Editorials
‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Explained: The Many Stephen King Connections & References in Episode Three
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for episode three of It: Welcome to Derry.
The first season of It: Welcome to Derry may be set in 1962, but its third episode, “Now You See It,” begins in the past. A little boy named Francis (Diesel La Torraca) runs through an old-fashioned carnival before daring to enter the freak show tent. Inside, he finds a menagerie of unusual oddities, some bearing a strong resemblance to cinematic adaptations of Stephen King stories. Director Andy Muschietti steps into the frame as a piano player, jovially accompanying this grotesquerie. Though never featured prominently in any of the author’s fictional works, King muses on freak shows in Danse Macabre, his 1981 treatise on the horror genre, examining the dated concept itself and the way we categorize monstrosity.
Terrified by a one-eyed man in the circus tent’s darkest compartment, Francis receives a present from his disapproving father. This gift, a slingshot, comes in handy when It—disguised as the freak show ghoul—chases him through the forest. Just inches from the humanoid creature’s gnashing teeth, Francis is saved by a rock launched from the trusty tool by his friend Rose (Violet Sutherland). Decades later, a young Beverly Marsh will similarly save her friends from the monster in werewolf form with her own slingshot and bullets made from melted silver dollars.
Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO
This harrowing moment was perhaps foretold by the ominous 6719 on the license plate of Francis’ Model T. Though Gen Z will likely gravitate to the first two digits, Constant Readers take notice of the number 19. This is an auspicious figure in King’s Dominion, appearing in many of his published works, from dates and addresses to room numbers and ages. Johnny Smith last bets 19 on the dreaded Wheel of Fortune game just hours before an accident unlocks his disturbing psychic abilities in King’s 1979 novel The Dead Zone, and an anonymous patient suffering from OCD describes it as “a powerful odd number” used to hold an otherworldly monster at bay in the terrifying short story “N.”
King was just nineteen years old when he began writing The Gunslinger, the first entry in his sprawling Dark Tower saga. In a terrifying coincidence, the author would later be hit and nearly killed by a van on June 19, 1999, an event which sparked the completion of the final three Dark Tower novels. The number appears throughout King’s epic series with branches that seem to form the digits and names containing 19 letters. It is said to indicate the presence of ka, the force that binds together all living things. Here, it shepherds the passage of a powerful weapon into the hands of an early Derry defender. Marked with the number 19, Francis’ car overheats, and he must trade the slingshot for a bottle of water, placing it in the hands of Rose, who will later use it to save his life.
Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO
Sensing the slingshot’s power, a much older Francis—revealed to be General Shaw (James Remar)—asks Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) to use it as a beacon of sorts to locate the hidden “entity.” The talismanic object does manage to draw Hallorann closer, and he finds himself mentally pulled into the lair of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård). Near a familiar funhouse stage, a pair of yellow eyes open in the darkness as the monster notices Dick’s mental presence. In addition to this lurking threat, the underground silo is filled with the remains of Its destruction—the floating bodies of those caught in the Deadlights. Originating from Todash Space, a liminal realm in King’s Macroverse, these radiant orange lights emerge from Its gaping jaws with the power to instantly kill or incapacitate. A powerful weapon in the arsenal of the Crimson King, an antagonist in the Dark Tower series, these lights form the essence of Its deadly power.
Among the floating victims, Hallorann spies his grandmother, Rose. First introduced in King’s 1977 novel The Shining, the saintly woman teaches her young grandson to navigate his psychic abilities and is credited with giving the power its luminous name. King’s 2013 sequel, Doctor Sleep, will further the woman’s heroic legacy. She teaches Dick to trap dangerous spirits in a metaphysical lock box where they will eventually starve. Dick, in turn, teaches a young Danny Torrance this mental defense when battling demons of his own. It’s unlikely that Rose has actually been caught in Pennywise’s Deadlights. Her presence in Hallorann’s disturbing vision is probably a subtle reminder in a moment of terror that her grandson, now grown, also possesses immense psychic strength.
Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO
In addition to the sewer-dwelling entity, Derry has always been home to human monsters. After arresting the obviously innocent Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), Chief Bowers (Peter Outerbridge) threatens the prisoner with manufactured evidence, reminding him of what happens to child killers in the notorious Shawshank Prison. First seen in the 1982 novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, the Maine correctional facility’s most famous resident, Andy Dufresne, may not be convicted of killing a child, but he suffers brutal sexual assault at the hands of fellow inmate Bogs Diamond.
Elsewhere in town, Derry’s indigenous residents are concerned with Shaw’s attempts to dig up the beacons. (For more information on the Bradley Gang’s exhumed car, see last week’s recap of episode 2.) Rose (Kimberly Guerrero), proprietress of the town’s consignment store, warns her nephew Taniel (Joshua Odjick) against getting involved, insisting that he and his friends are “needed.” While it remains unclear just how and why, Odjick is a familiar face in King’s Dominion, last seen starring as Walker #48 Collie Parker in Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of the Richard Bachman novella, The Long Walk.
Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO
In addition to presiding over Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes (also explained in our recap of episode 2), it seems Rose has a deeper connection to this frightening town. Flashbacks reveal that she is the brave girl who saved young Francis with a deft hit from her trusty slingshot. In a quieter moment, the smitten boy reveals that his father has been transferred to another base and he will soon be moving away. Francis asks Rose to promise not to forget, echoing Bill Denbrough’s future vow to his friends. But Rose explains the brutal truth: those who leave Derry tend to lose their memories of the town’s dark secrets. We see this strange phenomenon in the Losers’ Club members, who all forget their battle with the sinister clown, only remembering after a call from Club historian Mike Hanlon, who stays behind to man the watch.
While the adults try to locate this entity, Lilly (Clara Stack), Ronnie (Amanda Christine), Will (Blake Cameron James), and Rich (Arian S. Cartaya) seek to prove Its existence and exonerate Hank for the movie theater massacre. When a summoning ritual seems to fail, they find themselves under attack in the cemetery but manage to snap a few photos, including one of a sinister figure emerging from a crypt. When developing the film, they make out the blurry image of a malevolent clown, marking the first official appearance of Pennywise in his iconic form.
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
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