10 Scariest Horror Movie Clowns

Of course, no list like this would be anywhere near complete without Pennywise making an appearance, the undisputed king of clowning around that long since haunted the minds of watchers from his first on-screen appearance in 1990. Tim Curry's powerhouse performance as the interdimensional creature that presents itself as Pennywise the Dancing Clown is a classic of the genre, and arguably the defining force of making clowns truly creepy in the way that they are today.

Telling the tale of a group of outcasts that fight against an entity that feasts on children every 27 years, both releases of the It story cover seven friends attempting to take down the monster that taunts them with their own worst fears, shapeshifting consistently between horrific visions and the preferred apparition of his chosen clown.

Reinvented for 2017 and 2019 by Bill Skarsgard, Pennywise's terrifying influence continues to hold exceptionally strong - updated in all of the best ways into an inhuman, unknowable, spine-chillingly malicious monster that lurks underneath a classic clown get up. Pennywise as a concept is scary enough, but the way he's brought to screen is almost unforgivably horrifying.