A great scare scene in Stephen King sequel IT Chapter Two paid homage to John Carpenter's 1982 sci-fi/horror classic The Thing, in a very cool way. The titular monsters in IT and The Thing may at first not appear to have much in common, but they're more alike than they first seem. While their methods of attack are decidedly different, both creatures are aliens that arrived on Earth centuries ago with malevolent intentions toward mankind. Both are also shape-shifters, with IT assuming lots of different creepy forms, and The Thing able to assimilate and copy the form of any living creature it touches.
On a more meta level, IT and The Thing were originally introduced in books. IT was published by horror master Stephen King in 1985, while The Thing is based on author John W. Campbell's novella Who Goes There?. Interestingly, a longer version of that book, entitled Frozen Hell, was recently discovered and will be the basis for a Thing remake. It'll be the third time Campbell's story has been adapted for the screen, while IT has been adapted twice, as a 1990 miniseries as a two recent blockbuster films.
With all those similarities, it's kind of fitting that 2019's IT Chapter Two took a quick minute to pay tribute to Carpenter's The Thing. It's not anything that stops the movie to scream "look at this fun reference," but it's done in a way sure to make horror diehards smile.
How IT Chapter Two Paid Homage to John Carpenter's The Thing
Not too long before the lengthy climatic battle between The Losers' Club and Pennywise in IT Chapter Two, the group heads into the sinister house on Neibolt Street, en route to IT's lair. Of course, they start getting tormented once inside, including by their dead friend Stan's decapitated head. As if that wasn't nightmarish enough, the head then sprouts spider-like legs, and attacks Richie. While Eddie is frozen in fear, Bill eventually manages to save Richie from death by spider-Stan.
Right after Stan's head grows the legs, Richie says "You've gotta be f***ing kidding!" in shock and disbelief. Horror lovers will recall a classic scene in The Thing in which the creature, after assimilating Norris, detaches the man's head from his body, and the head then sprouts spider-like legs and scuttles away. This is followed by Palmer saying the exact same line said by Richie. Impressively, it was actually actor Bill Hader that suggested the line, as he's a horror fan, and filming the scene reminded him of The Thing. He then went to director Andy Muschietti, got his permission to say it, and the rest is horror history.