That's a good point. Often time i'll watch a disturbing film and wonder what must have been going through the mind of the director when he chose to include that certain scene. Some of them for shock value i suppose.
In some cases gore can work really well, like in Kill Bill Vol 1 and Django Unchained. There's just something about those final action scenes that have you sat on the edge of your seat wanting more.
IT The Clown is kinda funny when you re-watch it as an adult, but i totally understand why you never wanted to watch the thing. The clown is played by Tim Curry, who i love from Scary Movie 2, and he's kinda funny when he's playing IT too. (B-b-b-b-Billy Boi!!, for example LOL)
As it turns out, IT The Clown was nothing more than a giant alien spider thing that can cast Genjutsu, (illusion techniques) but also be effected by it's own Genjutsu. For instance the clown isn't really 'real' but it can interact with stuff and grab kids, however kids within the spiders radius could also effect it with their imagination. It's powers are kind of a double edged sword. So if your imagination is big enough you can totally own it. You should watch the film as it is really funny now compared to today's standards.