The cruelty of humanity might be more disturbing
than anything Pennywise the Dancing Clown has ever done.
Fans of horror cinema enjoy being chilled to the bone with ghastly and disturbing imagery.
But to effectively spook an audience, the filmmakers must ensure that the atmosphere
of fear is cultivated with a steady build-up of growing anxiety and dread. A scary face just
popping up out of nowhere isn't legitimately terrifying -- it's a cheap jump scare. By the
middle of "It," audiences are fully aware of the horrors that await the group of youngsters who
affectionately dubbed themselves The Losers Club. For all they know, they are recounting
spooked hallucinations to one another that may have amounted to simple nightmares or bad dreams.
“I don’t wanna go missing either.”
“He has a point.”
Eventually, the group of outcasts starts to believe something sinister is actually happening,
and that it's all connected to their little town of Derry. In
one horrific scene, they all experience the undeniable terror that is Pennywise
when he stalks them and lunges for them out of the projector in Bill's garage.
It's a chilling moment that begins subtly after the projector runs wild with photos
and lands on one of Bill's family. Georgie is smiling and his mother's face is covered by her
hair in the wind. She morphs into the hideous clown. Many viewers claim this was, perhaps,
the single most terrifying moment from the entire film series. To put it succinctly, a Redditor
claimed the scene messed them up entirely. We can all probably agree with that sentiment.
The most impactful kind of horror comes when innocent youngsters are subjected to terror.
Child casualties are simply far more heinous and shocking, and the narrative allows even
adults to witness the horror from a child's perspective. "It" does not shy away from
targeting young kids at all. In fact, Pennywise typically satisfies its hunger by feasting on
the flesh of the youngsters after the creature has given them a proper scare. Many fans are
still traumatized over poor Georgie's fate at the hands of the maniacal dancing clown.
The updated "It" movie more accurately portrays Georgie's demise in all of its grisly detail than
the 1990 miniseries ever did. Because of this, the scene does its job well in making the viewers
feel something for the characters. Hopefully, that something is a mix of dread, horror, and sadness.
Even after Pennywise grabs the gravely wounded little tyke and drags him into the sewer,
everything from that point on is left up to the viewers' imaginations. A Reddit user explained
how that is probably the scariest thing about the scene, as everyone knows the ultimate outcome for
Georgie, but what exactly did Pennywise do to him? The user's thoughts over the matter linger on,
debating whether the boy suffered even more before his final demise or if it was quick and painless.
It's also both horrifying and sad to ponder because these are
the very same thoughts that would torment Georgie's older brother, Bill, to no end.
For obvious reasons, some fans were distraught by the depiction of homophobia manifesting itself
violently at the beginning of "It: Chapter Two." The film begins 27 years after the
events of the first movie. A man by the name of Adrian Mellon and his boyfriend, Don Hagarty,
are enjoying local carnival festivities in Derry when they are accosted by other locals who insult
them over their sexuality. These locals turn violent and begin to brutally assault the couple,
even going so far as to toss Adrian over a bridge into the rushing waters of a river below.
After Don rushes to his aid below the bridge, he sees Pennywise carrying the injured Adrian
and then viciously eating the man's heart in a gruesome display. One Redditor acknowledged that
the assault was so horrific that they felt physically repulsed to watch it.
Another Reddit user explained how they fainted when they saw it in the theater,
while others discussed the negative reactions from audiences towards the scene.
The moment was pulled directly from the novel and was indicative of the level of
hatred that courses through Derry thanks to the emerging influence of Pennywise.
Given that the future setting in the novel was actually in the 1980s,
it also recalls a time when the attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community were less than accepting.
After all, the scene does include the vicious assault of a human as the result of a hate crime,
which should rightfully stir up emotions and feelings with real-world parallels.
When one messes with the forces of an ancient cosmic entity looking out for its own survival,
casualties are bound to happen, unfortunately. Aside from the
countless children and Henry's bully underlings that became victims of the horrifying clown,
the first real casualty of the Losers occurs at the beginning of "It: Chapter Two."
Stanley receives the fated phone call from Mike telling him that "it" has returned
and that the crew needs to reassemble. The haunting memories from childhood flood back,
resulting in Stanley taking his own life so that he doesn't have to face Pennywise once again.
“An oath is an oath. Losers… gotta stick together, right?”
The rest of the Losers arrive in Derry and spend time refamiliarizing themselves with the town and
their old friendships. After finally realizing what truly must be done, they attack Pennywise
on his home turf. The creature is far stronger now than before and even manages to deliver a
fatal blow to Eddie during the struggle. Fans were endeared by Eddie who was a chronic hypochondriac
typically afraid of his own shadow. But he musters all the strength he can to combat his worst fears,
ultimately sacrificing himself for the cause. Richie clearly holds a deep connection with
Eddie -- possibly beyond mere friendship and is completely broken up over the loss.
A Redditor commented how Eddie's death and Richie's grief were heartbreaking
and impacted them for days afterwards due to the overall sadness. It is truly an upsetting
loss for fans who've intimately come to love and root for these characters and their struggle.