Pennywise vs Art the Clown

Pennywise vs. Art the Clown

You’ll never go to the circus or child’s birthday party again. Welcome to WatchMojo, and in this installment of versus, we're pitting Pennywise against Art the Clown.

For this showdown, we’re going to find out which of these horror movie clown characters reigns supreme.

Round 1: Background / Origin Story

Pennywise the Dancing Clown is just one of the many forms taken by the cosmic being known simply as “It.” Since this is a battle of the clowns, however, and given that Pennywise is the form that “It” takes most often, that’s the one we’re focusing on. Also, referring to it as “It” is just too freaking confusing! Anyways, we digress. Pennywise is billions of years old and originates from the space beyond the universe. Carried to Earth countless years ago by a meteor, Pennywise found a new home living below the area of land that would eventually become the town of Derry, Maine. Sustaining itself on fear, it rises every 27 years to feed on the locals - the town’s children, in particular.

Like so many other great horror movie monsters, Art the Clown’s history is largely shrouded in mystery. Across his handful of media appearances in short, feature, and anthology films to date, what we have managed to gather is that, despite his relatively human appearance, he’s actually demonic in nature. As his brand continues to expand, we’ll likely eventually learn more about his origins, but for the time being, Art remains an enigma - and that’s a big part of his appeal. And because he’s almost entirely silent, we’ve also never gotten any explanation as to what drives him. Art seemingly exists solely to kill and mutilate.

We appreciate Art’s mysteriousness, but Pennywise the Clown comes into this first round armed with a rich and well-developed mythology, which arguably makes him feel more compelling. As such, Pennywise takes the first round.

WINNER: Pennywise: 1/ Art the Clown: 0

Round 2: Costume / Design

Across his various appearances, Pennywise has undergone some fairly significant redesigns. Stephen King, in the book, describes Pennywise as wearing a silver clown suit with a ruffled collar and orange pom-poms. He’s bald with tufts of red hair on either side and has a large red smile. In the 1990 miniseries, the character wore a more colorful and conventional modern clown costume, though the face was largely in keeping with the source material. For Andy Muschietti’s “It” films, the costume design took a more Victorian spin while returning Pennywise to his more muted color palette, albeit with exaggerated facial makeup.

Like the Tim Curry version of Pennywise, Art wears a pretty standard clown outfit. That being said, instead of bright colors typically associated with clowns, he goes for a more sinister black and white motif, which makes him look like he’s just stepped out of a silent era film. The costume has evolved over the course of the movies, but remains largely consistent in its aesthetic. The most noticeable change is in the design of the character’s face, which has gotten increasingly gaunt, angular, inhuman, and just all-around disturbing. One look at this clown and you know that something’s not right. Oh, and that black garbage bag he carries around makes for quite the sinister accessory.

Both of these clowns are terrifying in appearance. But even when he breaks out his sharp teeth, Pennywise is less immediately intimidating than Art. The newcomer takes a round to tie it up!

WINNER: Pennywise: 1/ Art the Clown: 1

Round 3: Scare Factor

Pennywise thrives on fear, and so he’s rightfully an artist in the art of terrifying people. His survival literally depends on his ability to inspire fear. When people stop being afraid of him, he’s robbed of his typically awe-inspiring power. Because Pennywise isn’t limited to a single form, shapeshifting is arguably his greatest tool for terrifying his viewers and, by extension, audiences. He takes the form of your worst fears and gives them life to truly terrifying effect. Pennywise has also got a real knack for picking his environments. Sewers, old dilapidated houses, the space under the bleachers, he understands the value of setting the mood in the worst way possible.

Art likes to keep things decidedly simpler, but he manages to inspire plenty of fear regardless. Part of what makes Art so terrifying is that, despite his odd appearance and supernatural abilities, he somehow still feels firmly grounded in our world. Art doesn’t keep to the shadows or even necessarily wait for the cover of darkness. Nor does he carry out any sort of elaborate plots. He simply steps into a mundane, everyday space, plays some mind games, and then carries out his evil deed. Art feels like the sort of horror movie villain who could already exist in our world (in some form at least) and might just walk into the room at any moment.

This is a close call. We’re suckers for cosmic terror that Pennywise trades, but the immediate and unrelenting threat that Art the Clown poses results in a more visceral sort of fear. And with that, he wins another round to pull ahead of Pennywise!

WINNER: Pennywise: 1 / Art the Clown: 2

Round 4: Powers

Pennywise is a shapeshifter, but he is so much more. When the Losers Club square off against this cosmic entity, it's a real David and Goliath type of story. His telepathy allows him to see into the minds of his victims and thus know how best to scare them. He’s also able to create tangible illusions, possess people, telekinetically control inanimate objects, teleport, and cause plants to wither and die with a single touch. He’s also got all the usual superhuman abilities like enhanced strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and regeneration. Plus, he can essentially induce insanity. Nearly invulnerable, Pennywise is an insanely powerful monster, even by horror movie standards.

Art refuses to be put in a box. Just as his origins are shrouded in mystery, so are the exact nature and limitations of his abilities. At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he’s just a killer in costume given that he always insists on getting his hands dirty. He certainly knows his ways around sharp objects and human anatomy. But as we’ve seen, Art has certain supernatural powers. He rarely uses them in a fatal application, but does employ them in the hunt to help maximize the terror he inflicts upon his victims. He can seemingly manipulate technology, teleport, utilize limited clairvoyance, and mess with reality. Like all good supernatural slashers, he can also apparently regenerate.

Both of these clowns have more than just an extra-long handkerchief up their respective sleeves. But because Art the Clown’s powers receive less screen time and are so ambiguous, we’ve got to give this round to Pennywise.

WINNER: Pennywise: 2 / Art the Clown: 2

Round 5: Style / Mannerisms / Demeanor

Pennywise is terrifying to behold and his powers have us shaking in our boots, but at the end of the day, it’s his bed-side, so to speak, that’s made him so iconic. In both the miniseries and the films, Pennywise is this sort of darkly charming figure. He’s extremely creepy, but in a magnetic, charismatic sort of way, that’s hard to look away from. He’s quirky, and sometimes even downright funny - in his own twisted way. In the most recent films, actor Bill Skarsgård went the extra mile by perfecting the character’s mannerisms in such a way that makes his every gesture and facial expression unnerving. In short, Pennywise isn’t just another horror movie monster, he’s a fully-fleshed out character with a distinct personality.

When it comes to killer clowns, they don’t get much more sick or twisted than Art. One of the character’s defining characteristics is that he’s silent, not unlike a mime. Even when he laughs (usually at something utterly depraved), he does it without making any sort of noise. Part of clowning is that you exaggerate your movements to make even mundane actions seem comical. Art respects this aspect of his chosen identity, but the activities to which he applies this clownish over-the-top behavior are stalking and murdering people at random, to seriously messed up results. The theatricality of his methods is what elevates Art from your run-of-the-mill supernatural killer to an icon in the making.

This was NOT an easy round. But… we feel like we’re still getting to know Art, and that his most character-defining moments still lie ahead of him. As such, this round goes to the Pennywise, the one-of-a-kind cosmic clown who we’ve come to know all too well. Pennywise wins!

WINNER: Pennywise: 3 / Art the Clown: 2

Did we pick the right killer clown? Be sure to debate it in the comments and of course, don’t forget to subscribe to WatchMojo for more entertaining versus battles.