It (1990)
If I had to choose between which adaptation of Stephen King's epic novel I like better, I would choose this two-part tv movie. Not just because it sticks a little closer to the book, but also of how authentic it looks. There's no debate that no matter how many times this 1150 page novel gets adapted, the "children's half" will always be preferred over the "adult's half" of the story. The 2017 movie is a perfect example of this. That's because the whole idea of the Stephen Kings's It is about facing and conquering childhood fears. Pennywise becomes that representation of that fear that preys on children's traumas. Even before they face IT, they already had their own problems at home.
I'll admit that the Muschietti movies are memorable in their own ways, but the 1990 TV movie was the one that made clowns really scary. Sure, there was already Killer Clowns From Outer Space, but King took this idea and made it better. I'm not saying he stole anything from that movie, it's just that he created a very well made killer clown from outer space (another dimension, as a matter of fact). If you're someone who's only familiar with Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise, then you should give this one a try. It has Seth Green and Tim Curry.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Would you believe that this groundbreaking, award-winning horror film was technically a sequel? It's true! There was a film called Manhunter which adapted the first book in the Hannibal Lecter series "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris. The Silence of the Lambs was the one movie that got serial killers back on the horror radar. Anthony Hopkins cannot be matched as the Hannibal the Cannibal. Other actors such as Mads Mikkelsen tried to live up to the role, they were so close to doing that but couldn't quite make it. What makes Hannibal such a unique character in this film is that he get under everyone's skin both behind and beyond bars. I would recommend reading the first two Thomas Harris books first, just for the sake of nostalgia. Also, check out the second adaptation of "Red Dragon" that also stars Anthony Hopkins as well as Ralph Fiennes and Edward Norton.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Not only is this big-budget film the 2nd closest to the novel, it's also one of the most favored. The first reason being it's A-list cast. You got Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves. To be honest, a few of the performances here aren't as good as I remember. Reeves as Jonathan Harker comes out as flat, even when it looks like he's trying to step up later in the movie. I can understand why Anthony Hopkins didn't try as hard as he should have as Van Helsing. He just came from starring in an award winning movie the previous year. Plus, he probably knew that he could never live up to Peter Cushing's performance in the role.
The second reason why it's favored is the visual effects which helped express Coppola's vision of the timeless story. In every other scene you either have overacting at its finest, or someone screaming while there's intense opera music playing. There are some people who mistake the original novel as a horror romance, when it's really just a horror story. I don't know why they had to create an actual relationship between Dracula and Mina. Although Coppola probably wanted to make his adaptation seem different than most of the previous ones.