Andrés Muschietti's "It: Chapter 2"
wraps up the events of the 2017 box-office smash "It."
At nearly three hours long, it provides plenty of scares
and one hilarious performance from Bill Hader.
But did you spot these references
to other Stephen King adaptations
or callbacks to the first film?
And, yes, spoilers are coming.
The movie is set in 2016,
27 years after the events of the first film.
The book, "It" by Stephen King,
is set in 1958 and 1985,
so there was some deviation from the original novel.
The movie opens with the homophobic attack on Adrian.
This is featured in the novel,
but not in the 1990 miniseries.
King based the event on
the real-life 1984 murder of Charlie Howard,
a gay man attacked and thrown
from the State Street Bridge in Bangor, Maine.
Early in the film, we're introduced to the now adult
Bill Denbrough on the set of the adaptation
of his book, "Attic Room."
The director of "Attic Room"? It's Peter Bogdanovich,
the director of "The Last Picture Show."
A King connection, the author makes repeated references
to "The Last Picture Show" in his novel "Lisey's Story,"
as character Scott Landon frequently watches the film.
Bill also talks about sliding under the stage door
like Indiana Jones.
Bill's Beverly-lookalike wife in this scene
is played by Jessica Chastain's real-life BFF, Jess Weixler.
When now adult Beverly is reunited with Mike and Ben,
we can see the scars on her arm
from her abusive husband, Tom Rogan.
Beverly goes to visit her childhood home.
It's inhabited by Mrs. Kersh,
as the name on the door changes briefly from Marsh to Kersh.
King named the character Mrs. Kersh after Irvin Kershner,
the director of "The Empire Strikes Back."
The 1980 movie was shot in the same studio
at the same time as "The Shining,"
and King even visited the set.
Something not really featured in the 2017 film
is Beverly's nightmares about Hansel and Gretel.
Mrs. Kersh is reminiscent of the witch
in the Germanic folk story,
making a comment about the hot oven
and welcoming Beverly inside for tea,
just like the children in the fairy tale
are welcomed in for sweets.
There are a few Pennywise clues
before Mrs. Kersh transforms into the villain.
The actress who plays Mrs. Kersh, Joan Gregson,
is no stranger to King's work, having starred in
ABC's "Storm of the Century" in 1999.
We see shop exteriors of the town of Derry,
some of which are named after real-life places
in Port Hope, Ontario, where the movie was filmed.
There is a real-life Queenies Bake Shop.
Fun fact: Queenie was also the name of King's childhood dog.
Inside Derry's secure institution,
a cartoon is playing on the TV.
This cartoon is "Tom and Jerry: The Truce Hurts,"
depicting a steak falling into a sewer.
The steak floats away just like Georgie's boat in "It."
The movie includes lots of flashbacks
and locations the characters saw decades ago,
so there are a lot of '80s references throughout.
The Losers return to their underground clubhouse.
In a flashback scene, we get a few '80s references.
Cameo's 1986 hit "Word Up" is playing.
There's a poster for the 1987 movie "The Lost Boys,"
and one of Michael J. Fox
from his 1987 cover of Rolling Stone.
Richie revisits the arcade where he had played
Street Fighter, the classic 1980s game.
On the wall behind him is a poster
for 1998's "You've Got Mail."
This is the second time Meg Ryan pops up in the movie,
as you might recall in the opening scenes
Adrian shouts to the bullies, "Meg Ryan called.
She wants her wig back."
Ben hides in a locker from Pennywise.
Behind him, on the locker wall,
we see a poster of Danny from New Kids on the Block.
Here's where we also get a direct quote
from the 1990 miniseries.
Pennywise: Kiss me, fat boy.
Narrator: The turtle from the books pops up
in several places in the movie.
There's a drawing of a turtle on the desk
in Ben's classroom, a statue of one outside Ben's house,
and also an engraving of one
on the door to Pennywise's lair.
King makes a cameo in the movie,
much like he has done in other adaptations of his work.
This time, he's an antiques dealer
wearing a Neil Young T-shirt.
An old license plate near the counter
is the CQB 241 license
on the 1958 Plymouth Fury
in 1983's "Christine."
In the "It" novel, Henry Bowers escapes from the asylum
in a cherry-red 1958 Plymouth Fury.
King makes a joke at his own expense.
Bill asks King's character
if he wants him to sign the book that he's reading,
to which King replies no, as the ending was bad.
The book's cover has all the visual hallmarks
of a King novel.
This parallel between criticisms of King's work
and Bill's books having bad endings
crops up a few times in the movie.
The store, Secondhand Rose, is the same from the novel
and 1994's "Insomnia," Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes.
Speaking of cameos, look out for Andrés Muschietti
as a customer in the drugstore
when Eddie goes to pick up his prescription.
Eddie's wife, Myra Kaspbrak, is played by the same actress
who played his mother, Sonia.
Guess he never really escaped his mom after all.
One of adult Ben's boardroom colleagues
is none other than Brandon Crane,
who played the kid Ben in the 1990 miniseries.
In a scene where Bill runs through a fairground fun house,
the swinging clowns he ran past are dressed up
just like Tim Curry's 1990 version of Pennywise.
As the gang battles Pennywise,
he turns into a monster reminiscent
of the spider-legged alien in 1982's "The Thing."
This time, it's young Stanley's head
with arachnid legs growing out of it.
This is accompanied by a quote from "The Thing."
Palmer: You've gotta be f---ing kidding.
Narrator: When Beverly struggles for air
in the blood-soaked toilet cubicle,
a variety of faces try to edge through the door.
One of them says, "Here's Johnny,"
in reference to "The Shining."
Another 1980s movie, 1989's "Nightmare on Elm Street 5,"
is playing in the movie theater in the closing shots.
In "It: Chapter 2," the defeat of Pennywise
is almost like a late-series Freddy Krueger movie:
surreal and CGI-heavy.
Bill receives a phone call from Mike
at the end of the movie.
In these scenes, he is reading a copy
of "A History of Old Derry" by Branson Buddinger.
You may recall this book from the first movie
as the one Ben reads in Derry Library.
In fact, the room Bill is in looks quite similar
to the office in the final scene of "Stand by Me,"
where Richard Dreyfuss, as the writer,
types the movie's final scenes into his computer.
Did you spot anything else?
Comment below.