User blog:AustinDR/Scariest Moments from It (2017)

Because it's getting close to Halloween, one thing I should at least say are what scenes from the 2017 film legitimately scared me. I'm not really someone who gets scared easily (actually like terrifying/morbid material myself), but some of these scenes either caught me off guard, or were strong enough to leave me with an impression.

1) The projector scene: Yes, this was the scariest scene for me. The mood of the scene was set really well. What starts off as the Losers Club going over the town's history and the sewers system, immediately becomes a nightmare when the reels on the photo projector start to move on their own. Admittedly, the trailer for the film kind of soiled it because I thought I knew how it would turn out. You have photos of a trip that one of the kids was on which then paves into the woman in the photograph slowly morphing into Pennywise. However, when Eddie rips the map off and the projector gets kicked to its side, Pennywise appears to be staring at Eddie as the projector began to flicker. And then...BAM! You have the Dancing Clown about as large as the interior of the room with rows of teeth galore. In short, a great scare set up well.

2) The Deadlights: When Pennywise kidnaps Beverly and takes her to the sewers, he reveals the Deadlights to her out of frustration that she's no longer showing any fear for him. Unlike with the miniseries where the Deadlights are more subtly conveyed through Pennywise's eyes, here, Pennywise opens his mouth extremely wide; the mouth wraps around his face and deep within his throat are three orbs of light; the Deadlights. It just further cements how otherworldly Pennywise is. What makes it especially disturbing is if you listen closely to the noises, you could hear the faint screaming of what can assumed to be children. Yes, that's right, you actually can hear the anguished screams of Pennywise's many victims. Plus, it also actually make sense around the whole "floating" phrase. In the miniseries we never do actually see any of It's victims float, but in this film, not only do you see Beverly float, but you also see the ravished corpses of Pennywise's recent victims hanging there in suspended animation high above the souveniers he had taken off his victims.

3) Really, everything about Henry is unnerving; a budding sociopath and (potential) serial killer in the making. But the moment that It starts to influence him is where he gets worse. The scene where he stabs his father in the neck with the switchblade, and then allowing the blood to hit his face is simply disturbing. To add onto that, you have Pennywise appearing on television, seemingly hacking a television network. But then you realize that all of the children appearing on the program are all Pennywise's victims who are all happily cheering Henry on to "kill them all." However, the scene did strike me as funny because of how over the top it was.

4) The adults. To be quite frank, I found the adults of Derry even more horrifying than Pennywise himself. They have this dissonant feel to them about how they're passive about what happen to the youth of the town. One commentator on YouTube pointed out how the post that Patrick Hockstetter's missing poster was posted on had several staples in it, implying that this had been happening for a long time. The scene where an elderly woman sees Georgie talking to Pennywise from the storm drain, but only returning after Georgie was killed is both sad and sickening. Sure, they don't question it in part due to the power that It has over the town, but I digress. The worst one, however, is Mr. Marsh. In the book, it was implied that he had deplorable feelings towards his own daughter, but here, they upped the creep factor. Oh, and then there was of course that pharmacist that Beverly was flirting with. Just....no....

5) The final battle: The saddest scene is definitely Bill having to come to terms that Georgie is dead and how he then seemingly shoots Georgie in the forehead. But then you see that it was Pennywise all along. Just the way he shifts back to his clown form is visually frightening. And then there's him trying to strike a deal with the club: either he kill all of them, or they allow him to kill and eat Bill while they get to go free. Of course, this scene does end with the kids beating the ever-living daylights out of Pennywise, but this is one of the many times that it shows that Pennywise is more than just a predator looking for food; he is an absolute sadist who loves to see people in pain whilst engorging himself on their fear.

6) Pennywise in general. He is without a doubt the darkest and most cruel take on It by far. Several traits make him scarey; teh way he moves in an erratic manner, how one of his eyes seems to be permanently glued to the screen as though to watch the audience, how he's more feral and brutal than the 1990s version or even the original book's. What makes him more sickening is how he comes off as being a child predator on the metaphorical side. Just his voice....it's so sinister. It just oozes stranger danger.

7) Any of the scenes where the kids first meet Pennywise in general. Mike is made to see a projection of his parents burning in a fire. Eddie meets a grotesque man with leprosy. Gallons of blood erupt from Beverly's sink when she began to hear voices coming from the drain. The worst one for me, however, is the basement scene. It starts of kind of like the trailer, except -- much like the projector scene -- it is much worse. Georgie's voice becomes more deep and demonic as he kept repeatedly saying "you'll float too" which is Pennywise's way of saying "I'm gonna kill you." And then Georgie starts rotting, and you see Pennywise using his body almost as if it were a ventriloquist dummy. Though to be honest, It's derpy eyes kind of took me out of the horror of the scene slightly.

8) The Sewer Drain Scene: Yes, the most memorable part of all three works. We have Georgie playing with his toy boat only for it to then be sent into the storm drain. And it is there he meets his untimely end by Pennywise. While I would personally get out of dodge if I saw Bill Skarsgards' Pennywise peering up at me through the storm drain, what makes this slightly scareier than the 90s version is the motivation. In this film, the real reason as to why Georgie decided to take the toy boat back despite not clearly trusting the clown is because he thought his brother would be mad at him for losing it. Pennywise exploits this fear, and you get the idea. The reason as to why it's so low on the list, though? Well, I didn't find it especially shocking. Is seeing a six-year-old boy getting his arm ripped off terrifying? Yes, but I felt that the scene was a little over the top. With the miniseries, they didn't need any special effects or CGI to make it scary. All you had was Tim Curry with fangs and golden eyes, the scream, and that's it. Your mind worked out the details as to what happened. Here? Georgie gets his arm ripped off, and he tries to crawl away. ONLY FOR PENNYWISE TO THEN STRETCH HIS ARM OUT TO DRAG GEORGIE INTO THE DRAIN. It's honestly over the top and felt as if it were trying too hardly to be scary.

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