It! (1966)

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.

Disturbed assistant curator McDowall and his boss Ernest Clark discover an unscathed stone statue while surveying almost complete fire destruction of one of their warehouses. Clark is killed while McDowell is running an errand and he suspects the statue of foul play. McDowell is frustrated that he is passed over for the promotion to the boss's job and that quintessential 60's beauty Jill Haworth doesn't return his affections. Following a death in the museum involving the statue, the decision is made to sell it to a New York museum. Enter Jim Perkins, an expert from the New York museum to assess the authenticity of the statue. He and Haworth are attracted and he believes the statue is genuine. McDowell investigates the statue himself and discovers the secrets to its power and how to control it. He uses it destructively to address his frustrations and then becomes conflicted about his use of it. This is a well-done and acted British production. As the story progresses, it gets a little silly. Perkins would not have been my first choice for his role as the chemistry between he and Haworth isn't believable. This is still recommended for those who enjoy a fairly well-made horror flick.

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+

**** 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