How It: Welcome to Derry’s genius Pennywise risk pays off – and makes it scarier than the films

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**Warning – It: Welcome to Derry spoilers ahead.**

If the opening episode of It: Welcome to Derry didn’t leave you reeling, you might be dead inside.

This isn’t an exaggeration. The first episode of the highly anticipated prequel is incredibly intense, immediately immersing viewers in a gripping and overwhelming experience.

The first episode is disturbing and introduces us to Matty, a young man trying to escape a difficult and abusive home. Things quickly get worse when he’s taken in by a peculiar family, and the show doesn’t shy away from shocking imagery – including the graphic birth of a demonic baby. Matty is then suddenly and violently taken from our sight, marking a dramatic and horrifying turn of events.

Things take a terrifying turn for Matty and his friends – the new Losers Club – after they experience increasingly disturbing events. The situation escalates dramatically at the movie theater, where most of them are brutally attacked and killed, and a terrifying demonic baby reappears.

It’s clear who’s behind all of this. We recognize the way this being thrives on fear, even if it appears differently each time. But it makes you wonder, why don’t we ever actually see Pennywise, the creature that terrorizes Derry?

The creators have confirmed that Pennywise won’t appear in his full, terrifying form for a while. While his influence is definitely felt in the first episode, viewers hoping to see the Dancing Clown right away might be let down.

I think the show made the right call. By keeping Pennywise hidden for much of the time, the creators used a classic horror technique: delaying the reveal of the monster. This is something horror fans have seen for decades in films like Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and A Quiet Place – it builds suspense and makes the eventual reveal even scarier.

Ultimately, keeping the monster hidden lets our minds create far more terrifying images. What the filmmaker could actually show us wouldn’t be as scary as what we envision ourselves.

That’s simply how our minds work. Imagination helps us predict the future by creating possible scenarios, and we often tend to picture the most negative outcomes, he explained.

Our imaginations are often more frightening than anything we watch because they’re deeply personal. They draw on our own life experiences and combine them with whatever triggers the fear, creating a uniquely terrifying experience tailored just for us.

You know, thinking about it, the way the filmmakers are holding back on showing the clown directly? It really reminds me of how Pennywise operates – that sense of lurking, unseen terror. It’s almost like they’re accidentally – or maybe brilliantly – recreating the villain’s effect by not showing him! It’s a really clever move, honestly.

Like the terrifying Pennywise preys on the Losers Club’s deepest fears in the movie, the filmmakers – Andy and Barbara Muschietti and their team – have cleverly tapped into our own personal anxieties while we watch, making the experience truly unsettling.

The way ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ builds suspense is quite different from other horror stories we’ve analyzed. Those usually depend on keeping the monster a mystery. However, most of us have already seen the ‘It’ movies and are familiar with Bill Skarsgård’s portrayal of Pennywise the clown, so the fear factor relies on something else.

As terrifying as it might be, a hint of that horror could be toned down with him being so familiar.

What’s really scary about this new ‘It’ series is the constant uncertainty – you never know when Pennywise will show up. In the first episode, ‘Welcome to Derry,’ he feels incredibly close and threatening, but you can never quite catch a clear look at him. It’s like watching a balloon drift away – always just out of reach. This really builds the tension because you feel like he’s lurking around every corner, always on the edge of your vision, both everywhere and nowhere at once. He just pops up when you’re least prepared, and it’s terrifying!

It works much better as a series than a movie would have. The story builds tension gradually, and the long wait between appearances of Pennywise actually adds to the suspense.

The early episodes of Welcome to Derry show Pennywise tormenting children through their nightmares, slowly building their fear before he finally appears. He doesn’t reveal himself as the Dancing Clown right away; instead, he waits until the moment is perfect for a truly frightening and dramatic reveal that’s well worth anticipating.

As a lifelong fan, I was really surprised when the showrunners decided to hold back Pennywise’s classic clown look for so long – it felt like a huge gamble. Because the story keeps revisiting Derry and, honestly, he and the town are the only things that stay consistent with all the different casts over the years, it seemed risky. That dancing clown is It, in most of our minds, so I was honestly expecting things to fall apart if they kept him hidden for too long.

I think what’s so brilliant about this is how it lets us really get inside the heads of the characters. Seeing their deepest fears play out is incredibly revealing, and honestly, it makes you think about your own anxieties too. It builds this incredible tension as you try to picture the villain and what they’re capable of, making the final reveal that much more impactful.

He’s known for saying he’s your biggest fear come to life, and this situation might be the most terrifying one yet.

New episodes of It: Welcome to Derry are released weekly on Sky Atlantic and NOW.

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2025-10-28 20:07