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Which Horror Icon Inspired the Look of IT’s Pennywise the Clown?

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There are few horror movie characters more iconic than It‘s Pennywise, who has been invading nightmares for 25 years. It was of course Tim Curry who played the scary clown in the mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, and Pennywise returns in 2016 with a brand new feature film.

We recently spoke with makeup artist Bart Mixon, who designed Pennywise’s instantly recognizable look for the 1990 mini-series. During the interview, Mixon revealed a surprising bit of information that we had never heard before, telling us the secret inspiration behind his most beloved creation.

So, which horror iconic inspired the look of Pennywise? Take it away, Bart!

Bart Mixon Pennywise

“I am not sure if I have mentioned this elsewhere, but the inspiration for this look was the original Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera. The upturned nose, bald dome and cheek bones were intended to echo this classic make-up. Interesting enough, while I was researching clowns, I found a photo of a Russian clown from around 1917 that looked very much like Chaney’s Phantom, but much creepier than Pennywise.”

Mixon also spoke further about the makeup design process…

“I started out designing Pennywise by doing lots and lot of research into various clown looks. I did do a number of sketches, but these were somewhat pointless until the part was cast. The production was considering Tim Curry, Roddy McDowall, and Malcolm McDowell – and while I think any of these great actors would have given us a very unique Pennywise, I do think they made the right choice in casting Tim.

Once Tim was it, I got his head shot from the production and started sketching over it, so that I knew whatever I designed would fit on Tim. We then took a full head cast of Tim and produced three copies of it. Upon these busts, I did three clay sketches of different looks that I liked, sealed them and painted them with different clown designs. I took photos of these busts with a red wig and sent them to the director, Tommy Lee Wallace. We discussed them and eventually he chose one very similar to the final look in the film. I then sculpted this approved version and it was broken down into the various sections for an appliance make-up. At this time there was a domed head, the nose, cheek bones, and a chin. I had a wig made and we tested this make-up on Tim.

Tim wanted to wear as little prosthetics as possible, so we tested two looks for Pennywise. The first was just the nose and head piece and a paint scheme that Tim contributed some ideas to. Since I was using PAX paint as a base, and not traditional clown white make-up, I was able to glue the cheeks and chin over this for our second test. The paint this time was closer to what I had originally intended, but in the end the lighter make-up was chosen and the paint was modified to what it was in the film. Of course, this look was chosen AFTER I had sculpted the “battery acid” look for Pennywise, so that stage does have the facial features of my original design.”

It Pennywise

Yes, it was indeed Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera that evolved into It‘s Pennywise the clown. How cool is that?!

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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