IT: 7 Scariest Things Pennywise Did In The Movies (& 8 They Should Have Included From The Book)

Originating in Stephen King’s iconic and universally adored IT (1986), Pennywise the Dancing Clown has become one of the most recognizable and utterly terrifying creatures the horror genre has ever produced. From the moment the horrifying shape-shifter appeared to Georgie in a storm drain, he has terrified thousands of readers/viewers around the world. While anyone who read the novel would find it difficult to believe that Pennywise could be any scarier, Mama director Andy Muschietti was able to take the demonic clown to an entirely new level of creepy, modernizing the character for both fans of the original and new viewers.

To celebrate Hollywood’s creepiest clown (sorry, Joker), we’re examining Pennywise’s role in Stephen King’s original novel as well as IT and IT Chapter Two. We’ve gone ahead and ranked the scariest things Pennywise the Dancing Clown did in the movies, before discussing the the most terrifying moments that didn’t make into the films.

Updated by Lianna Tedesco on October 7th, 2020: With Halloween rapidly approaching and three years since the IT movies graced the big screen, it was time to take a look back at some of the most horrifying differences between both the novel and the movies, parts one and two included. Decades have gone by since the novel turned dreams of carnival trips into nightmares of hellish clowns for readers, and the modern movies only cemented the fact that those nightmares would continue. While there were a countless number of differences between the two, Stephen King’s message always remains the same: Our childhood fears are never too far away. 

15 Movies: Georgie In The Storm Drain – IT Chapter Two

While Georgie might have died in the opening moments of the first film, Andy Muschietti brilliantly uses the character to terrify viewers throughout IT Chapter Two. In this horrifically intense scene, Pennywise appears in the storm drain and uses Georgie’s face to lure Bill into his trap.

Providing one of the biggest jumpscares the sequel has to offer, this scene works, for the most part, because director Andy Muschietti utilizes the connection viewers have with the Denbrough brothers and uses it against us.

14 Movies: Spider Stan – IT Chapter Two

Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of King’s novel delivers more than a few terrifying and utterly traumatic moments, but Stanley Uris’ decayed head hatching spider legs and attacking the Losers’ Club is certainly one of the scariest!

This wildly intense and gruesome moment is perhaps the most shocking scene to appear in the sequel, as it takes a beloved character and uses him to wreak havoc on the Losers’ Club. The scene plays with the audience’s emotions in unexpected and horrifying ways while maintaining Pennywise’s playful and horrendously vile sense of humor.

13 Movies: Killing Vickie – IT Chapter Two

There are plenty of characteristics that make Pennywise one of Hollywood’s creepiest monsters, but his hunger for young children certainly lands at the top of the list. In this unbearably intense scene, Pennywise lures an extremely young Vicki into his trap using a firefly before gaining the girl’s trust and offering to give her something she desires most. Of course, things don’t end well for poor Vicki as Pennywise brutally eats the young girl alive.

Pennywise luring Vicki into his trap is unquestionably one of the most intense and shocking moments of Andy Muschietti’s cinematic adaptation, as the clown once again uses his charm to consume one of Derry’s youngest residents. Delivering a massive jumpscare and throwing a shocking amount of gore onto the screen, this moment displays exactly how persuasive and charming Pennywise can be when attracting his next victim.

12 Movies: The Projector – IT

While the projector scene was added by filmmaker Andy Muschietti, the sequence quickly become one of Pennywise’s most terrifying and memorable acts! When the young Losers’ Club comes together to discover where Pennywise’s lair can be found, the clown terrifyingly appears in one of Bill’s family photographs before bursting out of the screen to attack the losers.

Offering one of the most shocking and downright terrifying moments in recent memory, this scene works for a number of reasons. For the most part, however, the projector scene works because it’s unlike anything the horror genre has produced before. The scene came as such a massive surprise to everyone watching that it almost instantly became an iconic horror moment.

11 Movies: Killing Georgie – IT

Little Georgie Denbrough’s horrific death is the most iconic and memorable moment of Stephen King’s novel for a reason! In this outrageously horrific sequence, Pennywise lures Georgie into his terrifying trap by promising to return the paper boat that had sailed into the sewer. Getting closer and closer to the clown to retrieve his boat, Georgie gets the ultimate shock when Pennywise tears his arm from his body and drags him into the sewer, where he’ll float forever.

Setting the tone for the entire film moving forward, Georgie’s brutal and shockingly gruesome death is undoubtedly the most effective, emotional, and terrifying scene in the modern adaptation. While there are certainly a few scenes that deliver a bigger jump scare than this one, nothing compares to the intensity and the terror that both Stephen King and Muschietti deliver in the opening moments of the story.

10 Movies: Richie’s Room Of Clowns – IT

In the novel, Pennywise takes the shape of many nightmarish figures. While it was somewhat expected that not all of these would be in the movies, some were changed slightly to fit the retelling of the horror story. During the scene in the novel in which Richie encounters the werewolf which was inspired by I Was A Teenage Werewolf, he’s plagued by something many would consider being far scarier: A room full of clowns. Of course, Pennywise is among them, and with the film’s brilliant cinematography, many would argue this scene was better than the novel.

9 Movies: The Leper That Plagues Eddie Kaspbrak

Another major monster change from the novel to the book is the creature Eddie encounters. While it is close to his nightmare in the novel, the leper he sees as part of his own personalized nightmare has been hailed as even creepier than the novel version. In the novel, the leper speaks and creates a wildly inappropriate dialogue. However, in the movie version of the leper, there’s something about its gruesome nature and horrifying figure in full-HD that likely plays on the viewer’s own nightmares.

8 Novel: The Bullies Meet Pennywise

In one of the books more entertaining but equally terrifying chapters, Henry Bowers and his friends Vic and Belch find themselves in the sewers being slaughtered by It. Taking the form of Frankenstein’s monster, Pennywise brutally decapitates Vic before attempting to kill both Bowers and Belch. Henry is able to escape by abandoning his friends, while Pennywise kills Belch by shredding his face.

7 Novel: First Encounter With Ben

Ben’s first sighting of Pennywise is another moment from the book that was unfortunately lost in the films. Ben first sees Pennywise while crossing the canal on his way home from school. Standing on the frozen water, Pennywise offers the young boy a balloon, and what’s even more frightening, Ben actually feels compelled to accept the gift. Luckily, the town clock chimes, giving Ben a chance to escape what would’ve been a bloody and painful death.

6 Novel: Appearing To Stan At The Standpipe

Stan’s first encounter with Pennywise is certainly something that should’ve made it into the films! While out birdwatching, Stan notices the infamous Standpipe floating. When Stan enters the standpipe to investigate, Pennywise quickly locks the door and begins to torment the boy using the voices of those who drowned inside. Stan is able to escape Pennywise’s trap by using his guidebook and chanting the names of different birds.

5 Novel: Killing Eddie Corcoran

When Eddie Corcoran’s abusive step-father kills his little brother with a hammer, the young boy runs away from home and finds himself alone in the Barrens, which is shockingly where he encounters It. Pennywise first appears to the boy as his dead little brother before shifting into Gill-Man and tearing the boys head from his torso.

4 Novel: Georgie’s Photo

In this horrifying moment from Stephen King’s novel, Bill is looking through a family photo book and admiring innocent pictures of his deceased little brother. The tone quickly shifts, however, when one of Georgie’s pictures winks at Bill and promises that he’ll see him soon. If that wasn’t bad enough, the book begins to gush with blood and moves once again when Bill shows Ritchie.

3 Novel: Mrs. Kersh’s Slow And Painful Transformation

While much of the interaction between Mrs. Kersh and Bev plays out in a way that’s similar to the movie, the novel scene does vary slightly – whether it’s more disturbing depends on the reader. As opposed to the freakishly bizarre display that’s put on by Mrs. Kersh after revealing Pennywise (AKA Bob Gray) is her father, in the book she’s far more of a witch. Along the same lines as Hansel and Gretel, the newly-bewitched Mrs. Kersh threatens to basically turn Bev and her friends into a meal, before then turning into Bev’s father and terrorizing her.

2 Novel: Eddie Kaspbrak’s Death Is Even More Tragic

One scene that played on the heartstrings of both fans of the novel, as well as fans of the movies, was the death of Eddie Kaspbrak. While the end result is the same in both, there’s far more emotion in the book. During the final telepathic battle, Kaspbrak hears Richie struggling along with his other friends and makes the selfless decision to shove his inhaler down the throat of It, which bites off his arm. As he’s bleeding out, he tries to say one final thing when Richie runs over but never has the chance to actually get it out. At the end of the movie, it’s alluded to that Richie had feelings for Eddie. However, in the book, there are hints to this as well — but no definitive answer.

1 Novel: Derry, Itself, Nearly Gets Destroyed Thanks To Pennywise

It’s hard to believe that the novel has a more wicked ending than the movie (albeit the ending of It Chapter Two was a ‘happy’ one), but it’s true. When Pennywise is finally defeated in the novel, it’s true that its lair underground falls to pieces, but this incident affects the entire town. The defeat of Pennywise also brings with it a massive storm and an underground force that takes down half the town along with it. As it turns out, even after death, Pennywise is still wreaking havoc, as it’s foretold in the novel that Derry was built on the rotten will of It.

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