Both of Andy Muschietti’s It films are categorized as being pure horror, and although the scares are the most notable element of them, the It movies are notoriously mixed bags. Both films incorporate elements from Stephen King’s 1986 novel that works to bring the unsettling weirdness of It lore to life. It Chapter 1 and 2 both have some amazing aspects to them, including some awesome humor and emotional scenes to balance out the horror. But the scare factor of these films is undeniably visceral. It was always much more than a story about a demon clown, and Andy Muschietti does that fact justice.
In both It Chapter 1 and 2, the horror and the way Pennywise gets under the characters’ skin feels extremely personal. Pennywise is a monster that feeds and preys on one’s deeply intimate fears, and the movies perfectly encapsulate that. Let’s take a look at 10 of the scariest moments from Andy Muschietti’s It franchise.
BILL ENCOUNTERS “GEORGIE” IN THE BASEMENT
Georgie is one of Pennywise’s first victims in It Chapter 1, and his death sparks the Losers’ Club coming together and attempting to defeat the demon clown. In contrast to the book, Georgie’s body isn’t found because Pennywise drags him down to the barrens with the other victims.
This causes a lot of trauma for Bill, who does not know the true nature of Georgie’s fate until the end of the first film. Pennywise takes advantage of this and appears to Bill as a deranged version of his little brother several times. Most infamously, he terrorizes Bill in his basement while masquerading as Georgie.
THE PROJECTOR SCENE
The first time Pennywise comes close to revealing just how otherworldly and powerful he is to the Losers’, is a scene in the first movie in which the kids dig through some of Derry’s old records and look over them through a projector. Things slowly begin to get eerie when the pictures begin to look wrong; eventually, slides of Derry turn into slides of the Denbrough family, which gets darker and darker, until Pennywise is revealed in the picture.
Pennywise then crawls out of the slides, easily one hundred times the size that he originally was, and terrorizes the children in a scene that illustrates just how powerful this being actually is.
THE THREE DOORS
Pennywise doesn’t hold back when it comes to playing games with the kids. He doesn’t want to simply just kill them and get it over with; he savors every minute of terrorizes them and gets very creative with his scares and illusions.
In a scene from the first movie, the Losers get separated in Pennywise’s house of horrors, with Bill and Richie getting trapped in a room together. There are three doors in front of them, and written on each is a different warning: “very scary”, “scary”, and “not scary at all”. The boys natural run to the door that reads “not scary at all”, but are of course, immediately met with some visceral horror.
STAN’S PAINTING
The first It movie delves into Stan’s background and the strict traditions he’s been raised under. Due to living with his difficult parents, Stan is portrayed as being often very fearful and cautious. In one of the first scenes in the film, Stan finds himself in a room that absolutely terrifies him because it contains an extremely disturbing painting of a disfigured woman.
Stan’s worst fears come to life when he finds that the woman has disappeared from her painting, and begins to terrorize him in what was one of Pennywise’s most horrifying illusions.
“AM I REAL ENOUGH FOR YOU?”
Tormenting Bill about Georgie was one of Pennywise’s favorite things to do in both films. He became a personification, of sorts, of Bill’s guilt over not being able to protect his little brother. At every opportunity, Pennywise mocked and taunted Bill for not being there when Georgie died, even appearing as the little boy to blame Bill for his death.
In a scene that takes place in Pennywise’s house, when the killer clown has the Losers’ Club in his grips, the kids huddle together, terrified. Pennywise proceeds to torment Bill, saying, “Am I real enough for you, Billy? I was real for Georgie.”
MRS. KERSH
The extent of Pennywise’s power is really showcased in It Chapter 2. Most notably, he’s able to make Beverly believe that her old apartment in Derry was still intact, while it was actually long-since foreclosed upon.
Beverly knocks on the door only to find that an old woman now lives in her old home, and she believes that she misread “Kersh” as “Marsh”. It turns out, neither name was actually there but she falls into Pennywise’s trap as he slowly sheds his Mrs. Kersh disguise in a truly unsettling scene.
THE FORTUNE COOKIE SCENE
The Losers’ Club reunion was iconic, but Pennywise couldn’t let them have too much peace the moment they set foot in Derry again. While enjoying a nostalgic dinner together at a Chinese restaurant, the Losers’ initial happiness and excitement upon reuniting quickly dissipates when the reality sets in.
The gang are brought fortune cookies, and quickly discover that Pennywise hid a little word puzzle within them that ends up reading, “guess Stanley just could not cut it”. This was already terrifying, but then the fortune cookies start splitting upon and revealing terrifying contents such as a demon eyeball and an insanely creepy hybrid creature that has a baby face.
ADRIAN MELLON
Stephen King never shies away from social/political issues and prejudice in his novels. He almost always sheds light on a controversial but nonetheless important topic in each other his stories. In It’s case, one of the first scenes revolves around a gay couple who set out to have a nice night at the Derry fair but wind up getting beaten, and in Adrian’s case, brutally murdered, by a group of crazed bullies.
The scene in which Don and Adrian are beaten into bloody pulps is one that the 1990 miniseries didn’t dare take on. It Chapter 2 does adapt this scene, though, and it’s completely terrifying and also unnecessarily gory.
SPIDER STAN
Stan’s absence is felt substantially throughout It Chapter 2, and of course, Pennywise takes full advantage of this completely heartbreaking situation. In Pennywise’s house, the Losers’ are terrorized in several different ways.
One of the most memorable instances of this was when Stan’s severed head rolls out of a fridge and begins to grow spider legs. He then proceeds to chase the Losers around the house in one of the most unforgettable scenes in the It franchise.
“I KNOW YOUR SECRET.”
There’s nothing more terrifying than being confronted on a fear that is so deeply buried in your subconscious that you can’t even face it yourself. This is something that is emphasized in It Chapter 2, and the fact that Pennywise doesn’t only know your worst fear, but he also knows of fears that are so real and heavy, they seem impossible to confront.
It Chapter 2 explores a storyline in which Richie is gay and has had some trauma due to being bullied as a kid over this. Not only does this convey Richie at his most vulnerable, but Pennywise takes this fact about Richie and uses it to humiliate him in a terrifying way. The entire screen changes to a dream-like color and quality as Pennywise floats down from the Paul Bunyan statue and sings to Richie, “I know your secret, your dirty little secret”.
