It: Welcome To Derry Might 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 lore. 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 an 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 events in "The Shining" and included a subtle reference to the inaugural King tome "Carrie." It even snuck in a surreptitious nod to one an under-seen King TV series in a moment from the harrowing seventh episode that almost nobody caught. But while the show was designed as what co-creator and showrunner Jason Fuchs called "a love letter to Stephen King canon," it also paid tribute to wider horror history.

"Welcome to Derry" managed to pay homage to a classic movie villain in its finale wherein Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) kidnaps almost every kid in Derry and marches them to their doom while driving a cart similar to the one used by Sir Robert Helpmann's Child Catcher in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Now, it looks as though the creators may have snuck in a subtle "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" reference, too. Redditors have speculated that Pennywise' grim high school auditorium performance in the final episode of season 1 was inspired by a similar scene from the 1988 sci-fi horror — and they might be onto something.

"It: Welcome to Derry" was designed 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 hurdle going into "Welcome to Derry" in that they no longer had Stephen King's 1986 "It" novel on which to base their story. That is, they only had three brief interludes from the book to go off, all of which provided snapshots of Derry's past without elaborating too greatly. So, the HBO series afforded the trio a lot of creative license.

In the show, we learn that the evil entity was sent to Earth millions of years ago, crash landing in the area that would one day become Derry. In the early 20th Century, the shape-shifting villain assumed the identity of Pennywise the dancing clown after killing real-life circus performer Bob Gray (also played by Bill Skarsgård), using his on-stage persona to lure children to their doom. In short, then, 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 Pennywise is an alien being, without going into too many details.)

Viewers noticed that the scene in the "Welcome to Derry" finale, in which Pennywise gathers Derry High School students in the school auditorium and puppeteers the lifeless body of Principal Dunleavy (Robert Clarke), is very reminiscent of a similar scene in "Killer Klowns from Outer Space." That couldn't be more apt given the backstory for the hellish harlequin revealed in the prior episodes.

"Killer Klowns from Outer Space" debuted in 1988, two years after Stephen King's "It" novel was released. The movie is far campier than "It" and came courtesy of brothers Stephen and Charles Chiodo, both of whom wrote the screenplay and designed the practical effects in the movie, while Stephen directed. "It" fans yet to see this cult classic horror will find a lot of similarities between King's story and the film, which depicts the arrival of alien clowns in a small town where they feed on the helpless residents to stay alive.

Designed as a love letter to the Chiodo Brothers' childhoods, "Killer Klowns" begins in much the same way as It's own Earthly odyssey as explained in "Welcome to Derry," with the titular extra-terrestrials crash landing in the woods outside of a small town named Crescent Cove. As the HBO show reveals, after its own crash landing, It remained trapped in the woods that would eventually become Derry for centuries. Given those connections, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine the show's creators included a subtle nod to the 1988 horror, especially with the assortment of other allusions showcased throughout the first season.

As Redditors pointed out, when Pennywise puts on his perverse puppet show in the final episode, it's very reminiscent of a scene in "Killer Klowns" wherein one of the aliens uses the dead body of police officer Curtis Mooney (John Vernon) as a ventriloquist's dummy. While the latter is scary in its own way, it's also a more lighthearted moment than Pennywise's version, which ends with the clown ripping off Principal Dunleavy's head and tossing his decapitated body into the crowd. Hey, if this was a "Killer Klowns" reference, at least they made it their own.