One Of The Scariest Scenes In It Meets A Clown In The Sewer
(Welcome to Scariest Scene Ever, a column dedicated to the most pulse-pounding moments in horror with your tour guides, horror experts Chris Evangelista and Matt Donato. In this edition, Chris sails a boat with "It" 2017.)
If you're afraid of clowns, there's a good chance you have Stephen King to blame. King practically gave birth to the killer clown horror story with his massive tome of terror "It," the story of a small Maine town cursed by a Lovecraftian monster who just happens to be able to take the shape of anything it wants — including a clown. The novel was famously adapted into a miniseries in the '90s, and in 2017, a new version of "It" hit the big screen. Despite some changes — it's set primarily in the '80s instead of the '50s like King's novel, and only has one timeline instead of two as King jumps back and forth between past and present — the film works, and works well. It was also a box office hit, ushering in a new wave of Stephen King adaptations. A new King adaptation, "The Boogeyman," hits theaters this weekend, so we here at Scariest Scene Ever wanted to bring you some more King goodness to celebrate.
The setup
It's 1988, and the children of Derry, Maine keep disappearing. Why? Because a malevolent shape-shifting clown known as Pennywise (an excellent Bill Skarsgård) keeps eating them. The only hope is the Losers' Club, a group of outcast kids who band together to fight Pennywise and save the day. Easier said than done, since Pennywise is an ancient evil and they're just a bunch of dumb kids. Luckily, the film is cast incredibly well, with all of the kids playing the Losers giving it their all and making us root for them every step of the way.
The story so far
There actually isn't much of a "story so far" for this entry as it occurs at the beginning of the film. But here's what you need to know: it's raining, and young Georgie Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott) is bored. His older brother Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) is sick in bed, but comes up with a solution: Georgie can go sail a paper boat through the rain-soaked gutters. And so after building the boat with Bill, Georgie heads out into the rain to have some good, clean fun. And then he gets brutally murdered by a sewer clown.
The Scene
Georgie's boat ends up going down the sewer, but it's not instantly lost. Instead, a clown is down in that sewer, ready to give Georgie the boat back – or so he says. King's novel actually delves into why Georgie instantly accepts the presence of a sewer clown (he's a young kid and doesn't know any better!). The movie doesn't do such a thing, and it actually switches things up slightly by making Pennywise seem creepy as hell from the jump — the clown in the novel starts off as friendly to lure Georgie closer. While the change may anger some fans of King's work — how is this terrifying clown supposed to fool anybody? — I think it works to establish an ominous mood for the film as a whole. As for poor Georgie, he gets too close and Pennywise rips off his arm before dragging him into the sewer for breakfast. RIP, Georgie.
The impact (Matt's take)
Who could kill a child in a horror movie, let alone kill a child in the opening of their horror movie? "The Boogeyman," "It," "A Quiet Place," and other titles have made their impression by axing one of their youngest characters within minutes. "It" proudly boasts the most vicious kiddie kill as we watch Pennywise devour poor wee Georgie's arm like a saucy Super Bowl snack. There's gory, bloody runoff as Georgie crawls one-handed away from a sewer drain, along with a most maniacal introduction for the child-snatching, flesh-eating alien known as Pennywise. If you want to show your audience there will be no messing around, eliminate a child with a brutal disregard for common decency at the starting line. "It" sets itself up for horror success by swinging for the fences early, gobbling up any safe sense of protected innocence with the most crooked grin.