1. Horror Character analysis
Pennywise the Dancing Clown
By Sam Lee
“I'm every nightmare you've ever had. I'm your worst
dream come true. I'm everything you ever were afraid
of.”- Pennywise the Dancing Clown
2. I have chosen to analyse the character of Pennywise the dancing clown, from Stephen
King's IT. Pennywise is a very creepy character to begin with and of course is based upon
the phobia of clowns (Coulrophobia). Stephen King stated in an interview that he was
terrified of clowns as a child, and still is to this very day. By having a villain that is lifelike
such as other iconic villains like Jason Vorhees or Mike Myers, you can really emphasise the
eeriness and creepiness of the villain. Also by putting them in everyday situations helps to
make the audience feel more on edge and relatable to the situation, thus creates another
sense of horror altogether. Personally I feel that this horror villain in particular has an
interesting way of picking out its prey. Unlike other villains like Freddie Krueger who kills in
dreams, Pennywise in the movie preys on the fears of children and uses that against them
in their adult life. This way of killing is unique because when the adults in the movie see
Pennywise, that same fear takes over them again despite them being a lot older.
3. Pennywise is a sadistic antagonist of the 1986 movie IT. Pennywise
isn't entirely one being, during the movie all we find out is that he
was in a previous time scale of a western setting, and he actually is a
mysterious and bizarre entity that was millions of years old. Similarly
to John Carpenter's The Thing, Pennywise takes a few forms during
the movie, mainly he is a harmless looking clown which is what he
uses to draw his victims in and kill them to feed his hunger for flesh
and blood. He lures children in with his bright coloured clothing and
balloons, he mainly preys on children because believes they are the
tastiest in comparison to adults who can defend themselves.
Pennywise doesn't just feed for fun, he specifically feeds of fear
which means, the more afraid the prey is the bigger and scarier he
can become in order to dominate them. After it was done feeding, it
would sometimes leave the remains for the deceased family or
guardian to find which was the case of the lead protagonist.
4. From his goofy and friendly front act, he would suddenly transform into his
monster form in order to devour his prey, he would lure them with one half
and kill with the other which could be compared the nature of Jekyll and
Hyde. His monster form consists of his eyes turning bright yellow and his
tongue becoming snake like whilst his teeth change into pointed razor sharp
fangs which helps to kill and ravage the prey. IT wouldn't just stay as a
clown, it would morph into many forms or person, shape or being in order
to attract its prey. IT commonly uses the phrase ‘They all float down here’
which is actually referring to the dead bodies of the children he kills,
floating in the sewer water like a balloon.
5. Pennywise dwells within the dark and abandoned sewers under the town of
Derry Maine. The reason he chooses the sewers is so that it can follow the
pipe lines directly to different houses and buildings, it often spies on the
newfound victims this way. Using this map to find its next piece of prey, IT
has the ability to mimic voices that the prey recognises which is what
attracts the children to the monster because IT mimics the voice of their
parents who needs help or something similar, then when the child comes to
see what their "parents" want, IT appears and entices the prey further with
tricks and balloons, then kills them. A prime example would be where
Pennywise rips Georgie’s arm from its socket during the first scene in the
movie.
6. Pennywise’s true form is a very disturbing and very ugly spider. The giant spider is
the most honest, closest physical image that one can get to approximating an
actual form and figure without the creature's tricks and illusions of its shape
shifting. This horrifying form is able to create fear in the sense of arachnophobia,
much like in the 1982 movie The Thing. Both of the spider monsters create fear for
arachnids which is interesting because it’s a way of creating fear for particular
viewers, both film titles don’t have a set title but more of an objective style name.
The natural form of this creature can only be seen in a far off world in another
universe that cannot show it's true form on Earth to humans because it doesn't
have a form of anything physical. This realm is the one that consists of only voices
and lights which IT refers to as the world of the "Deadlights". The Deadlights can
also cause permanent insanity, leaving its victim in a cationic state of an unworldly
and lifeless state of mind. This keeps them from telling what happened before they
saw the lights and who possessed it inside. Keeping the victims of the Deadlights
silenced forever.
