The Total Bastard Database

The greatest killers, madmen, monsters and maniacs in horror movie history.

SPOILER WARNING!!

All entries in the TBDB are likely to carry spoliers so if you ain't seen the movie they relate to don't read 'em!

PENNYWISE

AKA:
Bob Gray, It, (Tim Curry)

Was a bastard in:
IT (1990)

So Who the Hell is he?

Hard to say really. He certainly isn't human in any case but rather some practically immortal creature from beyond our world. Whether this means another dimension or another planet isn't exactly clear.

Wherever he is from, the fact remains that he is the evil bastard who wakes up every 30 years and goes on a lengthy child-killing spree before going back to sleep. He usually appears as Pennywise the clown but can appear as many things - usually manifestations of a victim's deepest fears.

His true form is incomprehensible to the human mind but the closest thing to it apparently is the clumsy giant spider thing the heroes kick the shit out of at the end of the film. Yeah, it is a bit rubbish isn't it?

That’s not a knife…

We never really see much of Pennywise in action but we do know that his victims are usually found horribly mutilated. This is probably something to do with the big sharp teeth and spiky claws he can grow at will.

Pennywise is also quite adept at mind games and able to present his victims with horrific visions that nobody else can see. These include an avalanche of blood filled balloons falling from the ceiling and bursting all over the patrons of a public library, and a batch of very dubious fortune cookies which all conceal diferent horrors including living eyeballs and very large bugs.

Why, for the love of God, Why??!!?

It seems that the creature that Pennywise really is feeds on the children he kills. Though he does partially consume his victims it would probably be more acurate to say that it feeds on the fear and horror its killing produces in the children.

So what’s the damage?

The first time we meet Pennywise is when he kills George Denborough, an innocent little boy playing with a paper boat in the rain. Pennywise hides down a drain and convinces the boy to trust him by going on about balloons and how they all float, when George reaches in, Pennywise pulls his arm off. That's what you get for trusting really suspicious looking clowns who live in sewers I guess.

It’s a million to one chance but it might just work…

Though the gang of children who eventually vanquish Pennywise do so by using silver shot at it from a slingshot it is actually their faith and belief that really causes him the harm. This idea is repeated and reinforced in the final battle against it when one of the heroes sprays it with an asthma inhaler saying that it is really battery acid.

Words of wisdom:

"They all float down here, and when you're here YOU'LL FLOAT TOO!"

"Hello Georgie!"

"Beep Beep Richie!"

"Excuse me Madam, is your washing machine running? It is? Well you better catch it before it runs away!

By Matt Compton

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