The picket fences, the innocent laughter, the perfect postcard image of small-town America. We all know the lie, don’t we? We know what really lurks beneath the surface. We know what waits in the storm drains, in the dark, in the deadlights.

HBO Max just dropped the pilot for Welcome to Derry, and I’m just going to say it right now. They’ve unleashed a brilliant, confident and absolutely terrifying masterpiece of prestige horror. Whether this show is good is already settled. What I can’t tell you is whether you’re truly prepared for this level of cinematic terror on a weekly basis.

The series premiere is called “The Pilot,” and I’m not going to bury the lede. I’m not going to hedge my bets. Flat out, this is a 10 out of 10. I know, you’re sitting there going, “But you just told us that. How could you do it at the beginning?” It’s a perfect score. I understand that, and I don’t give these out lightly. But this is one of the single best horror pilots I have ever seen.

So if you’re a diehard It fan worried that they were going to really mess up the lore, or if you’re just a horror fan wondering if this is a cheap cash grab, this is the real deal. This is the game changer we’ve been waiting for.

Derry, 1962, Before the Town Gives Up

The show drops us in Derry, Maine in 1962, about 27 years, ish, before the Losers Club. We follow a new cast of characters, both adults and kids, trying to live their lives in the seemingly normal town. It’s always seemingly normal. But these earlier days seem a little more put together, in that the town itself hasn’t been terrified yet. If you remember the earlier iterations, and the stories even, the town itself seems to reluctantly go, well, this is just the world we live in, this is the way things are. We’re at the beginning of that.

The main story centers on Major Leroy Hanlon. Yes, that Hanlon. He and his family are moving to the Derry military base. Alongside them there’s a group of teens, because it wouldn’t be It without a group of teens, dealing with the mysterious disappearance of one of their own.

But this is Derry, and normal doesn’t last long. An ancient evil is stirring. The 27-year cycle is beginning again, and people are starting to see things. A red balloon. A familiar toothy grin. You know the drill.

This Doesn’t Look Like Television

I’m not a horror guy. I need that to be abundantly clear. So the fact that this series was so captivating was really something I wasn’t expecting.

The first thing that hits you is that this doesn’t look or feel like a television show. Andy Muschietti directed the pilot. He’s what they call the pattern director, the template director if you will, and he brought his entire feature film toolkit with him. The production design, the ’60s atmosphere, the cinematography, it’s all immaculate, and it’s drenched in this really unsettling tone.

He gives you these beautiful, warm, nostalgic shots of Americana, which I think is the thing we’ve always latched onto visually. It did a really good job of that as well. And then he just lets the camera linger a second too long. He lets the shadows in the corner get a little too dark. He makes a sunny afternoon feel ominous. That’s stuff Andy Muschietti does super, super well.

This pilot understands that real horror runs on dread a whole lot more than it runs on jump scares. It’s that sustained, slithering note of unease that something is fundamentally wrong with this town. The show lets that tension build and build and build, and then it goes for the jugular.

The climax of this episode is set in a movie theater, which is my favorite place, and it’s an all-out, unflinching, brutal nightmare. It’s shocking, it’s bloody, and it’s a really clear promise from the showrunners: we will not hold back.

How You Do a Prequel

The only thing I was really worried about going in was a retread. That worry is gone.

This is how you do a prequel. It never falls into the trap of overexplaining the monster. It doesn’t demystify Pennywise. It actually expands his influence. I do have a good understanding that there are going to be some prequel-type scenes, meaning we’ll see more of his origin in flashback, so you’ll get a little more of Skarsgård in that format. I’m excited for that. I think it’s going to be great.

Bill Skarsgård is back, and my gosh, is he as terrifying as ever. He’s used sparingly, which might be more a function of budget than anything else. They’re like, all right, listen, we need you for these days of shooting, we’re going to do some lurking things. They could’ve easily gotten away with a double of some kind for some specific moments. I believe it was probably him, because the man’s an artist, and I can see him going, “No, I’ll do those.” But he’s used sparingly, very much lurking at the edges, and for me that makes his full reveal that much more impactful.

We get these amazing hints of the town’s darker history and the 27-year cycle, connecting us to the wider lore. And yes, we do meet the Hanlon family, without the show ever winking at the camera. It enriches the world we know.

Pennywise Isn’t the Only Evil in Derry

In true Stephen King fashion, the supernatural horror is fed by what I’d argue is real-world horror.

Anybody who doesn’t really have a sense of balance, and an understanding of how these things should work and mirror each other, might accuse this of being the wokeification of this series. I disagree. I’d patently disagree. Having the Hanlons front and center as our point of connection to the future really works in this scenario, and I’m okay with that.

The pilot gives us a phenomenal performance from Jovan Adepo, who plays Major Hanlon, a Black man and a war veteran moving his family to this all-white town in 1962. I really like the way Andy Muschietti uses the racism and the hostility he faces as something as terrifying as any clown. The show makes it clear Pennywise isn’t the only evil in Derry.

So for anybody who’s going to say, well, that’s just woke this and that: look, there’s nothing more terrifying than when you can anchor, or moor if you will, your horror to reality. Human beings are probably the scariest thing ever, regardless of monsters, demons, whatever. Human beings are rough. And I love the way the show takes that and adds to it.

The town’s human darkness, the bigotry, the trauma, the secrets, all of those things are the appetizer. Pennywise is really just the main course. It’s brilliant, layered storytelling, and that’s why I’m so excited and hyped for this.

A Whole New Bar

It’s not often a show comes out swinging with this much confidence, this much craft, and I’d argue pure, unadulterated terror. Especially for me, someone who’s not a horror fan.

This pilot is a cinematic event. It perfectly balances prestige, character-driven drama with the kind of visceral, shocking horror that makes you want to watch through your fingers. At least that’s what I was doing. It’s a promise that this show is very much going to be something special.

This is a game changer for horror on television. For me, I know for a fact it sets a whole new, incredibly high bar, and I think that’s the difference between this and other shows that have tried to do something similar.

There you go. Now you know. And if knowing is half the battle, you’re halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.

The Verdict

The Welcome to Derry pilot lands at a perfect 10 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.

That’s for its masterful direction, its pitch-perfect tone, its brilliant expansion of the lore, and for being genuinely pants-wettingly terrifying.

This is prestige horror perfected. An absolute nightmare in the best way possible. I am all in, for sure.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go board up all the drains in my house.

Your turn. What’s the scariest Pennywise moment from the Muschietti films? The projector scene? The storm drain? Tell me which one and why in the comments on the video above. I’d love to hear more of your thoughts.