10 WTF Horror Movie Scenes Inspired By Real Life
4. Adrian Mellon's Murder - It Chapter Two
It Chapter Two opens with the controversial and disturbing death of a young gay man by the name of Adrian Mellon (Xavier Dolan), who after being assaulted and thrown off a bridge, is helplessly devoured by Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård).
This scene is taken from Stephen King's source novel, but King himself was influenced by the 1984 murder of Charlie Howard, a 23-year-old resident of Bangor, Maine, who was similarly beaten and thrown from a bridge in a homophobic attack, resulting in his drowning death.
As horrifying as Pennywise's murder of Mellon is in the movie scene, it's the rampant homophobia which truly disturbs - especially for a scene set in the modern day.