makes off for a huge remote house with this posse, which is inhabited by one single elderly lady museum worker. Soon they are all trapped inside the house. But why? What is Pimm's great plan? Well, there isn't one, expect to stop anyone coming in. In the daftest scene of the whole film, Pimm sends the golem to defend the front gates of the estate. The army send in guns, big guns, bigger guns and a nuclear warhead (!) to get past the golem. Yet the grounds of the house are massive, all the golem is doing is standing at one gate. What's to stop someone going round the back??? The golem can't move any faster than a snail, yet all they do is point guns at it from behind sandbags and then complain that it's still standing!.

Finally, the nuclear bomb goes off (cue stock footage mushroom cloud), and the country house is destroyed - off camera. Who survives? Watch and find out if you can be bothered. It's all totally lame and boring. Roddy McDowell acts over the top for too much of the time, shrieking insanely at a nightmare in which he sees a naked Jill Haworth turn into his dead mother, talking to himself, miming actions to show the audience what he his thinking (terrible direction here, getting him to flap his arms stupidly about to represent him thinking about how the golem's arms have changed position when no-one was looking). The character of Pimm seems to have no motivation. Sometimes he wants to steal jewelry for his mother, sometimes he wants to get promoted, sometimes he wants the girl, sometimes he wants to get rid of the girl, sometimes he wants to get rid of the golem. I guess that's crazy for you, but I got very lost and a film needs to give it's audience something to hang on to! I got the DVD of this to satisfy my curiosity...it wasn't worth it.

you never know where you're golem 'til you get there

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 30 March 2018]

I first read about the golem in a list of all the monsters from popular culture. The main ones were the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein (as well as title characters from 1950s sci-fi/horror flicks), but it included the golem, and listed the golem's origin as Prague. I later learned the story of the golem from a book about how a rabbi supposedly animated one to protect the Jews from pogroms in Central and Eastern Europe. A "Simpsons" Halloween episode even had a segment about a golem.

Well, it should come as no surprise that there have been a couple of movies about golems. The first one that I've seen is the corny but enjoyable "It!". Roddy McDowall - with his name misspelled in the credits - plays an assistant to a museum curator in London. When they find a mysterious statue, the assistant realizes that he can animate it and make it obey him. But power has a price.

Mostly a silly movie with one element ripped off from "Psycho", it's nonetheless fun. And damned if Jill Haworth isn't a babe! Basically, it's a nice way to spend an hour and a half. I suspect that they had fun making it.

The original Terminator, but nowhere near as good

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 12 March 2014]

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. Someone described it as a giant turd.

I couldn't help thinking of "The Terminator" while watching, but "It!" (1967) isn't nearly as successful in giving the impression of an unstoppable force, which is likely due to budget constraints and lack of imagination. There's a "Psycho" (1960) element, but it's irrelevant and feels tacked on. Thankfully, Jill Haworth is easy on the eyes, albeit nothing exceptional; and the rest of the main cast is good.

The build-up is well-done and interesting but the filmmakers 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 of that era since it has a strong Hammer-esque vibe.

The film runs 96 minutes and was shot in London.

GRADE: C+

In trying to destroy the Golem, he ends up destroying himself!

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 21 February 2022]

It's obvious that the moment you see Roddy McDowall walk into his home and start talking to his mother in a rocking chair, that his brain is rocking towards insanity. He's the assistant to the curator at a Nature Museum, and when it catches on fire, he discovers that one of the pieces survived without any damage and is indeed the Golem of legend that cannot be destroyed regardless of what is done to it. Pretty soon, his supervisor is Dad, and he is up for the job of the Creator. There are more deaths, all mysterious, and a bridge is destroyed. But as he gains all of this power, he wants to get rid of it, the only way out would be to destroy the Golem which of course cannot be done.

I'm wondering if there were any threats of a lawsuit from the writers of 'Psycho" in the situation concerning McDowell's mother, presented with a glamorous necklace by her son as she sits quietly in her chair. It's a very funny scene, and the film, while not a comedy, has its tongue firmly planted in advance as McDowell continues to get away with crime after crime, even though suspicion towards him from the local police is growing. Jill Haworth is McDowall's girlfriend who becomes suspicious of his behavior as it gets more wacky.

The terrific performance by McDowell is one of his very best, and while the film certainly could have sunk into camp, it never does that. The Golem itself is very frightening to look at, and indeed, it is a true legend that has been filled several times although this is the first time I've seen it on screen. A great cast of British supporting players helps make this a superior horror-thriller, quite different than many others that I've seen. This is truly one of the great horse sleepers of the 1960's, not really scary but still thrilling and absolutely still with gorgeous sets and a pacing that never lets up.

Psycho + Hammer + nukes + golem = It!

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 28 November 2018]

This movie is one crazy mix-up of a bunch of other movies that you may love, all in one easy to gulp down cocktail. Take some Hammer mood, squeeze in some modern gothic, a pinch of Psycho, rip off the motorcycle scene from The Great Escape, throw in some nukes and boom -- you have It!

After a London museum warehouse burns down leaving behind the Golem of Judah Loew and the dead body of the museum's curator. His assistant, Arthur Pimm (Roddy McDowall), takes a big interest in the golem, figuring out that it's the key to getting what he wants out of life.

That Arthur -- what a character. He keeps his mom's dead body in his apartment and steals jewels from the museum for her to wear. And he learns how to use the golem for murder, when all it wants to do is defend its Jewish community.

After the catastrophic destruction of Hammersmith Bridge, which Pimm has already told his love interest, Ellen Grove, that he could do, he tries to destroy the golem. Guess he didn't read any of the fine print inscribed into the clay monster that says that it can't be destroyed by fire, water, force or anything man has created.

Ellen eventually falls for another man, Jim Perkins of the New York Museum, who also wants to take the golem away. He turns in Pimm to the police, who then commit him to a sanitarium. He breaks out with the help of the golem and kidnaps Ellen. Luckily, the hero saves the day just before a nuclear explosion wipes Pimm out of existence (let's be fair, everybody within a few thousand miles is going to get radiation poisoning, but this was the 1960's and horror movie science). The golem? He's fine. He just walks into the sea to go away from awhile, Godzilla style.

Even though it was shot in color, the U.S. version is in black and white! Say what? It's also the screen debut of Ian McCulloch, who always pleases the couch audience in our house in films like Zombie and Contamination.

Want to watch this for yourself? The guys from New Castle After Dark posted it to YouTube!

Norman! Yes, mother? Who's the hunky guy made of stone? It's a Golem, mother.

[Coventry · 5/10 · 19 April 2021]

Overlooked and forgotten late 60s Brit-horror, starring the underrated but always reliable Roddy McDowell as a sort of Norman Bates with a day-job. Arthur Pimm is the assistant-curator of a historical treasures' museum, but when his long workdays are over, he goes home for lovely conversations with his dead and decomposed mother in her rocking chair. I honestly don't know why this weird and blatant "Psycho" imitation aspect is part of the film. It doesn't serve any purpose in the script, apart from stating clear that Arthur Pimm is completely cuckoo. Far more interesting is that Pimm gains control over a cursed but powerful statue - a Golem creature - that he recovered from a warehouse fire. The Golem mysteriously already killed a few people, and seems quite indestructible itself. "It!" - with exclamation mark to distinguish from Stephen Kings' evil clown movie - nearly isn't a classic horror film, but it's very entertaining while it lasts, especially thanks to McDowell's performance, the unusual type of monster, a handful of delicious Grand-Guignol moments, and a downright preposterous climax (even involving nuclear bombing). Worth watching at least one, and a major improvement over writer/director Herbert J. Leder's previous film; - the disastrous "The Frozen Dead".