Welcome To Derry could feature an homage to a popular ’80s horror comedy

“It: Welcome to Derry” was a trove of references, Easter eggs and homages to Stephen King’s story. But it also included several allusions to other horror favorites. Eagle-eyed fans have noticed that the Season 1 finale includes what could very easily be interpreted as a homage to “Killer Klowns from Outer Space,” which would make a lot of sense given the story told in the HBO series.

“Welcome to Derry” contained scenes that foreshadowed the events of “The Shining” and included a subtle reference to King’s first volume “Carrie”. He even snuck in a surreptitious nod to one of the under-seen King TV series at a moment in the heartbreaking seventh episode that almost no one caught. But while the series was intended as what co-creator and showrunner Jason Fuchs called “a love letter to the Stephen King canon,” it also paid homage to broader horror history.

“Welcome to Derry” managed to pay homage to a classic movie villain in its finale in which Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) kidnaps almost all of the children of Derry and takes them to their doom by driving a cart similar to the one used by Sir Robert Helpmann’s Child Catcher in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. Now, it seems the creators also slipped in a subtle reference to the “Killer Klowns from Outer Space.” Editors have speculated that Pennywise’s dark performance in the high school auditorium in the season 1 finale was inspired by a similar scene from the 1988 sci-fi horror – and they might be onto something.

“It: Welcome to Derry” was intended as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s two films, 2017’s “It” and 2019’s “It Chapter Two.” But creators Muschietti, his sister Barbara and Jason Fuchs faced a significant obstacle before creating “Welcome to Derry,” in that they no longer had Stephen King’s 1986 novel “It” on which to base their story. That is, they only had three brief interludes from the book, all of which provided snapshots of Derry’s past without much elaboration. Thus, the HBO series gave the trio great creative freedom.

In the series, we learn that the evil entity was sent to Earth millions of years ago, crashing in the area that would one day become Derry. In the early 20th century, the shapeshifting villain took on the identity of Pennywise, the Dancing Clown, after killing real circus performer Bob Gray (also played by Bill Skarsgård), using his stage persona to lure children to their doom. In short, Pennywise is basically a killer clown from outer space, which is why Reddit’s latest theory makes a lot of sense. (Note: King’s novel Also reveals that Pennywise is an alien being, without going into too much detail.)

Viewers noticed that the scene the finale of “Welcome to Derry”in which Pennywise gathers Derry High School students into the school auditorium and shows the lifeless body of Principal Dunleavy (Robert Clarke), is very reminiscent of a similar scene in “Killer Klowns from Outer Space”. This couldn’t be more fitting given the hellish harlequin’s backstory revealed in previous episodes.

“Killer Klowns from Outer Space” debuted in 1988, two years after the release of Stephen King’s novel “It.” The film is much campier than “It” and comes courtesy of brothers Stephen and Charles Chiodo, who both wrote the screenplay and designed the practical effects for the film, while Stephen directed it. “It” fans who have yet to see this horror classic will find many similarities between King’s story and the film, which depicts the arrival of alien clowns in a small town where they prey on the helpless residents to stay alive.

Conceived as a love letter to the Chiodo brothers’ childhood, “Killer Klowns” begins in much the same way as its own Earth odyssey, as explained in “Welcome to Derry”, with the titular aliens crash-landing in the woods outside a small town named Crescent Cove. As the HBO show reveals, after his own crash landing, he remained trapped in the woods that would eventually become Derry for centuries. Given these connections, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that the show’s creators included a subtle nod to the 1988 horror, especially with the assortment of other allusions presented throughout the first season.

As Redditors pointed out, when Pennywise performs his evil puppet show in the latest episode, it’s very reminiscent of a scene from “Killer Klowns” in which one of the aliens uses the corpse of police officer Curtis Mooney (John Vernon) as a ventriloquist’s dummy. While the latter is creepy in its own way, it’s also a lighter moment than Pennywise’s version, which ends with the clown ripping off Principal Dunleavy’s head and throwing his decapitated body into the crowd. Hey, if it was a “Killer Klowns” reference, at least they made it their own.